Don’t forget to share ‘Tightrope’ with Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts with a friend and be sure to subscribe for ongoing inspiration and encouragement.

hey family i’m pastor torre

i’m pastor sarah and listen you’re

getting ready to hear an incredible word

for the lord i believe it’s going to

bless you

i believe it’s going to be timely do me

a favor

share the message if it moves you share

the message and then also you have an

opportunity to be a part of

not only helping to spread this message

but to be a part of our outreaches

we’re doing a lot of practical things to

be a blessing to someone so feel free if

god so moves you

to use the information here in the video

to support what we’re doing we’re being

a blessing not just people spiritually

we’re being a blessed people practically

we love you get into this message

and change your life

i’m going to be speaking out of judges

16

verse 16.

my subject for those of you who like to

take notes is tight rope

tightrope and god willing that’s going

to make more sense when this is

all said and done but i’m going to start

in judges 16 and 16 and my text begins

it says

[Music]

and it came to pass when she

pestered him daily with her words a

little background

so this is samson and delilah and you

don’t even have to be a bible scholar to

understand this samson is like

the popeye of the bible okay the guy was

strong

okay but there was a secret to his

strength

and this woman was trying to figure out

the secret to his strength

and you know it’s not nice to say that

people are

dull of wit but samson strong as he is

is not the

sharpest knife in the drawer and so this

woman has tried at this point in the

text she’s tried three times

to figure out what the secret is to his

strength

and this moment is when she’s going to

finally get the answer from him

so verse 16 it begins and it says and it

came to pass

when she pestered him daily with her

words and pressed him so that his soul

was

vexed to death come on somebody knows

what it’s like to be vexed to death

that he told her all his heart and said

to her

no razor has ever come upon my head for

i have been a nazarite to god from my

mother’s womb

if i am shaven then my strength will

leave me and i shall become weak

and be like any other man when delilah

saw that he had told her

all that is in his heart she sent and

called for the lords of the philistines

these are his enemies the enemies

who’ve been trying to figure out the

secret of his strength she calls to the

philistines saying

come up once more for he has told me all

his heart

so the lords of the philistines came up

to her and brought the money in their

hand then she lulled him to sleep on her

knees

and called for a man and had him shave

off the seven

locks of his heads come on dreadlocks

then she began to

torment him and his strength left him

and she said

the philistines are upon you samson so

he awoke from his sleep

and said i will go out as before at

other times and

shake myself free but he did not know

that the lord

had departed from him spirit of the

living god

we receive your presence

we receive that there is a nugget in

this word perhaps we’ve already begun to

see that you’ve been speaking to us in

the worship

but father we believe that this is a

divine moment for you to speak and so

father

i pray that you would make me the

perfect vessel for this moment

that even in my imperfection even in my

insecurity that you would make me

perfect in this moment

because your oil your grace your

anointing is going to flow

through me it’s going to flow into

africa your anointing it’s going to flow

over to the east coast it’s going to

flow

into the west coast it’s going to flow

into brazil it’s going to flow into

australia

because your anointing your grace your

word cannot be

distanced by location father but when it

inhabits the earth

you said that it will not return unto

you void and so father i pray that

whoever this word is for

will be open and empty enough to receive

it

to stand in it and to allow it to become

flesh on the inside of them god i thank

you

so much that you are consistent in

showing up

and that you’re going to do exactly that

in this moment

in jesus name amen

you know pt has been speaking to us all

the latter part of 2020 about the vision

for 2021 for us as a church first of all

i have to tell you

being a part of a church that has vision

is something that we cannot take for

granted

when our pastor is talking to god about

who we are to be and how we are to

navigate in the earth

god gave him a word and that word was

bridges and so he’s been talking to us

about how the church is going to be a

bridge how we are going to be a bridge

how we’re going to be meeting

the the we’re how we’re going to be

building a bridge that will allow us to

overcome

problems and to solve problems that have

been taken

place in the earth and i’ve been

meditating on that because i have to

tell you when i

heard that i was so very excited about

my opportunity to become a bridge

you see when you receive a word it’s one

thing to just receive it in the moment

but

i know so many of you take notes and you

say to god god how do i

apply this to my life and that’s one of

the things that i was doing god you’ve

rece

you’ve given me this mandate from my

covering you’ve given me this mandate

from my pastor you’ve given me this

mandate from the community that i

am a part of and so father i’m not going

