Eyes Wide Open: Pt 2: Ep 2: Navigating Sudden Glory: The Art of Spiritual Stewardship

0:00 Hello, and welcome back to Diary of a Black Woman podcast and our devotional series. I'm your host, Connie Morris, and we have reached our final part of this life-shifting series. We are in episode four, Sutton Glory, Birthing the New Thing. And before I begin, I just want to go over this prayer of Jabez, just to keep us stirred up on what God is doing in me and in you through this Diary of a Black Woman podcast. So let's pray. Light your best, Father God, we come before you with holy confidence. We ask you to bless us indeed, to enlarge our territory, to keep your hands upon us, to keep us from evil, Lord God, to not let us cause any pain, but to be vessels of healing and wholeness.

0:50 And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So let's get going here. So we know that when we give birth to a new beginning, a new baby, you know, or a new vision that God has given us, that we know that battle for that moment has been won. Even though for that whole time, we know that the battle in our mind has been confronted. Everything that tried to paralyze us has been cast out. And we finally birthed that vision that God has given us. But we know as Christians that that delivery is not the end of the process, especially if you have a real baby. That's just the beginning of sleepless nights. Come on, y'all.

1:30 It's just the beginning of taking care of that vision, that dream, that baby that God has given us. It is the beginning of stewardship. So let's walk this out in the Word of God. Let's anchor ourselves in the word of God today and let God show us what it means to carry the glory responsibly. So we go to Haggai 2, chapter 2, verses 9 in the NIV, and it reads, The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house, says the Lord Almighty. And in this place, I will grant peace.

2:12 The old version of you is gone, but there's a greater glory on what's next. But peace only comes when you protect what has been born. And so once God has birthed something out of you, whatever that is, to me, I have a podcast. I wrote a couple of books. Matter of fact, I have two podcasts. I have two books and God is still growing. And I have over 230, I think it's 241 devotionals. Remember, the birthing process keeps coming. If you're connected with God, God is a cultivator.

2:53 And so as long as you stay connected, He's going to keep cultivating and growing you. So just like in Haggai, he says the present house would be greater than the glory of the former house, and He's going to keep creating greater glory in you. But it says here that the greater glory on what's next, but the peace only comes when you protect what's been born. And one thing that I can say, just as just one, I won't preach on this because this is only going to be 30 minutes and I don't want to pre-labor on one topic. The way you protect what's being born is when God speaks to you, write it down.

3:36 If it's in a dream, if it's in a vision, write it down. You can't put it to words, draw it out in the picture, you know, so that you can remember it. You're protecting it. You're protecting what's been born. Let's go to Isaiah 60, verse 22. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest, a mighty nation. I am the Lord. In this time, I will do this swiftly. Wow. He says, the least of you become a thousand, the smallest, a mighty nation. I am the Lord. He says that. The first one, he says, the Lord Almighty. Here he says, I am the Lord. In his time, I would do this swiftly. In his time, I would do this swiftly.

4:22 There's no striving in this next move. When it's time, it would happen suddenly. And some of you are standing in sudden glory, but you don't even realize it because you were expecting labor to labor to last much longer. How many can say amen to that? I started this podcast last July, and I was expecting to labor in the podcasting, which I'm still laboring in it. But I didn't expect to make a thousand downloads until probably July. I was thinking a couple of years because you do your study and your research. It takes like two to three years before your podcast even get traction.

5:03 And so far, I just thank you for over 1.2 thousand downloads on Diary of Black Women podcast. and so it's like it's taking traction and he did it suddenly. It happened in March that I looked up one day and it was over a thousand downloads and next you know, now it's at 1.2 and it's still steadily growing. Used to grow at one download a day. Now I'm getting like 30, about 20 to 30 downloads a day per episode which is absolutely marvelous in the Lord's eyes and suddenly, definitely in what God is doing in my eyes. And so there's no striving in this next move.

5:45 I'm just recording and God is doing the work. And so when God has told you to do something and you are consistent in that and not trying to be a superstar and just trying to do what he's told you to do, guess what? He is gonna make that thing happen. It says, when it's time, it will happen suddenly. And some of you are standing in sudden glory but don't realize it because you're expecting the labor to last longer. How many of you have babies that had 13-hour labors on your first child and the next child came out in two hours? Come on now. All right, 2 Timothy 1.14. It reads, Guard the good deposit that was entrusted in you.

