[0:00]All right, so I just want to do this quick video for anybody that's struggling with being liked. And what I mean by being liked is, if you are in a relationship where you desire to be in a relationship, if you want to be liked by your peers, by your boss, if you want to have people around you to help you along your journey without them hating you and disliking you.
[0:20]And again, I'm not trying to talk about people pleasers and those things. But if you're in a relationship, if you're thinking about marriage, if you're thinking about going further with somebody, whether it's just in a platonic relationship, whether it's trying to be liked by your boss so you can get promoted, any number of things, your ministry, your parents, right, your siblings or whatever it is.
[0:44]Something you got to understand about how God works is that he knew you before time began. He knew who you were going to hang out with. He knew who you you were going to give birth to. He knew, like, all the people that he's ever going to have you interact with.
[1:02]I was reminded of the story of Joseph where he was in prison. And when he was in prison, what happened was that, um, he found favor. Joseph found favor in the eyes of all these people, right? The the prison ward, right? The people that were in the prison, people that were around him, all the time.
[1:20]He had it, meaning God, where he allowed the people that were around him and yes, it looked gloomy. Yes, it looked bad. He was in prison. But the people that were around him, they liked them. And so when the warden liked them, he gave steward trip over whatever Joseph did.
[1:36]The Bible says that he didn't worry. He didn't like care about what he did because he knew everything would prosper. And so what you got to understand is that God hardens hearts, he softens hearts, and he knew you when before a time began.
[1:50]He knew who you were going to to marry. He knows, like, who the other person is that you were going to interact with. He knows what it takes to push buttons to get you to move to a certain direction by the favor of somebody else.
[2:03]And so don't sit there and think, oh, you know, they don't like me. They hate me. And you're like losing sleep and you're like anxious over things. But rather, you got to understand that God, he's going to give you favor if that person is meant to be in your life.
[2:20]If you're meant for moving forward in that promotion, if you're meant to marry that person, that person, they're going to like you. Their heart will beat for you. They will see you and they will have no disdain. They will have no hate.
[2:32]They won't have these things for which you're going to sit there and have like this self-doubt, like you're insecure over like what they're going to do if they're going to cheat on you, if they're going to go and promote somebody else, if they're going to hire somebody else.
[2:43]If your company doesn't see you for that raise you're going to get, or your ministry, your pastor, your friends, they're not going to, you know, give you those benefits or whatever it is.
[2:54]You got to remember that God, he will allow that friend, that person to soften their hearts, such that they will like you. They will open themselves up to you. They will give you things, whether it's tangible, like service-oriented things.
[3:07]Love, they give you gifts. They give you tangible things. They like any one of these acts of love. If it's meant for you, God is going to have favor over you, and he's going to allow people, he can change people's hearts just like that.
[3:22]And you've got to realize, this is the essence of how God works when he moves things, right? So when he's hardening hearts, like when he hardened the hearts of Pharaoh, right?
[3:33]And and many other people for the Israelites, that was for a reason, and God allowed that to happen. So when he's hardening the heart of somebody that's not good for you, take a look at that as being God's sovereign hand over something, and that it's a blessing to you, so that you would be deflected away from that into something else.
[3:54]And it's an experience. Sometimes they're in for a season and they're out. It was meant to be, and then it wasn't meant to be. And so God separated you. And that's what happens, and they may come around if it's meant to be.
[4:05]But for now, don't fret over changing somebody's hearts. Don't fret over like trying to like manipulate the situation to to make them tricked into liking you, into giving you favor.
[4:20]But rather, God is the one that sets their hearts. So if it's meant for you, you got to realize and you got to trust that God, he knew you before you were in your womb.
[4:29]He knew the other person before they were in the womb. They he knew what it meant for you to be together and for you to do something, whether it's ministry, whether it's ultimately marriage, if you it's a spouse or whatever the the season and the occasion is.
[4:39]So you have to trust, and you have to know that God, he has those hearts. He has your heart too. He could actually give your heart over to somebody and being open to them, or you can he can close your heart to somebody.
[4:54]And if that happens, just see that as the Holy Spirit working. See that as the sovereign hand of God over your life. So just know and trust, have faith that when he's giving favor over somebody for you, or your you favor over somebody else, then just let that be as that being God in his sovereignty.
[5:12]That doesn't mean you don't do something. That doesn't mean you sit back and do nothing and lack confidence. That's a different topic altogether. But I'm talking about purely the status of someone's heart and their posture and where they are in their openness for you, or for somebody else, for a group, for a people group, for whatever it is.
[5:31]And let that be and let God work. The only thing you can do is surrender it and say, Lord, why don't you take this? And if it's for me, let it be for me. If it's for somebody else, let it be for somebody else.
[5:41]Because if somebody was to like or favor somebody else and, um, you know, things work out between them or it doesn't and they figure it out, then they're going to come back around. They're going to come to you and say, you know what? I actually want to promote you.
[5:54]You know what? I actually want to date you. You know what? I actually want to spend time with you, and that's what's going to happen. They may have to figure it out.
[6:00]You may already know for them, but that's okay. All you've got to do is trust the Lord and let him work and let him do everything. And he's going to make it work out for your good. So be blessed, be encouraged, and take this as a word of encouragement.
[6:12]Guys, you guys know I'm doing a 40-day inspiration series. Love your help. I have all the links and the information down below if you guys want to support me. More to come. Love you guys. Talk to you guys very soon.