to sit back and watch someone else step

into the word that you gave to all of us

god i’m asking you how do i respond to

the word that’s something that we’ve got

to get down in our spirit

when we receive a word don’t just be a

hearer of a word

of the word but be a doer of the word

what is my response to the word that i

received

and so i’ve been praying god if my role

is to be a bridge

what is my responsibility and my

response to that mandate

and as i was praying i heard god saying

there are so many bridges connected to

your name

i feel this for somebody i don’t know

who you are that god has

ordained you to be a bridge in so many

different

areas in your community for your family

in your industry

he’s going to make you a bridge he’s

going to give you the ideas he’s going

to give you the creativity

he’s going to give you the vision

connected with how you’re going to build

this

bridge and i felt that for me as well

and one of the things that he told me

the first thing i want you to master

though are the bridges that exist down

on the inside of you

you see sometimes we focus so much on

the bridges we want to build

outside of us i want to bridge faith and

fashion i want to bridge

non-profit services with the people in

my community

i want to bridge ministry into the

culture we focus so much on the

outer impact of our bridge but i heard

god saying

that we’re working on the outside

without focusing on the inside sometimes

and i want you to make sure that while

you’re solving the problems on the

outside that you’re also paying

attention to the bridges that you need

to have

on the inside i wish i could preach it

the way that pt preached it

but in the message when he was telling

us about the infrastructure of the

bridge

he was telling us about the bottom part

of the bridge the bridge that isn’t even

seen

and that is the area that is most

important because it is what allows us

to have

weight on us and so if you will allow me

for this thursday night activate

i would like to draw your attention to

the bridges

or lack thereof that are are required

for our insights

when we talk about bridges this is where

our discipline and our

integrity and how we’re going to show up

in the world begins to play a role

because we cannot go from where we are

to who we are supposed to be in god

without building a bridge we can’t go

from bitterness to forgiveness unless we

build a bridge

we can’t go from angry and easily

angered into someone who’s

patient and kind unless we’re building a

bridge god i know where i am supposed to

be but how do i build a bridge from

where i

am to where i am headed and i heard god

tell me in my prayer time and in my

study time that we

have to see the connection between our

choices

and where we are headed our choices

are the bricks and the tools that build

the bridge to where we are headed

i can tell where you’re headed by the

choices you’re making today

your choices are building a bridge you

may not

know that or maybe we don’t think about

it in the moment because we see the

choice is something that is singular

and isolated but the reality is that

every choice is laying a brick towards

a bridge and you have to ask yourself do

i like the bridge of where this is

headed

it’s not just a hey big head text it’s a

choice and me responding to that text

message is a choice for me to be

entangled in something that i know is

less than me it’s not just a one-time

thing i’m building a bridge

and we have to ask ourselves am i going

to like who’s on the other side of this

bridge is god going to rejoice on who’s

on the other side of the bridge

it’s not just one night it’s a bridge

i’m building something each time i make

a decision i’m

building something each time i pick up

my phone and i ingest information i’m

building something each time i read my

word

i’m building something there are some

people who have made some decisions

about 2021

and in making those decisions they are

making different choices because they

recognize

that the only way i’m going to get to

who god has in mind in 2021

is if i make a decision today i can’t

postpone it

i have to make a choice today that’s

going to get me there i want to become

closer to god so i don’t just turn on

churches something that i have to do as

my to-do list i dig into the word

because i want to get closer to him

my choices are building a bridge come on

somebody if you have made a decision

that you are going to be building this

bridge i want you to type in the

comments i’m building something i’m

building something i’m building

something

my choices are different i’m not the

same person who i used to be

my choices are building something you’ve

never seen before

yes i’m acting a little funny but my

choices are building something

yes i had to isolate myself but my

choices are building something no i

don’t have time for that any longer

because my choices are building

something what are your choices building

my choices are building a bridge to who

i am supposed to be

my choices are building a bridge to who

god has called me to be

my choices are going to build that

ministry it’s not just going to happen

because you got on instagram

your inside choices are gonna determine

how you get there

i’m building something in my marriage i

gotta make a different choice

i’m building something in my business i

gotta make a different choice

i’m trying to buy that house i gotta

make a different choice my choices are