6:29 Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. What was birthed in the Spirit must now be guarded by the Spirit because the enemy doesn't mind you birthing. It's what happens after birth that he fears the most. Come on now. He doesn't care if you birth it. He will kill it after it's out. He will kill it. If he can't get you to abort it, if he doesn't get you to have it, if he doesn't kill it in the womb, he will kill it after it is born. So you have to protect it in the spirit. How do you do that? You have to continue what you started in the spirit. You have to continue in the spirit.

7:12 Many people will get going in what God has given them and then leave God out of it and then run off and then wonder why that, that what looked like it was going to be victorious suddenly dies. But what I found out that the closer, the, the more that God is birthing in me, the more that I see productivity in the natural is the more I'm growing in the spiritual realm. The more I want to stay connected, the more I want to guard this baby that God has given me. The more he's expanding me according to the prayer of Jabez, he's expanding my territory. And I'm asking him to keep me from evil.

7:53 I don't want to be without him because it's his story. It's what he gave me. How do you continue to birth something in the spirit and then go in the natural and think you can do it on your own? You can't. You can't. So I'm going to help you here on this one. Postpartum stewardship, how to protect what's been born. You want to know how to do that? Let me get a sip of water real quick. How do we protect what has been born? Let's walk through this as a spiritual mother would. You just had a baby. First of all, number one, you cover that baby. You keep it warm and protected.

8:38 A newborn can't regulate its own temperature. Likewise, your vision, your promise, your calling is new and it needs covering. Keep it wrapped in prayer. Don't expose it too quickly. Don't explain it to people who don't carry discernment. I want to pause here. A lot of the things that God has given me has been birthed in the Spirit. And like I said, He'll show it to me either in a vision, many, many times in dreams. And I wake up and I see something and I'm excited about it. I share it too quickly. And they look at you like, that's not spirit. They're not connected to the spirit realm as I am.

9:22 I'm not saying that I'm super, super spiritual, but if I'm praying every day and you're not and I tell you something spiritual and you don't get it, I can't be mad at you because you didn't get it yet. Then you'll get it because somebody's going to say something and it's going to come out in the preaching. Oh, Connie, I know I see what you're saying. Well, you, okay, thanks. But then that's my fault because I expose it too quickly. So you want to keep your baby warm. You want to keep it wrapped in prayer. You don't want to expose it too quickly. You ever see, I'm not talking, if that was you, I ain't talking about you. I'm just saying that you ever see people have newborn babies and the baby like two weeks old, you want to show that baby out to the world real quickly. And that baby ended up sick for the next six weeks.

10:04 Cause you're going to took the baby out and expose it to people, places and things that it wasn't quite ready for. Right. I remember when I had my first baby, I was young and I didn't do that. My mom said, you sit your butt down and that baby does not go out to the house until it goes to the doctor for his first physical. That's the first time the baby will see the world is at the first doctor. And then you can take it somewhere. That's after first six weeks appointment or so. And so as you have to treat your promise of God as a real child, keep it wrapped up. Don't expose us too quickly. Don't try to explain it to people. I know you had a baby. I didn't know you were doing that. I didn't know you even had a podcast.

10:49 Let's keep it going. Reflection. Am I treating God, what God birthed in me, like something sacred? A lot of times people go say, I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant. And then people, you know, maybe miscarry, you know, and that's very disappointing because to be pregnant is exciting, but to miscarry is very disappointing if you've already exposed it too quickly. Now you got to explain it to people who don't quite understand, right? So sometimes what I want to say is keep the baby warm, cover the baby, keep it wrapped in prayer. Number two, feed the baby. You know, new more babies, they like to eat. That's all they know.

11:29 Their eyes are closed. They just know where to find the baby breast or the bottle. They just know where mommy is. And so it needs daily nourishment. So just like a baby needs to eat every few hours, a newborn, your promise must be fed by the word through discipline and worship. Don't ride the high of birthing and forget the basics of growth. Create rhythm, establish spiritual routines. So don't forget to feed your baby word and discipline and worship. You have now birthed something. It requires it to be wrapped up and fed, create new rhythms.

12:14 Just as when a new baby entered the world, you have to create new rhythms. Your whole schedule, if you haven't had a baby, please beware, your whole schedule changes. Your whole life changes. It's no longer you, yourself, and I. It's you, your baby, and that's it. And whatever that baby's schedule is on. Okay. And then the question is, what am I feeding the promises God gave me? Is it growing or starving? I remember the Lord told me. Because, you know, we want things to be fed. We want things to grow fast. How long does it take a baby to grow into a year? A year.

