Dharius Daniels - I Didn't Mean It Like That

I want to talk about this subject and our time together today. I didn’t mean it like that. I want everybody who’s ever said something they didn’t quite mean at the wrong time to clap their hands and thank God in advance that He’s getting ready to speak to you. I didn’t mean it like that. As many of you know, I was raised in a small town called Kill Michael, Mississippi, with a population of a little over 400 people—one full-time police officer, one part-time police officer who drove my bus during the day and covered the night shift at the station. There were zero stoplights in the city, one doctor, and if he wasn’t at the clinic, you could pull up to his house. My high school graduating class had 32 people. You have to say it like that! I was raised in that cultural context, and every cultural context has its colloquialisms. There are things you hear people say frequently based on where you were raised, and one of the phrases I would hear often—maybe it’s one you heard where you grew up too—is this: you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. This saying is interesting because it simply suggests that you can give people exposure to something, but you can’t give them an appetite. You can show them a picture of what’s possible for them, but you can’t make them long for it. You can reveal their potential, but you can’t make them want better for themselves because most people don’t live at the level of their potential; they live at the level of their standards. Some people have standards that are beneath their potential, and you and I, who love people, who are invested in people, who want to bring out the best in them, need to realize that the only thing we can do, the only thing we are called to do, the only thing we are capable of doing, the only thing we have been anointed to do, is to lead them to water. Did you hear what I just said? This revelation should ease some frustration in our lives because some of us have been trying to make people drink who are not thirsty. I thought y’all would talk better than me after 12 o’clock! This means you and I have to get a revelation that we should never give up on people, but you hit a season where you’ve got to lead them up to God. I’m not giving up on you, but I’ve made all the contributions I’m able to make in this season. Come on! You’ve got to have the revelation that there are five types of people I can’t help: I can’t help people who don’t want help; I can’t help people who don’t want help from me; I can’t help people who only want help their way. Y’all are not talking to me! I can’t help people who need help and don’t know they need help, and I know how to help them, but they’re trying to tell me how to help them. If they knew how to help themselves, they wouldn’t need my help. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. This means you’ve got to be conscious and careful that you do not interrupt people and rescue them from trials that God is using to create thirst. Did you hear what I just said? You’ve got to be careful not to rescue people from trials that God is using to create thirst. Sometimes people have to go through a trial to develop a thirst for better. Here’s how David put it: he said it was good that he was afflicted, that he might learn your decrees. You’ve got to understand that some people only get educated through affliction, but you must trust that the same God who preserved you in your silly season until you learned your lesson is the same God who will preserve them in their silly season until they learn their lesson. I don’t want to hear from people who have never made any mistakes and have made all the right choices, claiming they deserve to be where they are right now. This next 30 seconds of this sermon is for people honest enough to say they should have blown it. They shouldn’t even be here right now. As a matter of fact, if some of my stuff came out in the light, I would have to throw up my one Baptist finger and exit the building, but He looked beyond my faults and saw my needs. Some people need affliction to get an education, and when you love them, you’ll want to rescue them from pain. They need to change because you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. That’s one colloquialism, but here’s another you may have heard: it’s not just you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink; it’s also «bless your heart.» Now, this phrase has a multi-faceted meaning, and the tone in which it’s said determines what is meant by it. One tone of «bless your heart» is an expression of endearment. It’s when you realize and recognize someone has done something they didn’t have to do; they’ve been uniquely generous, and they’ve made a unique contribution to your life. You express your appreciation and affection by saying «bless your heart.» But there’s another way that phrase…