building a bridge

god told me responsibility is a part of

my mandate for 2021

so the area where i was being

irresponsible i’m making a different

choice because i’m bridging it to

responsibility

the area where i didn’t have integrity

i’m communicating on a different level

because i’m trying to build some

integrity so you have to understand that

we’re not just going to wake up and have

it

we’re going to have it because we built

it we’re going to have it because we

took the word that god said

and we started applying it to our

decisions we started saying god what do

i need to

change in order to build that’s what we

need to start asking god

is what do i need to change about how

i’m functioning today

so that i can build something that has

your glory on it tomorrow

what do i need to change about how i

engage so that i can build something

that has your glory on it tomorrow

god teach me how to build wholeness i’m

single and i’m lonely but i need you to

teach me how to build

wholeness in this season because i want

to show that it’s better to be lonely

and it’s better to be single and by

yourself than it is to settle for

something that doesn’t look like you

so god show me how to build my life as a

single person

show me how to build my marriage god

show me how to raise these children

i don’t want them to be broken in the

same way i was broken i’m trying to

build something that i’ve never seen

before

so god if you give me the words i’ll let

my choices lay the bricks

and i’ll end up where you decided

because you are the chief architect

of the bridge i’m trying to build inside

of me

and so when we come to that realization

and we allow that to become our mandate

we recognize that the connection between

our choices

and the bridge that we are building are

going to determine our destination

there are some choices that we have made

that we wish we could undo

if we’re being honest here i’ve made

some choices

that built a bridge that now feels like

an

island yeah

yeah you’re saying pastor i understand

what you’re saying about choices

leading you to destinations but now the

place that i’m on it feels like an

island as in i don’t know how to move

from here regret would tell us that

what you need to do is go back to where

you started

but faith tells us that if you feel like

you’re on an island

and you’re ready to move from where you

are to where you know you’re supposed to

be in god

then maybe we should stop looking for a

bridge that looks like the brooklyn

bridge

maybe we should stop looking for a

bridge that looks like the san francisco

bridge

and instead we should start looking for

a rope a tight rope

you see there are some bridges

that don’t look like bridges at all

because they are so small and the line

is so

finite that you have to become someone

you’ve never been before

to cross that bridge yeah

i want to talk to you about walking on

a tightrope because i heard god telling

me

in my own prayer time that in order for

me to move from where i

am to where i am supposed to be that it

may not be as easy as just

walking without having to be careful and

it may not be as easy

as walking without sensitivity because

there’s so much infrastructure and

confidence around me

that it may look like walking on a

tightrope

can you imagine what it’s like to walk

on a tightrope

in those moments yes this is

a bridge but there’s so much fear and

anxiety connected to this moment

and yes i got across it anyway

when i’m innovating a new path that’s

never been done before and i’m trying to

do this

without the degree and without the help

and without the support

it’s not as easy to be a bridge when

you’re walking on a tightrope i want to

talk to some people who are watching

today

who god says i’m going to ask you to

bridge

something but you’re going to have to do

it with the tight rope if that’s you

i want you to say that’s me that’s me

that’s me god’s asking me to do this on

a tightrope the bridge to who you are

supposed to become and god may look like

a tightrope the purpose that is

connected to your life the forgiveness

that wholeness it’s going to look like a

tightrope and that’s why

god brought this story of samson

into my mind when samson tells

delilah that since birth he was a

nazirite

what he’s saying to us is my strength is

is connected to my ability to walk the

tightrope of being a nazarite

and nazarite is an israelite consecrated

to the service of god

under these vowels they abstain from

alcohol

they let their hair grow and they avoid

defilement by contact with corpses

that’s even

family members or whatever they’re not

able to engage with corpses

they have to allow their hair to grow

they don’t celebrate the way other

people

celebrate they don’t cut themselves in

the way other people cut themselves

because they have to live on a tightrope

sampson has been living on this

tightrope

since birth and his strength

is connected to his ability to stay on

that tightrope

your strength oh god i feel it your

strength is not going to come because

someone else came and give and gave you

something

it’s not going to come because you were

able to outsmart the people who are

around you i hear god saying that your

ability to make it to this next

dimension your ability

to walk in the favor and promises of god

your ability to hate to shake earth up

in a way that makes heaven rejoice is

connected with your ability

to navigate this tightrope that you have

to live on