12:59 How long does it take a baby to grow, start to crawl? It usually takes about maybe six to nine months. Am I right? So why do we think we can birth a dream and have it running down the street fully with all teeth, with all this mouth full of teeth and fully closed and working a job just like that, like a full-grown man or a full-grown woman. It takes time. Amen. So cover your baby, keep it warm, feed it. Here we go. Number three, I like this one. Watch for infection. Infections guard against contaminations. Newborns are fragile.

13:40 And so is that book, that ministry, that mindset shift, the new vision of you. Wow. Everything that God is doing new in you is very fragile. You want to protect it. Discern toxic conversations, premature collaborations, old environments that want to access to the new. Check this out. So you start this podcast or you You start whatever you're starting. And remember, there's nobody around but you and the Holy Ghost. The Father shows up. Jesus shows up. It's just you. This is your collaboration.

14:20 You and the Spirit. The Father God, Jesus, your Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit. You guys are birthing out this dream, this baby. The baby is birthed out. All of a sudden, out of the blue. Infections come. Why? Because you want to take this new baby that you have birthed and you want to make it something big. You want to make it big overnight. You want to make it big overnight. And you don't even know what you're doing. And I had this dream and I was working on a project. I think it was something on a podcast. and it was a beautiful dream.

15:05 And somehow in the middle of this beautiful dream, I was in wild grass and I think it's going to be a podcast soon I'll share with you, but this is a short version. And in this beautiful green grass, I'm being protected by these lynx. They were killing the rats around me and it was a microwave in the middle of this dream. And so I'm thinking like, okay, things are moving slowly. So what I did was I put my little script into the microwave, thinking I'm going to fast forward what God has for me. And what happened in my dream is it blew up. And the Lord said, you cannot fast forward this process. How many of us try to fast forward God's process?

15:50 And you knew it was wrong because in the dream, the microwave doesn't belong in the green field of grass. It just didn't fit there. But lo and behold, the devil will make it look like a shiny new object. And then you will collaborate with the wrong people. Or another example is this, and this happens so much. You are growing your business at a rate that you can handle. Hello? That you can handle. Can I handle a million podcast downloads a day? Not at this time. But when I'm able to, God will mature me to that process. But there's people who will tell you, I can get your podcast to this and that and the other. But it's always going to cost you something.

16:36 Like, it'll cost you like $100, this and that and the other. Everybody selling something. And so when you have this premature collaboration with the wrong people, then you're going to have your feelings hurt. Because remember, you still are in the newborn phases of what God has called you to do. And you're trying to do adult things with your baby, but that's wrong in the natural. So you know it's wrong in the spiritual. So I'm just saying that you want to discern from toxic conversations, premature collaborations, old environments that want to access to your new. When your old friends who haven't heard from you, but they see that you got a new podcast, a new book and everybody, you know, you're doing new things.

17:22 Come on now, this is about doing new things, sudden, doing new things. And then people want to suddenly reach back. They weren't good for you in your past. They won't be good for you in your future. And so you want to understand that what God is doing for you is this new thing, that it is fragile. I spend a lot on this because it's where we lose our babies here. They die to infection. They died to contamination because we are so quick to, like I said in my dream, put it in the microwave and want it to blow up quickly. And God wants it to grow slowly. As you mature, it will mature. We want to go back and brag to our old friends. And then they're going to hate and you're going to feel like you ain't doing it fast enough and ain't growing fast enough.

18:08 Or strange people come around and want to collaborate with you and wish telling you how they can make something grow. And you think it's going to work. And the dream happened when I was kind of thinking about doing something similar to this. But before I did that, I prayed and the Lord showed me that's not the way I'm going to prosper you. So always take it to God in prayer. Always take it to God in prayer because when you do that, you won't have any premature collaborations and your baby won't die from infection or contamination. I spent a lot on that. Hope that got to you. Hope you got it. Number four, rest while it grows.

18:51 Don't rush the baby to run. Oh man, I got ahead of myself here. Don't rush the baby to run. You're not late. You don't need to do the most right now. You need to bond with God in this new space. Oh my gosh. This is powerful because you just had a baby. You want that thing to grow fast and overnight, but really all you need is to take the time and get to know your father, your God. That's the space he created for you. I know, I know.

19:31 You want to be famous and that's just the issue. Where do you go from there if you do it without God? Where do you go from there if you do it without God? If you skip this part about rushing the baby to run, where do you go? Take this time and bond with God. This is so powerful because it's really my story. I want things to grow overnight because you feel it birthing on the inside of you. But God says, slow, baby, slow, slow, slow. You're birthing a baby. And how long does it take a baby to become a year old? A year. How long does it take a baby to become an adult? it can take a little bit longer for some.

