Matthew chapter 21, verse 6, says the disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, «Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!» When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, «Who is this?» The crowds answered, «This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.»
I want to talk from this subject in our time together today. It’s this: stay off the horse. Family, toward the latter part of my high school years, my parents allowed me to spend time away from home during the summer. The majority of those summers were spent in Texas, one in a part of Dallas called Oak Cliff, and another in a suburb of Dallas called Coppell. They allowed me to spend time with one of my uncles, Uncle Steve, for several reasons, one of which was because they understood a principle that I’ve affectionately titled «the principle of exposure.» What does that mean? Here’s what it means: once you’ve been exposed, you can’t be unexposed. I’m going to say that one more time; the principle of exposure is simply this: once you’ve been exposed, you cannot be unexposed. Exposure awakens in you an appetite for something that you could have but didn’t know you wanted until you got exposed to it. Did you hear what I just said? I said exposure awakens in you, and in me, an appetite for something that we could have but didn’t even know we wanted until we got exposed to it. So, exposure is one of God’s avenues for inspiration. Are you all hearing me? God will expose you to inspire you because he knows that it is not enough for him to simply want something for you; he must inspire you so that you can want it for yourself.
So, some of you need to pause for the cause and ask yourselves this question: why has God allowed me to see all the things he’s allowed me to see? Why has he strategically, and by his grace and providence, put me in positions where my eyes got to see some things that I would not have seen had it not been for divine placement? I’m telling you, God is not exposing you to something that he doesn’t, in some way, want to do in, through, and for you. He’s trying to make you hungry for something you didn’t know existed until you got exposed to it. Did you hear what I said? Yep.
Now watch this; because exposure is God’s avenue of inspiration, one of the first feelings exposure brings is frustration. God sometimes has to give you a holy discontent for something you used to be in love with, satisfied with, and fulfilled by. He says, «Because if I don’t give you a holy dissatisfaction for that thing, you will stay at a place where you’re living substandard and suboptimal, and I want to move you from faith to faith and from glory to glory.» So I’ll give you a divine dislike for something. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah. Sometimes you’re not being moody; you’re being moved. I feel that right there. I want somebody to put in the chat, «I’m being moved; no, I’m not moody.» I don’t know why I don’t like this anymore; I don’t know why I can’t tolerate this anymore; I don’t know why I can’t put up with this anymore. You’re not being moody; you’re being moved. God uses exposure.
Now, the devil, who wants to—watch this—pervert God’s purpose with everything, wants us to mismanage that exposure. Instead of the exposure bringing inspiration, he wants to use it to create insecurity. Did you hear what I just said? And watch this; instead of exposure being used to clarify your calling, the enemy wants to use exposure to get you to compare. Did you hear what I just said? But I believe I’ve got some people listening to me, and I don’t care how old or how young you are, who will say, «I’m too old to play games.» Yeah, I’m not jealous; I’m motivated. I’m not hating; I’m inspired. I don’t want anything God’s got for you, but I want everything that God’s got for me.
This principle of exposure—my parents understood this principle, and so they would let me go to Texas because they wanted me, number one, to be exposed to larger places and spaces than Kilmichael, Mississippi. There’s nothing wrong with growing up in that small town, but they wanted me exposed to more so that if I chose to stay in that environment, it was because I made a choice, not because I followed the script. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah. So, secondly, they wanted me to be exposed not just to a larger city but to a variety of different professions being carried out by people that looked like me. In a small town, there were some things I never saw being done by people like me, so my dad, who always instilled in me that I could do anything, knew I needed more than inspiration. He knew I needed examples. I needed to see somebody do something, not just hear that they can’t do that. That’s hating.