i hear god saying that you cannot defeat

enemies

and walk on a tightrope at the same time

unless you’re walking on the tightrope

that god has given you god help me to

break this down the way that you gave it

to me

when we see samson in this moment he is

confident about who he

is he is confident about the strength

that he carries

because he’s learned to live life on a

tightrope when i think about my husband

and i think about how god has blessed

him

how god has transcended him from where

he started to where he is now

it’s what i hear at night that moves me

the most it’s not the books though i’m

proud of that

it’s not the messages though they have

moved me and changed my life

it’s about who he said he had to become

on the inside

the integrity that he had to carry on

the inside i had to learn to walk on a

tightrope

i had to learn to make sure that i

wasn’t falling in with the same crowd

that kept pulling me down

i hear god saying that you want to fit

in and walk on a tightrope at the same

time

and that’s why nothing has moved in your

life yet but i hear god saying if you

would surrender to the fact

that the only way you’re going to be

strengthened in this season is if you

learn to walk on a tightrope i hear god

saying i do always provide

and i most certainly provide for those

who are willing to sacrifice their

comfort

and sacrifice the way they have always

done things and dare to get on the

tightrope

the tightrope that says god this is who

i am even if i have to do it afraid

god i’m going to make this marriage work

even if it means i have to walk on a

tightrope what does that mean

that means i communicate when i want to

suppress that means i pray when i want

to be bitter

why am i doing this because i gotta make

it to the other side

you see as long as you have options you

may not get on a tightrope but when you

decide god i don’t want to do anything

if you’re

not in it and god i don’t want to be

anywhere if you’re not on the other side

of it

god says but can you follow me on the

tightrope i’m thinking about the virgin

mary when she heard that she was going

to become pregnant with the holy spirit

in order to do that thing in order to

carry the spirit of god

god said you’re going to have to learn

to walk on a tightrope you’re going to

have to hide away

sometimes you’re going to have to give

birth in a barn but baby when i tell you

i’m going to be with you

i hear god saying that what you don’t

understand about the tightrope

is yes it’s scary and yes it’s lonely

and no you don’t always know if you have

what it takes

but he always provide who is the he that

i am talking about

it is the great i am who told me i’m

going to be your safety net when you get

on the tightrope

i’m going to make sure that it’s got

enough slack in it to give you breaks

when you need it i’m

i’m learning i’m learning how to walk on

a tightrope when peter had to build the

church he had to do it on a tightrope

when moses had to save the egyptians

when he had to save the hebrew children

from the egyptians

he had to learn to walk on a tightrope

i’m neither hebrew nor

egyptian but i’m learning to walk on a

tightrope i hear god saying that you’re

in the world

but not of the world what does that mean

that i’m in the world but i’m walking on

a tightrope

that i understand that my role in this

world is to make sure that heaven

touches earth

i wish i had some people in this chat

room who would give me about 30 seconds

to thank god that he’s still going to be

with us even when we get on tightropes

that he’s still going to be with us even

when i lose my balance

i hear god saying you think you’re going

to lose your balance if you try

so you haven’t even stepped into it yet

but i hear god saying if you would just

take

one step if you would just get yourself

in position

then i would allow for my grace to show

up and show you how to make it the rest

of the way

some of us won’t get on a tightrope

because we’re not sure we’ll make it to

the other end

god says that’s good if you get on the

tightrope

you’re going to have more faith than

you’ve ever had you’re going to pray in

a way you’ve never prayed before

god says you want to know how it ends

and i want to know when you’re going to

get started

you want to know how it’s going to turn

out and i hear god saying if you would

just

take a step take a step take a step

take a step take a step take a step take

a step it’s

going to be hard but you got to take the

step anyway it’s going to cause you to

become someone you’ve never been before

but you got to take this step anyway

that you’ve got to want what god wants

for you and bad is just as bad as god

wants you to have it

you’ve got to have what god wants for

you down in your spirit so heavy

that it makes you do crazy things

like instead of falling into hustling

you decide now is the time for me to

pray and center myself

because when the gun is fired

i got to make sure i’m in position

samson has been living on a tightrope

for so long that his strength

is his confidence

and yet what this text reveals to us

as though he has mastered living on a

tightrope since birth

that maybe what looks like a tight rope

on the outside is just his norm

that means that what would have been

hard maybe when he explained it to

delilah

about his strength was actually not hard

for him at all because it’s all he’s

ever known

some of us were born on a tightrope

and we learned to live on that tightrope

and to navigate that tightrope the