20:17 Amen. And so, a reflection question. As I am performing to prove something, am I performing to prove something or resting to nurture what I'm birthed? What are you trying to prove? Why is it that we have to make a point to prove something to people who don't really matter to us, right? I mean, the premature collaborations is enough. The old environment is enough. But why are we rushing this baby to run? You know, one thing I really don't really like when I see a baby that's four months, and they're trying to stand. That's cool. And then you're trying to make them walk at four months. They're not ready to walk at four months.

20:59 Their legs are strong enough. They're trying to pull up because you're making them stand up. But they prefer to crawl first. Amen. And so remember, you're not too late. You don't need to do the most right now. That's for me. I hear you, Lord. I receive it. And I will continue to bond with you. Amen. Number five, get help. You were meant to raise this alone. Every mother needs support. God has assigned midwives, intercessors, and mentors to help you raise what has just been born. This is powerful.

21:40 When God birthed in me that I was going to do Diary of Black Women TV, and as I was setting it up, it said I need moderators. I don't know anybody going to be a moderator. So I'm out recruiting moderators, right? And every moderator was saying, I'll wait till you blow up. I'll wait till this. I'll wait till that. And at church, as I was doing my duties as an usher, I had an assignment. And most of the assignment for this particular assignment, I was in the hallways. I usually check the women's bathrooms. And I was just checking the bathrooms. Making sure nothing afoot in the women's bathrooms at the church. And the Lord says, Connie, I'm sending you moderators.

22:22 Just a silent whisper, and you will train them. And I'm like, whoa. So that took the pressure off because I was wondering, the Lord said you're going to do this, but I'm going to need someone to monitor that space. And it was more to that, but just pretty much that part was that he's going to send them to me, and I'm going to train them. but I got to learn how to be a moderator myself because I've never moderated. How cool is that? That as a mom, we just get birth to a new baby that he's going to send me some babies to train in my new level. How cool is that?

23:02 So every mother needs support. They need midwives, intercessors, and mentors. But don't forget, we're going to raise up and train our own. We're going to be the trainers of our new babies and the ones that's coming our way. Question, have I asked for help or am I silently suffering in the name of strength? So don't be afraid to ask for help. We all need a break. And the last one is guard the home. Feel structure around the glory. Now it's time to rearrange your world, your relationships, routines, and even your digital space. Let's now protect what you've birthed.

23:44 And so you've already, it's powerful, right? So now you're protecting, you're becoming protective of that dream. Your relationships has changed. I know mine has. Your routine has changed. Even your digital space must now protect what you've birthed. Like I just shared, I'm looking for familiar faces to help me with my dream. But the Lord said, no, I'm going to send you some people your way. Then ask. I was kind of a little frustrated because what people have said, like, I'll wait until you do it first. I'll wait this. You know, people don't want to step out with you.

24:24 They want to wait till you become something. Then they want to ride in your shadows. But that's okay, too. Be the Holy Spirit and the Father. We're going to do this. And the question I have for you is like, what needs to shift in your home, your phone, or heart to make room for his new glory? You know, sometimes, you know, we can birth out some things and they can die after their birth. You know, God said, I'm doing a new thing. But he's asking us, are we able to handle it? He says, can you perceive it? The Bible asks, can we perceive it? And part of perceiving it in that whole scripture of Isaiah 43 is forgetting the things of old.

25:11 And when he asks you, can you shift? Can you learn new technology? To go live on my TV, the Diary of Black Women TV, I have to learn some new things. I have to buy a camera. I have to set that camera up. I don't know how to do all that stuff, but I'm about to learn how to do that. I'm going to add a little music to my podcast in the beginning. I'm going to upgrade my microphone, as you can tell. It's not like I'm talking in a tube. You know, but all of that takes process. You just learn. I'm birthing. I'm birthing. You're watching me grow. Watching the process of me protecting my baby.

25:52 Let's go through this real quick. You want to be able to cover the baby, keep it warm and protect it. Feed the baby with daily nourishment. So you want to cover the baby with prayer. Feed the baby with the word of God. Watch for infections. Watch what you say, who you hang with. You know, who you hanging around with, who you're collaborating with. Rest and rest while it grows. Don't rush the baby to run or walk before it's time. Use this time to bond with God. You know, when babies are newborn, they sleep a lot. And so you can actually spend that time while the baby is resting and sleeping to bond with the Lord, right? And then get some help. You weren't meant to do this alone.

