The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Monday, January 20, 2020.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2

HELP!!

I learned how to swim very late in life. It was one of those things that I just never got around to. Then I made a decision, I was getting too old to not know how to swim. So I went and signed up for lessons. I figured that I would be in a class with a bunch of adults that also were learning how to swim. Boy was I wrong. On my first day of class I looked around and noticed that as the only person over four and a half feet tall in the class, it was possible that this was not an adult class. Taking pity on me, the people at the complex pulled me out of the class and gave me a personal instructor for the six weeks of the class thus saving my ego major denting.

All was going well with my swim classes until one day when everything went wrong. I was leaving the aquatics facility and stepped off a curb. The curb was a little higher than I thought and I came down in the side of my foot twisting my ankle. There I was lying on the ground as people walked by looking down at the guy on the ground. I hoped someone would reach out a hand to at least help me to my feet, but no such luck. So I figured out a way to pull myself up on the back of a pickup and hobbled my way back to my car. I was stunned that nobody lifted a hand to help me out when I had fallen.

Friends, there will be times in life when we will fall and not be able to get up. We will look around for people to reach out a hand, or to give us a push, and there will be nobody there. It is in those moments that you have to look up to the Lord. While people may not always help you up, you can always expect help from the Lord. The lord will always reach out a hand or put something, or an unexpected someone in place to help you back to your feet. So don’t ever think there is nobody there to help you. Look up and call on the Lord, knowing that help is always on the way.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Friday, January 17, 2020.

But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9

You’re Right Here

If you have ever been to a mall you have seen the directory kiosk. It is typically a multi-sided, six-foot-tall cube, positioned near a major entrance to the mall so that people coming in can find the stores that they are looking for. Most people walk by them without ever noticing them because they already know where they are going. They know where their favorite store is. They know where the movie theater is. They know where the food court is. They know how to get to all of the places that they have already been to, but when they are trying to find something new they head straight to the directory.

When you get to the directory there are two things that you have to know. First, you have to know where you are trying to go. Secondly, you have to know where you are. While the first one is easy, it is the second one that requires the directory. We typically know where we are trying to go, even if we have never been there, but what we don’t know is where we are now. Where you are now will let you know a few things. First, it tells you how far you are from where you are trying to be. Secondly, it tells you what direction to take to get to where you are trying to be. Finally, knowing where you are will allow you to judge if you really want to do all that is necessary to get to where you are trying to go.

Friends, there will be times in life when God is going to ask you a simple question, “Where are you?” When God asks this, he is not asking because he doesn’t know where you are. God is asking this because he needs you to know where you are. You need to know that you may be out of position right now. You need to know that you may be going in the wrong direction. You need to know that you may not be where you think you are. The good news is no matter where you are, you don’t have to stay there. God can get you back on track, heading in the right direction and to your destiny even if you have never been there before.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Thursday, January 16, 2020.

Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame. Genesis 2:25

Look At Me

If you remember the early days of social media, you know how much it has changed. In the beginning, social media was simply a way to digitally connect with your friends and family and keep up with the goings-on in their lives. You could tell stories, share a picture or two, but it was all people that you knew and who knew you. Then s strange thing happened. We started “friending” and “following” people that we did not know and who did not know us. This change meant that now we were no longer connected to friends and family but rather we now we had a “following.”

The problem with a following is that you don’t want to disappoint them. You want them to keep looking at you. You don’t know them, so you try to make sure that your feed is as interesting as possible to make sure that they keep following you and others join is as well. So what used to be sharing our real lives with friends and family turned into sharing our curated lives with anyone who is watching. Now our real lives and our curated lives are not the same. Our real lives are boring. Our real lives have ups and downs. Our real lives are not perfect, don’t always go the way we want them to, and prove that we are not perfect. By contrast, our curated lives are the perfect highlight reel proving to people that we are living our best lives. We are always on vacation. We only eat the best food. We are always having a great time.

Friends, if you are going to have people look at you it should be the real you. The real you is not perfect. The real you eats at Taco Bell. The real you has pimples, bad days, and picks bad outfits from time to time. The real you took 50 pictures to get the one that you posted. Yet, the real you is the one that is far more interesting. The real you is that one that you need to be proud of. Don’t be ashamed that you aren’t perfect, be proud that you are you. Be proud of the fact that you are surviving in spite of it all, making it when you don’t feel like it, and moving forward even if its slow. When you can do that you can be proud of the real you, and really say look at me.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Wednesday, January 15, 2020.

On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. Genesis 2:2-3

Take a Break

Hustle. Hustle harder. Nobody cares, work harder. Sleep when you’re dead. Do your job. Go to school. Work a side gig. Get a side hustle. Develop a side business. Get a new certification. Go back to school. Raise perfect children. Help your sister with her children. Do some volunteer work in the community. Go on a mission trip. You’re only going to live once, so you better do all you can this time around. Push. Push. Push. Go. Go. Go. Whatever you do, don’t complain. This is what the world is like and if you’re going to succeed, this is the price of success. Or is it?