identity between

our calling in our communities our

calling and our families i’ve been

living on a tightrope i recognize that

that is my distinction that is what

makes me strong

and samson is now so confident in his

ability to navigate that tight rope that

he doesn’t recognize the other areas of

his life

that are going to sabotage his strength

you see samson has a weakness

and this particular weakness is for

women and this woman is a part

of his enemies camp

and because samson is so used to walking

on this tightrope he hasn’t dared to

evaluate the other areas of his life

where he could stand to tighten up a

little bit if he was in church i would

say tag your name and say tighten up

tighten up but since we’re not in church

i want you to

type it tighten up tighten up tighten up

samson

needs to tighten up

you see because one of the things that

we have to learn from this

and one of the things that is important

to us as we

study this scripture and as we study

this story

is the connection between samson’s

weakness

and his strength i feel like a lot of

times we compartmentalize our weakness

and we think i’m weak here but i’m

strong here

and somehow that balances things out and

so we don’t focus

on how we need to get that weakness on a

tightrope so that it can eventually

become

a strength and so instead

samson is so confident in who he is and

where he is now

that he thinks that he is strong enough

to handle

the casualties of his weakness

have you ever been there where you feel

like you’re strong enough to handle the

casualties of your weakness

like maybe there’s a toxic relationship

that you know is a weakness but you feel

like you’re strong enough

to navigate it at arm’s length

maybe you’re trying to save a certain

amount of money maybe you’re trying to

build a business and you

indulge in things that you know are a

weakness but you feel like you’re strong

enough

to handle that weakness at arm’s length

that’s what happens when we see samson

in this text

he’s learned to walk the tight rope but

he hasn’t dissected the air

other areas of his life that need to

come into submission to that level of

discipline

and because he has failed to do that his

weakness is now sabotaging his strength

that’s somebody’s word right there

you’re compartmentalizing your

weaknesses but what you need to

understand

is that your weakness is going to

sabotage the area of your strength

that is not just going to be separated

that if you become so comfortable with a

weakness that has become

unaddressed that god is not going to

allow you to just continue to

keep flirting with your enemy while he’s

also trying to raise you

up to be something that’s different than

what you’ve seen before

samson’s greatest issue here is not that

he’s

a nazirite his greatest issue is not

that he’s had to walk on a tightrope

his greatest issue in this moment is

that he hasn’t dissected the other areas

of his life that need to come into

submission

your weakness is going to sabotage your

strength

what i wrote in my notes when i was

study is you can

you cannot flirt with the behavior

patterns rhythms

that you’re trying to kill that you

can’t be trying

to kill it and flirt with it at the same

time

that you can’t come to a place where you

think that you have your weaknesses

under such

control that you don’t understand that

it’s going to sabotage

your strength so to overcome his

weakness samson would have to get on a

different type of tightrope

and this type rope may require him to be

lonely

this tight rope may require him to to

have his confidence in something other

than who he slept with and because

samson

did not get on that tightrope he became

known for his

weakness instead of his strength

family if i could talk to you for a

minute

what i would say to you is this

no matter how well we master walking on

one tightrope it doesn’t mean that we

have mastered

every area of our life that needs to

come into submission

the bridge to get to who we are to where

we want to become in god

it may look like a tightrope in some

seasons

and when we master it we have to be

willing to look back and say god now

what is the next area maybe it was my

wisdom in one season

now it’s my discipline in another season

maybe it was my discipline and now it’s

my integrity

but i am constantly looking for areas of

my life where my weakness is going to

sabotage my strength

sometimes we feel like the sabotage is

going to come outside of us and we talk

about our haters

and we talk about someone who’s sleeping

on us and we’re talking about someone

who doesn’t understand just how

incredible we are or someone who was so

jealous and envious of who we are

but what we need to recognize is that

the greatest enemy is not outside of us

the greatest enemy is the weakness that

is unchecked on the inside of us

and until we are willing to examine

ourselves and say what are my

own patterns what are my own thoughts

what are my own fears what are my own

insecurities that are going to sabotage

my strength then we’re going to be

looking outside of

us when the real enemy the real culprit

is inside of us

samson is forced to take this look on

the inside of him

because his weakness is now what he’s

known for

because when the philistines finally

attack him and figure out the secret to

his strength they

take his eyes away they strip him down

to nothing they cut his hair off

and now he is less than just any other

