Three Questions God Is Asking You Right Now

In order to fulfill your assignment, you have to get your life in alignment.

All of us want to hear God say, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord." But there's no well done without first being done. And there's no being done without first being in position.

God gave me three questions to bring to you. Three questions He asked three different men in Scripture. And if you sit with these long enough, you're going to realize He's asking you the same questions right now.

Question One: Where Are You?

Genesis 3:9. After Adam and Eve eat the fruit, God walks through the garden in the cool of the day, and He calls out: "Where are you?"

Now, let's be clear. God knew exactly where Adam was. God isn't asking for GPS coordinates. He's asking Adam to tell on himself. He's giving Adam the chance to come out of hiding and own what just happened.

But here's what I want you to see in the verses leading up to that question. Genesis 3:6 says, "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate."

Notice something. Adam was with her. He wasn't off in another part of the garden. He was standing right there. And he didn't say a word. He let his wife make a decision he was supposed to lead on. Some men get caught right here, choosing between obeying God and pleasing their wife. And sometimes the loving thing is to tell her no when you know what's right.

Here's the deeper revelation. Verse 7 says their eyes were opened after they sinned. Which means before sin, they saw differently. They didn't walk by sight. They walked by vision. God gave them spiritual eyes to see things His way. Sin opened their natural eyes, and that's when the trouble started. Half the drama you've been in your life is because you saw something and wanted it. Most of the trouble you've gotten into came through your eyes.

Then comes the fear. Verse 8 says when they heard God walking, they hid. God had been walking through that garden the whole time. They'd never hidden before. But the moment sin entered, fear came with it. That's how you know something is wrong. When sin shows up, your spirit gets uncomfortable, and that uncomfortable feeling is God's way of telling you to get out of where you are.

Sin takes you out of position. The word righteousness also means right position. So when Adam disobeyed, he literally moved himself out of alignment with God. And God couldn't keep him in the garden anymore, not because God wanted to punish him, but because Adam had positioned himself somewhere he no longer belonged.

So God asks, "Where are you?" Translation: Adam, do you know what you just did? Do you know what you just gave up?

The first F is failure. When you fail, you start saying things like, "I'll never do that again. I'll never trust anyone again. I'll never start another business. I'll never get married again. Nobody's going to do me like this again." And you put yourself in a self-imposed prison.

Failure is not final until you say it's final. What the devil thought was a period is actually a comma. Keep writing your story.

Question Two: What Are You Doing Here?

1 Kings 19. Elijah has just had the spiritual mountaintop experience of his life. He called down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel and defeated 450 prophets of Baal in a single afternoon. Massive victory. The kind of moment that should set you up for years.

But the very next chapter, Queen Jezebel sends him a message: "By this time tomorrow, you'll be dead just like those prophets."

And this man who just called down fire from heaven runs for his life. He runs into the wilderness, sits down under a juniper tree, and asks God to take his life. "It is enough now, O Lord. Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."

Don't judge him. Don't act like you've never been on top of the mountain on Sunday and in the deepest valley by Wednesday. People go through emotional whiplash, and we have to have compassion for that. Even men of God have low moments.

Here's what God did first. He didn't lecture Elijah. He let him sleep. Then He sent an angel to wake him up with food and water. "Get up and eat." Elijah ate, drank, and slept again. Then the angel came back a second time: "Get up and eat, for the journey is too long for you without adequate sustenance."

This is so important. When you're in a low season, don't make permanent decisions in temporary circumstances. Get some rest. Get some food. Get some clarity. Don't let your emotions write checks your life can't cash.

Then God brings Elijah to a cave on Mount Sinai and asks him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

For God to ask "what are you doing here," it means there's somewhere else you were supposed to be. Elijah tries to defend himself: "I've been zealous for you. The people abandoned you. They killed your prophets. I'm the only one left."

Then God does something interesting. He passes by, but not in the wind. Not in the earthquake. Not in the fire. He shows up in a still, small voice. The lesson is this: if you want to hear God, you have to get away from the noise. We end up surrounded by so many voices that we can't hear the one that matters. Be still and know.

After all that, God asks the same question again: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And Elijah gives the same answer. Same complaint. Same self-pity. So God basically tells him, "Go back. And while you're at it, go anoint Elisha to take your place." When you stay out of position too long, God will use somebody else.