We live in a society that tells us to run ourselves ragged. It tells us that if we just worked harder and longer we will finally get everything that we want. Then it tells us that there is something else to do. It tells us that if we just sleep a little less, and push a little more, we will finally get to that magical place called, “there.” The there that will make us happy. The there that will make us satisfied. The there that will finally tell us that we made it. Except, if we do it the world’s way, if you get there you will be so tired and broken that you will never enjoy all that you worked for. There really is another way.

Friends, we are only fourteen days into the new year and many of us are already exhausted because we are missing something in our lives, rest. It is great to want to accomplish things and create things, but we all have to rest. We have to take time every day and every week to sit it down, and shut it down so we can get ourselves back together. Believe it or not, resting is as important as hustling. Resting allows you to recuperate, get your mind and body right and then chase your dreams again. You can achieve your goals and you can do all the things that you have dreamed of, but you have to do it the right way. If God can create the universe, rest at the end of each day and then take a full day off, you can too. Now go take a break!

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Tuesday, January 14, 2020.

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27

I See You

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Some of us see all of our flaws. We see a wrinkle here and a blemish there. We see where this can be improved or how that can be changed. By contrast, some of us see the most beautiful girl or the most handsome man in the world. We see things that make us unique. We see the things that make us irreplaceable and one of a kind in the world. No matter how you see yourself in the mirror what you are actually seeing is a reflection of you. The only real question is how will you interpret what you see.

When you look in the mirror look past the curves, the wrinkles, and the beauty marks. When you do that, what you will see is a child of God. From the very beginning, God has made all of us in His image. He has made all of us to look just like him. We are reflections of his greatness and his glory, no matter what the measure of our pulchritude. We are all the very handiwork of God. We are what he created when He wanted the world to see what his image looked like. In other words, no matter how you think you look, you look like God.

Friends, you are beautiful, you are special, and you matter. No matter what you are feeling right now, or what you may go through, you remain God’s handiwork. God took the time to make you, and that makes you special. Think about it for a moment. When you were born, God decided to show people what He looked like and that day made you. So no matter what happens, no matter how you feel, no matter what you go through, you are the image of God walking around the earth. So take care of yourself, encourage yourself, and know that God made you, like you on purpose and we all see him because we see you.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Monday, January 13, 2020.

Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, and each producing offspring of the same kind – livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the wild animals.” And that is what happened. Genesis 1:24

Just Like You

Everybody with children is cursed. Don’t get me wrong, children are absolutely a blessing and bring great joy to their parents, but parents are all cursed. It started when you were a child. There was some point in your childhood when you did something that was beyond the pale. It may have been funny. It may have been strange. It may have been annoying. Whatever it was, you did it, and that’s when you were cursed. Your parent said to you that day, I hope you have a child just like you one day. And that was it.

The thing is, it is only a curse if you were a “bad” kid. If you were the perfect child that every parent wanted, then it was not a curse but rather a blessing. Either way, in life you typically reproduce who and what you are. The good in you is passed down and the bad in you is passed down as well. Which means you have to become who you want your offspring to become. If you want a polite, well-read, hardworking child, the best way to get one is to be a polite, well-read, hard-working parent. If you want a child that eats poorly, never picks up a book and is rude to everyone, you can create that by being just like that. Either way, it is up to you.

Friends, God set up the laws of reproduction simply, you reproduce what you are. Apple trees produce apples. Pear trees produce pears. Dogs reproduce dogs. Cats reproduce cats. Who or what you are is exactly what you will produce. The goal is to be the best you so that you can reproduce the best version of you. When you become the best you, you create the habits, the actions and the outcomes that you can pass on generation by generation creating a blessed family for generations to come. So choose every day what and who you want to be because you will produce people who are just like you.

Be Blessed,

Rev

The Daily Dose with Dr. Daryl L. Williams

A Word every day to get you on your way!

Here is the Daily Dose for Friday, January 10, 2020.

Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” Genesis 1:20

Fully Stocked.

I have an uncle that has a nice piece of property in South Carolina. It was originally a farm that he wanted to build a barbecue pit on for family gatherings. Well, one thing led to another and the barbecue pit somehow turned into a barbecue patio with a covering since you can’t just be out in the heat all the time. Then the pit with a covering turned into a small house so that you could use the bathroom if you were out there. But he soon realized that if you are going to build a small house for a bathroom, you may as well just build a house. So he did. The barbecue pit became a home. It was absolutely one of my favorites to visit.

My uncle’s house wasn’t my favorite to visit because of the barbecue pit, or the fields of fresh watermelons, but rather because if you took a little walk on the property, you would run into the pond. Just seemingly in the middle of nowhere, there is a nice sized pond where we would go fishing. I’m not a big fan of fishing, but I loved fishing there. I loved it because I always caught something. Not always the biggest fish, or the smallest fish, but I always caught something. One day I asked my uncle why I was such a good fisherman when I was on his property. He told me it was because he has the pond freshly stocked before I come to make sure that there is something for me to catch.

Friends, like my uncle, God has planned for your arrival. He has put everything you need all around you. In the same way that God stocked the air with birds, and the waters with fish, in the beginning, he keeps stocking the ponds around your life every day. So take some time to look around not at what you don’t have, but rather what is available to you. All too often, we overlook what is right in front of us trying to find something that we think is better. Trust that God will supply all of your needs and keep your pond fully stocked so that you can catch exactly what you need.

Be Blessed,

Rev