Touré Roberts - From Pain to Purpose

Well, family, last Sunday I began a conversation called «After This,» and the prophetic declaration was that there would be glory after this. As I was preparing for what the Lord would have me speak to you this week, we obviously were not finished with the thought or the idea of life after this. God began to show me some things that I want to share with you today. However, I want to begin with a bit of transparency, if you would. I want to talk to you a little about where I have personally been, and I believe that it is connected to what God wants to say to you.

Here it is: lately, I’ve been dealing with a new anxiety, if you would, and I’ve had to fight off this anxiety because, as you know, I talk about it all the time—anxiety is not good. But this was a different anxiety, and it’s not what you think. It’s not anxiety about the pandemic, or the fear of getting sick, or a loved one getting sick. What I am afraid of is losing the healing that this pandemic brought to me—a healing that I didn’t even know I needed. I’m concerned and, to some degree, somewhat afraid of when things begin to open back up. The world might heal physically, but I’m afraid that we might fall sick again spiritually, relationally, morally, and in our stewardship to one another and the earth we’ve been placed in.

What is interesting is that this pandemic proved that we may have had our health; we may not have been worrying about the flu, COVID-19, or any subsequent complications that may occur. We may not have been sick physically, but it’s been teaching us that we might have been a little sick in our relationships. We might have been a little sick in our priorities; we might have been a little sick in how we steward—how we take care of one another and how we manage this world that we’ve been entrusted with. If I’m honest with you, I’m afraid that as things get back to normal, I’m afraid of losing this feeling.

Because, if we’re honest, in the midst of this pandemic and in the midst of the great difficulty and pain that our nation and world have suffered, there is a part of us that has gotten better—better than we have ever been before in our lives. I’m afraid of us forgetting what this pandemic has taught us, what we felt, what we learned, the revelations that we received. Watch this: I’m afraid of going back to the less that looked like more. As I ponder this pandemic, I’m recognizing that it was designed to simplify us. It was designed to make us more singular in our focus, more potent and powerful in the things that matter most. Ultimately, it was designed to nudge us more toward the will of God.

As I further reflect on the pandemic and what it has done for us, we all know what it’s done against us. This is not being insensitive to the pain that exists out there, but as I begin to acknowledge that—and then even look past that and think about what it’s done for us—one of the things the pandemic has done is serve as a test run of the inevitable. What do I mean by that? I mean that this pandemic produced a rare moment where God graced us with the gift of clarity by shining a light on our works, our behaviors, our attitudes, and our rhythms, so that we can validate what was worthy or worthwhile. This way, we can make the appropriate necessary changes before time runs out, because all of us are on a clock.

The pandemic allowed us, and forced us, to look at what I’d like to call our body of work. You know, in the entertainment industry, great people who have done wonderful things are often acknowledged for their accomplishments through their body of work, which includes what they have produced, what they have written, or what they have starred in. Recently, we had the battle between Babyface and Teddy Riley on Instagram, which was wonderful; I’m a big fan of both, and it was incredible. They were highlighting, to a certain degree, some of their body of work, and we were in awe of it. It brought back memories, and that’s a wonderful thing.

However, I believe that one of the things this pandemic did for us is teach us something. It came to teach us how to live, how to love, and how to labor—how to live, how to love, and how to labor. I’m thinking about Jesus right now. At one point, He said, «I must work my works while it’s day, because nighttime comes when nobody can work.» What Jesus was saying is, «I am building my life’s portfolio.» All of us right now, whether we acknowledge it or not, are building our body of work—we’re building our life’s portfolio, and we only have a certain amount of time to do it.