The second F is fear. Fear doesn't just paralyze you from moving. It holds you hostage to comfort. Most people would rather accept the comfort of complacency than the discomfort of walking by faith.

Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God." So if you're not in faith for something right now, what are you doing? There should be something in your life where you're saying, "Lord, I don't know how this works out. I'm just trusting you." That's how we go from faith to faith and glory to glory.

Deuteronomy 31:8 reminds us: "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be dismayed."

Question Three: Why Are You Still Here?

This one took me deeper into Genesis than I'd ever gone.

Genesis 11:31 says Terah, Abraham's father, took his family and left Ur to go to the land of Canaan. But they only made it about 550 miles before they stopped and settled in a place called Haran.

Now, watch this. Terah's firstborn son was also named Haran. And Haran had died before they left Ur. So they're traveling toward Canaan, and they stop in a place that has the same name as the dead son. Could it be that the grief of losing his firstborn paralyzed Terah and the whole family settled there because nobody could move?

If you've ever lost someone important, you know that grief can plant you in a season. The car accident happened. The divorce happened. The diagnosis happened. The death happened. And something shook your faith so hard that you stopped moving toward what God told you.

Then in Genesis 12:1, God speaks to Abraham: "Go from your country, your relatives, and your father's house to a land I will show you."

Now here's what God showed me. Acts 7:2 says, "The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran."

Stop. That means Genesis 12 wasn't the first time God told Abraham to move. God had already spoken to Abraham back in Ur, before Terah ever packed the bags. But Abraham couldn't leave because his brother just died and his father was grieving. His family was in turmoil, and he felt like he needed to stay.

The third F is family. Sometimes the people closest to you are the very ones holding you back from the calling on your life. Joseph told his brothers his dream and they threw him in a pit. The disciples wanted to hold Jesus back from the cross, and Jesus had to say to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan." Just because someone loves you doesn't mean the spirit operating in them at that moment is from God.

I had a moment with my own father once. He hadn't been a consistent presence in my life, but after the NFL and after I started speaking, he called me up. When I told him I was a motivational speaker, he said, "I could never see you as a speaker." And my flesh wanted to fire back. The Holy Spirit said, "Be still." So I held my tongue out of honor for my father, but I had to recognize that what he was speaking over me wasn't from God. Sometimes you have to respect the person while rejecting the words.

I Will Bless You

In Genesis 12:2-3, God's promise to Abraham is full of one phrase: "I will."

"I will make you a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you."

Notice the burden isn't on Abraham. It's on God. "I will, I will, I will." All Abraham had to do was move. So many of us haven't stepped into our calling because we feel the weight of the situation. We feel underqualified, underprepared, undersized for what God is asking. But God doesn't need your ability. He needs your availability.

I'm not perfect. Charmaine knows it. My church knows it. I've been through bankruptcy, foreclosure, and repossession. I've been through cancer and chemotherapy. I've got screws in my knee and screws in my shoulder. I've been broke, busted, and disgusted. There was a time the county came and cut my water off. And I tell you all of that to glorify the God who can take somebody from nothing and do something with them.

We are all under construction. You might be in first grade or second grade, but you still need God's help every day. None of us has it together. It's only by grace.

Stop Letting Failure, Fear, and Family Talk

Some of you have been stuck because of past failures. The business didn't work. The marriage ended. The plan fell apart. So now you won't try again. But most successful people have failed multiple times. Failure is not final until you decide it is.

Some of you are stuck in fear. Fear of what people will say. Fear of what could go wrong. Fear of stepping out without a safety net. But 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind."

Some of you are stuck because of family. Words your parents spoke over you. Discouragement from siblings. The opinions of people who were supposed to support you and didn't. But Jeremiah 1:5 still says God knew you and approved you before you were born. Before the failure. Before the divorce. Before the bankruptcy. Before the words anyone spoke over you. He already had a plan.

Stop letting your mountain talk to you. Speak to your mountain. The Bible says if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can tell mountains to move. Tell that failure to be silent. Tell that fear to back off. Tell that family voice to take a seat. This is the day the Lord has made.

Where are you? What are you doing here? Why are you still here?

Your time is now.