Will You Show Up To The Greatness In You, Crying To Be Exposed?

Originally posted 2020-11-09 12:45:44.

Hi!

Before photography became instant and digitized, photo developers used darkrooms to expose pictures. They experimented with various chemicals, copper, glass and tin wet plates. The exposure time in these emulsion processes ranged from minutes to seconds.

During that time bellows were added to cameras to help with focusing. Dry gelatin plates were used to expose pictures. Later, instant cameras were invented. Polaroid also introduced a camera by which a chemical process took place inside the camera to produce film.

Great progress has been made with photography. Today we are able to snap pictures and make videos with our cell phones and share them worldwide instantly.

What’s the point?

Pictures were being formed Inside those darkrooms for people to see. But, first, they had to go through a process. During the exposure time, those inanimate objects appeared from seemingly nowhere. The finished products were later displayed for various uses. It took time, but they ultimately served their purpose.

My main point?

You, my friend are more than an inanimate object being handled by people so that you can be exposed. You were formed in your mother’s womb by an awesome God. Before you took your first breath, you had a purpose. Think about what God told Jeremiah in the Holy Scriptures. “Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah‬ ‭1:4-5‬ ‭KJV‬‬

If Jeremiah’s purpose was in place before he came out of his mother’s womb; don’t you think God did this for everyone? Then, why not you? Why would God not have endowed YOU with great purpose?

If you are saying, “Who me? The one who people think is not good enough? Me? The one who people accuse of being a know-it-all? Me? The one who is looked down at, because my clothes do not fit people’s elitist standards? Me? The one people label as perennially downtrodden? Me? The one who has been marginalized by people of my own race because of the darker melanin in my skin?

Me? The one who’s family lineage is subpar in the eyes of prideful people? Me? The one who made so many mistakes in my life until people refuse to see the best in me? Me? The one who is hated because of my intellect? Me? The one who hears the put downs of insecure, self-exalted people? Me? The one who does not base who I am on the amount of stuff I own, degrees I have earned or man’s titles? Me? The one who has allowed people’s opinions and my own damaged view of myself to cause me to see myself as a grasshopper? Who? Me?

Yes? You?

What you must see is everything you have gone through and still go through has purpose and meaning. See the daily life lessons you encounter, capture the moments and discover YOU. There is a lot in YOU! Show up!!

When I worked in a major corporation, those of us in leadership positions were required to attend intensive leadership training. I not only had to register for the courses and seminars, but, I had to show up to the places where the sessions were held. Sometimes a 45 minute drive turned into 75 minutes, because of the weather. Yet, I had to go. It was mandatory.

When I arrived to the destination, there were sheets of paper on a table outside of the meeting room with registrants’ names on them. All I had to do was show up and give the registrar my name. The registrar gave me the table number where I was assigned to sit. That person also informed me that there would be markers and place cards at my assigned table. I was to fold a place card and write my ‘first name only’ on both sides of the place card.

I was initially puzzled about why we wrote our first names only. I thought the higher ups needed to be identified by their complete names, titles and departments. But, I soon learned the ingenious strategy of the organizers.

The attendees consisted of persons in multi-level leadership positions. There were presidents, vice presidents, directors, managers, assistant managers and team leaders at the training. We all sat intermingled at various tables in pre-assigned seats. No one had the opportunity to form cliques or have any upper echelon seating.

In the eyes of the trainers, we were all leaders in attendance for one purpose; to learn. A major lesson was to help us see our titles as non-factors in that environment, and to see how focusing on the importance of our titles could hinder our ability to learn. The first names on our place cards did not identify the peons or the big mucky mucks.

Once I understood, I loved it.

Some people knew each other. Yet as we engaged in dialogue, team assignments and presentations, we all appreciated the knowledge, intellect, creativity and even the vulnerability of each other. At lunchtime, while standing in the buffet line, some of the higher-ups talked with each other. But, we all sat and ate at our assigned seats by choice.

We all SHOWED UP to who we were without a title. In that single all-day training session, we learned a lot about our own, and others’ gifts, talents and individual greatness. It was fulfilling to be ‘us’ without having to prove ourselves based upon titles and positions. We made connections that helped us with our jobs and private endeavors.

Do you get the point?

Your greatness has been waiting on YOU! Now, you my friend, must SHOW UP! The world needs what you have.

God gave you that ability to sit at the piano and create a melody. Expose the results to others. God gave you those poems and writings in the 40 or 50 notebooks stacked in your home. Expose them to others. God gave you that melodic voice. Expose it. God gave you those carpentry, masonry, mechanical, plumbing, agricultural, administrative, entrepreneurial or electrical skills. Develop and use them. Somebody is waiting to be blessed by you.

God gave you the aptitude to figure out complicated procedures others had to learn while studying for an engineering degree. God placed the burning desire in your heart to help broken men or women learn to live a wholesome life. Expose it to others. God gave you that ability to walk into environments filled with strangers and strike up conversations. Show introverts and persons who feel inadequate or less-than that they can do the same. God gave you the tenacity to persevere through setbacks. Show others how you made it through, and how they can make it. God gave you the intellect some admire and others hate. Use it to help others AND to help yourself.

What is God allowing to happen in your life that is nudging you to SHOW UP?

I recently received a text from a friend. It was a draft of a letter/proposal she had talked into her phone that was due the same night. She asked me to look at it and make necessary changes. I fussed about her last minute request. She ignored my rant and told me to call her back when I finished. I reread the text, called my friend and asked her to tell me what was on her heart for the recipient to understand. A few hours later, I texted my friend and told her to check her email. The short turnaround time caused me to feel like the writing was not good. But, I felt a sense of satisfaction.

You may see it as a friend using me. But, I see it differently. She was desperate, she was confident in my abilities and she knew what I had forgotten. One of my God-given gifts is to take other people’s thoughts and put them into a professional letter, proposal, workshop or book. I needed to be reminded of that gift. Why? That incident pushed me to show up to the greatness crying in me that needs to be exposed. I heard the Spirit of the Lord tell me, again, to finish some things God gave me to do months ago.

You, my friend, have greatness in you. What is it? What is in you crying out for you to show up? What is in you that the world needs? Please kick whatever damaged perspective you may have of yourself to the curb. SHOW UP TO THE GREATNESS IN YOU CRYING TO BE EXPOSED!

Do me a favor! Read and meditate on the 6th chapter of Judges in the Holy Bible. Here is a portion:

Judges‬ ‭6:11-16‬ ‭KJV‬‬ “And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abi–ezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.”

Thanks for spending time with me today. Read this post again and share it with those who need to be blessed by ‘showing up.’ We will talk soon.

Blessings!

Rochelle 🌹