man now he has handicaps

that have made him almost

almost useless in their eyes

and yet what they didn’t know that we

know

is that god can start from anywhere

remember when i was talking earlier

about making choices that lead you to a

place that you don’t always like

that’s exactly where we find samson in

verse 28 as this text continues

his choices had left have led him to a

place

that he doesn’t even like that he

doesn’t even understand

he didn’t recognize that his weakness

was sabotaging his strength

and now he’s wishing maybe that he could

get back on that tight rope and that he

could live

his life differently and what we know

now though is that god will never leave

you nor forsake you but

samson in that moment had to do

something crazy

samson in that moment had to do

something that maybe some of you were

going to do when we’re about to pray

he had to call out from god from the

place of his weakness

you see what the philistines thought is

that if they cut his hair

that he wouldn’t be strong anymore but

what they didn’t realize

is that even when they cut his hair that

god was going to grow his hair

back our text tells us in between verse

16

and verse 28 that though they cut his

head that his hair

started growing back they were beating

him in chains and they

stripped his eyes out but his hair

started growing back what is the word of

the lord when that

in that moment the word of the lord in

that moment is that even when

life is tearing you up even when your

decisions have put you in a position

that feels like defeat

that at the end of the day your hair

your strength is still going to grow

back i need somebody to know

that you are not still here because god

wants to display what you could have had

you are not still here so that god can

show you how if you would have done

things differently this could have been

you

god is not interested in making you be a

participant in the museum of the

highlights of other people’s life

god wants to show you that if you are

still here then something can still grow

on the inside of you

and if something can still grow on the

inside of you it may start off looking

like a tightrope but when it’s all said

and done you’ll become a bridge again

you’ll defeat the enemies again

you’ll be looking like who i thought you

were in the first place again

i hear god saying that somebody’s

strength is coming back to you

i know 2020 was hard on you i know 2021

may have not started off the way that

you wanted to

but i hear god saying your strength is

coming back to you

what is your strength your strength is

the confidence that i am gonna be with

you

your strength is the confidence that i

have not departed from you

and in verse 28 we hear samson say oh

lord god remember me

oh lord god remember me i pray somebody

needs to get in their prayer closet and

just start saying god remember me

god remember when i used to be your

servant god remember when i used to

carry your joy

god remember when i used to feel

anointed god remember when i walked into

a room

and i knew who i was when i was in the

room god remember when the checks didn’t

define me

god remember when the banking hound

didn’t define me samson cries out to the

lord

god remember me i pray and strengthen me

i pray

just once he asked god for i don’t need

you to do it over and over again

if you could just provide your strength

just one time

if you would just provide your strength

just one time

cause i got one more devil to fight

samson’s hair is cut off

samson’s eyes have been plucked out but

he said god if you would remember me in

my weakness

if you would give me strength in the

place that i am weak

i understand what i didn’t understand

then

what samson didn’t understand before

this moment

is that he and god were not on the same

page about the enemy he had given him to

defeat

because samson was still flirting with

the enemy he was supposed to defeat

and sometimes your enemy has to capture

you

and sometimes your enemy has to change

the way you show up in the world

for you to finally get on the same page

with god

about what this enemy is samson is

showing up in this moment

differently than he showed up before

because now the philistines mean the

same thing to him

that they meant to god i hear god saying

that your breakthrough

that your ability to break away from

this thing is going to be connected to

you

hating it the way that i hate it i hear

god saying we got to have common enemies

when we have common enemies that’s how i

know we’re really in relationship

it ain’t nothing like having a friend

who understands that we don’t fool with

that person

i hear god saying that you need to get

on the same page with me

we don’t fool with that anymore we don’t

fool with regret

we don’t fool with shame that’s the

enemy to who i’ve called you to be

we don’t fool with shame that’s an enemy

to who i’ve called you to be

i hear god saying when you get on the

same page with me

about your enemy you’ll find the way to

navigate this captivity

and samson says you got to read it judge

16 28-30 he says

lord god remember me i pray strengthen

me i pray just this once oh god that i

may with one blow

taking vengeance on the philistines for

my two eyes

and samson he took hold

of the two middle pillars which

supported the temple and he braced

himself against them

i hear god saying that’s what’s going to

happen for some of us in 2021

that some of us came into this year

limping we came into this year unclear

