Dharius Daniels - You are The Exception

It’s a principle affectionately entitled «The Principle of Exception,» and this principle simply suggests that what happens with them does not dictate or determine what happens with me. In other words, previous patterns are not always accurate indicators of future possibilities. You can’t look at what happened with most people and come to conclusions about what’s possible for me. You can’t look at what happened with most people my age and tell me what’s possible for me at my age. You can’t look at what happened with most people of my gender and tell me what’s possible for me with my gender. You can’t look at what happened with most people of my race and tell me what’s possible for me with my race. You can’t look at what happened with most people in my family and tell me what’s possible for me in my family. You can’t look at what happened with most people in my city and tell me what’s possible for me in my city. Because when I read my Bible, I see that my God is the God who orchestrates exceptions. An exception is an aberration; it’s an anomaly, a deviation, a rule breaker. It’s when something happens that couldn’t happen, shouldn’t happen, or wouldn’t happen unless God made it happen. The Bible is a book inundated with examples of exceptions. Most women in their 90s don’t have babies, but with Sarah, God made an exception to show you and to show me that He will empower you to give birth to something in a season where other people think it’s too late. Did you hear what I just said? They can say it’s too late for them, but you can’t say it’s too late for me, because my Bible says my God redeems time. That means He buys it back; it doesn’t mean He gives me more time; it means He takes the time I have left and does so much with it that it makes up for the time I wasted. And if you’ve never wasted time, be quiet. If you’ve never blown any opportunities, be quiet. But if you need God to spin the block and do it for you one more time, open your mouth and make some noise. Men don’t go into lion’s dens and come out unscathed and unscarred, but with Daniel, God made an exception. You can’t go into the fiery furnace and come out not even smelling like smoke, but with the Hebrew boys, God made an exception. You don’t walk around the wall once a day for six days, then on the seventh day, shout, and the wall falls flat, but with Joshua, God made an exception. Birds don’t feed people; people feed birds, but with Elijah, God made an exception to show you He’ll make a thing change its nature when He gets ready to bless you. He’ll make a taker become a giver, He’ll make a hater become an elevator. I gotta go; I grew up Baptist, so I have to give you this one: men don’t walk the Via Dolorosa, be crucified on a hill called Calvary, and be buried in Joseph’s tomb, stay there all night Friday, stay there all day Saturday, stay there all night Saturday night, and early Sunday morning get out of the grave, but with Jesus, God made an exception. And if He did it for Sarah, if He did it for Daniel, if He did it for the Hebrew boys, if He did it for Elijah, if He did it for Joshua, if He did it for Jesus, He can do it for you. And am I talking to anybody in this room that has the anointing of the exception on your life? If I’m talking to you, shout, «I’m next!» I’m next to break a barrier, I’m next to shake up my city, I’m next to do what they said couldn’t be done. That’s why I came here; I had to get here because something inside of me told me I’m next. And I will not wait until I get it; I won’t wait until I see it to praise Him, but I’ll praise Him right now! I’m next! I’m next! I’m next! I got to be next! After all I’ve been through, next is all on me. Look at somebody and say, «You look like next!» That’s right, you look like next; it’s all over you! Next is all on you! I said you’ve been called, created, and commissioned to be the exception. I can say this with confidence because if you objectively examine the majority of the words that the scriptures use to describe the believer, «normal» isn’t one of them. Did you hear what I just said? Salt, light, royal, chosen, peculiar, head not tail, above not beneath, lender not borrower are all words that the scriptures use to describe the believer and God’s intention that His people be exceptions. But I have a question. I said I have a question. Yes, it’s a key question, a quintessential question, a consequential question. I have a question: If I am that, why does God seem to go to such great lengths to keep telling me I’m not? I mean, if I already am, won’t I automatically be it? But God seems to regularly, repeatedly, obsessively, and incessantly keep reminding you, keep reminding me, «You ain’t normal.» And if the actions of God are intentional, it means that everything He does, He does for a reason. So, if He’s repeating Himself, He’s repeating Himself for a reason, and He’s not repeating Himself because He needs to say it again; He’s repeating Himself because I need to hear it again. He’s repeating Himself because…