“No weapon, formed against me, shall prosper, no it won’t work…God will do what he said he will do…He will stand by his word…it will come true.”
– Fred Hammond
This lyric has been stuck in my head all week, kinda due to the season and things I’ve been going through, and maybe you too. This quote made me think about all the trials, lessons, and experiences that God has ultimately brought me through. It’s Black History Month, a time we Black/African Americans celebrate ourselves as a culture and race, and ultimately look to our past to see how far we’ve come and how much we’ve accomplished as a community. Because only God knows the mountains He had to move so we can have the little that we do have now.
I am a Black man living in America, living within a structure that wasn’t created equal for people who look like me to succeed in any way, shape, or form. However, God, over the last twenty-four years, has blessed me to succeed in key areas that I needed to in order to progress in my life. There were people and things that were working against my success, attempting to limit and hinder me, but just like always, God said, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17).
God has placed my calling in the field of Mental Health, where you kinda need to look welcoming and have a warm, sociable, and aesthetically-pleasing demeanor to make your clients feel comfortable and safe enough to open up to you about their issues. However, that wasn’t the case for me, I grew to be this very “tall” Black man with a “huge” exterior that society deems to be “frightening” and “dangerous” to others. And I’m a very shy person, so you see my dilemma. But like always, God had other plans (Psalms 33:11). God blessed me to have key traits that all therapists need in order to succeed, and these key traits have allowed many to look past my physicality and feel comfortable enough to open up to and trust me. This made me outgrow my shyness, so much so, it was no longer a limiting crutch that I used to say, “I wasn’t enough.” God made it so, “no weapon formed against me shall prosper.”
Lastly, I’ve reached institutions and secured jobs and resources that only the best or socially prominent are privy to, not someone of my social and racial class. I honestly thought growing up, and really until recently, that I was the luckiest unlucky person I knew. I always had hopes and dreams to do these big things in my life, but they were always feats that seemed so insurmountable, and more importantly, impossible for someone who looked like me in the society I live in. But God surpassed my expectations and blessed me with opportunities that society had convinced me I could not attain. I mention all of this not to gloat or to paint some grand mosaic of myself; no, I say all of this to say that the world thought it had the last say-so over my life. Ultimately, in the end for all of us, God has the last say so (Proverbs 19:21). He is the only true sovereign, God. God doesn’t allow any weapon to succeed against His people. God does mention we will have our ups and downs in our lives, yes, but that’s expected for everyone. However, God promises to be that shield, nurturer, provider, and forever present help in our lives. God promised to do these things for me and for you.
I hope this piece is able to jog your memory of what God has done and always does in each and every one of your individual lives, a reminder that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. If God be for us, then who be against us? (Romans 8:31)