but i hear god saying that i can still

use you limping

i can still use you grieving i can still

use you broken

i can still use you with your mind fuzzy

i hear god saying just let me show you

how to walk on this tightrope

let me show you how to navigate this

dark season let me show you how to

navigate the unknown

let me show you how to navigate this

business how to navigate

this marriage and he put his two hands

on those pillars

and he braced himself against them one

on his right hand

and one on his left

and he pushed he pushed those pillars

down

and in that moment he defeated more

philistines

than he had defeated in his entire

lifetime

but it was because he finally got on the

same page with god

about who his enemy is and who his enemy

is not

even in the middle of his weakness god

still

made a way for him to become who he was

supposed to be in god

and it didn’t look as powerful as it

looked before this wasn’t one of those

big beautiful bridges

it was a tight rope and god used it

anyway i want to pray with you

perhaps as we’ve been sharing this time

with each other

you’ve been feeling convicted maybe it’s

been confirmation

that it’s time for me to stop playing

it’s time for me to finally get to a

place

where i’m willing to undergo

the uncertainty the instability

the lack of confidence connected with

who i need to be in god

you see i’m going to get to that place

of confidence i may not get there

overnight i may not become that boss

overnight

i may not get there the way that i want

to as rapidly as i want to but it’s time

for me to first shed the skin of the old

so that i can walk into the new and i

hear god

saying it’s okay for the journey to be

scary

it’s okay for it to even feel like a

tight rope

but a tightrope can still serve as a

bridge

i want to pray with you i want to pray

for those of us

who have decided that i’m going to

navigate

this tightrope i’m going to do it for

my family i’m going to do it for my

community i’m going to do it for my god

i’m going to get on this tightrope and

yes sometimes i may lose my balance and

yes

sometimes it may be hard sometimes i may

have to pause sometimes i may have to

start over again but it is so

important to me that i finally get to

this destination

of who god has been hinting at me that i

could always become

god’s gonna give you strength just like

he gave samson in that moment

he’s going to give you peace he’s going

to show you how to navigate your

weaknesses

and how to master your strength god’s

already got a plan

he’s just waiting on you to begin

father i thank you that your word

will not return unto you void

that means that even as i was speaking

father that someone was saying that’s my

word that’s my word that’s my word

father it is my prayer that every person

who reached up and grabbed this word

that they would hold on to this word is

their truth and their confidence

and that this would be the word that

propels them to finally get started

god it is my prayer that we would start

moving even if we have to do it at a

slow pace

that we would begin moving in the

direction of who you have in mind

father where there is loneliness let

there be wholeness father where there is

brokenness let there be healing

father where there is pain let us have

restoration father where there is grief

let it become love and let us live in

the space of love

father it is my prayer that whatever is

necessary for us to become

that we would be willing to sacrifice

and surrender so that we may manifest

not our vision not our desires

but your peace your presence your power

father we want to be vessels

we want to be an extension of what

you’re doing in the earth

as unworthy as we are as broken as we

are

it is still our desire to serve what

you’re doing in the earth

and so father if we are the only way

that heaven can touch

earth give us room give us capacity and

give us wisdom to navigate that

tightrope

father forgive us for making choices

that we know

were leading us to a lesser version of

ourselves

we repent we change our way of thinking

we won’t flirt with our enemy or flirt

with our dangers anymore instead father

we will take the hard hard road of

saying goodbye

to what hurts us but feels good

and instead elect to be uncomfortable in

pursuit of your glory and your grace

father we have sinned we have fallen

short but we are still here so we repent

we ask that you would forgive us as we

come into alignment father

give us peace give us connection with

people on the same road

and allow us to continue to grow and

grow and grow

that we may become bridges because we

first

became tight ropes in jesus name i pray

amen family

i love you so much if this is your word

or you feel like someone else needs to

hear it make sure you share it

i believe together and in the context of

community that we’re going to not just

become bridges but we’re going to become

bridges that create bridges just like pt

has been telling us and so let’s

continue to be those bridges by sharing

this word

praying with one another you don’t know

it but you’re chatting with your family

you’re chatting with your next of kin

and together we’re going to look back

and say god not only where you were

providing you were building us up in the

process

i cannot wait to see you saturday sunday

thursday you know where to find us we’ll

be right here

you can count on the potter’s house 1la

in denver to be with you every step of

the way

you