26:36 And so you're going to be able to find some support, ask for help. Don't try to do it alone. And then to guard your home, build your structure around the glory, protect what's yours, you know, and allow God to do the work. He gave you the plan. I remember when he gave me the idea, I told you I didn't walk through the whole process. It was first a name. And then I asked, okay, what's the name? He said, it's going to be a business. And what type of business? And he said, it's going to be a devotional business. My first part of writing a devotional business was to write devotionals for my mom. And I did that on a daily basis. And I got to about 40 devotionals with my mom. And she says, okay, that's good, Connie. And she helped me edit it. She was my editor.

27:19 Do this to it, do that to do it. And then I have 40 devotionals. I said, mom, I said, okay, Lord, what's next? He said, you're going to start a podcast. Take those first 40 devotionals and that's what you're going to start your podcast. That's the process. I honored each and every step. Well, the way. And now he's moving me into the live stream, Diary of Black Women TV, where I would talk faith, which is just like I'm hearing me, but you're going to see my face. And then we're going to do what's called Just Chatting, where we're going to just go through some devotional. Just I'm asking questions. We can get to have a conversation around the Word of God. I'm going to do a two-hour slot for each one so that we can get to know each other and get to birth what God's vision is in you.

28:06 And then I open it with the prayer of Jabez, and then I close it with the promises of Jeremiah 29, 11, which is a scripture that was birthed in me probably like over 30 years ago when I went to my first women's conference. You know, as a new Christian, you don't know nothing about women's conferences because you spend most of your time hanging at the club. But when I went to my first women's conference and I heard that scripture, it birthed in me just like a new baby, like I was pregnant with that scripture and it stayed with me. And I just been birthing that, birthing that for, oh my gosh, it's just stayed with me and it's still with me now. And so two of the faith, my scriptures that I use, Jabez, when I was reading the Bible, I saw that prayer in the middle of genealogy, and then God said, and he answered it.

28:57 I'm like, wow, this guy was bold enough to ask for prayer and got his prayers answered. He was bold enough to ask, and he got his prayers answered. And then the Jeremiah 29 is that the Lord is going to, if you pray, you seek that he's going to, that he thinks about you. How cool is that? We have a God that thinks about us. All right. So let's continue. I want to do the decrees for today and close out in prayer. I'm at my 30 minute mark here. It says, I will not abandon what I birth. I guard the promise with grace and wisdom. I feed it daily. I covered it in prayer.

29:39 I do not apologize for changing. What I birth is holy, and I will build my life around it. I'm going to read it again. I decree that I will not abandon what I birth. I guard it with the promise, with grace and wisdom. I feed it daily. I cover it in prayer. I do not apologize for changing. what I birthed as holy, and I will build it, build my life around it. And I want to pray for wisdom for the new season. Father, thank you for the baby, the promise, the glory, the assignment.

30:19 Wow, but now I ask you to teach me how to steward it well. I don't want to lose it through neglect. I don't want to expose it through carelessness. I don't want to forget what it costs to bring it. Amen. Help me to build around it, feed it, protect it, and to grow with it. Show me how to rest. Show me how to align. And help me to stay faithful to what you entrusted to me. This promise will live. This baby will thrive. And you will get the glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.

30:59 You did it. Yes, you did. You didn't just survive the labor. You didn't just survive the promise. You've learned how to mother it with maturity. Sudden glory doesn't mean sloppy living. It means living intentionally with God at the center of it. And while this is the final episode of this series. It's only the beginning of what God is forming in you. So stay ready, stay sensitive, and keep your eyes wide open. I want to close this out with prayer and the promises of Jeremiah 29, 11-14 over you.

31:45 Father God, you declare that I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. So today we receive that truth. You said that when we call on you, you will listen. So we pray. You say when we seek you with all our hearts, you will be found. So we pursue. And you say that you will restore us from captivity. So we declare freedom from every place where our listeners feel stuck, silence, and small. Thank you for always drawing near when we show up in faith. In Jesus' name, amen.

32:27 So if today's episode moves you, stay connected at our website, Diary of a Black Woman, LLC.com, or I'll be coming soon to YouTube. And also, don't forget, Twitch is coming in July, Tuesdays and Fridays on Diary of Black Women TV. Stay connected, stay covered, and keep healing out loud. This is Connie Morris, and you've been listening to Diary of a Black Woman podcast, where healing, truth, and grace lives. Amen.