I had the giftings but not the assignment.

Some 34 years ago, I spoke in LA California for the first time.

I owned a financial services company at the time.

I did a free 2-hour workshop where I would sell an all-day workshop at the end of the free workshop.

Pretty standard business model in the speaking or seminar business.

I was advised by my partner at the time to do a few workshops in Illinois and Ohio, BEFORE taking on LA, as LA was a much different market, and I was brand new to speaking publicly.?

Plus, I had never done workshops before.

So I did that and on an average night in Illinois and Ohio, I would get around 25 to 45 people MAX in the room to speak to.

I remember flying into LA that afternoon, and I was scheduled to speak that night at an Airport hotel, my partner leaned over and said to me as we were getting set to land "Are you ready for your big moment because it doesn't get any bigger than LA”

You see in LA, you will have 80+ people per room, instead of the 25-45 people you might get in the Midwest market.

My partner was throwing down the gauntlet and letting me know that this was going to be a very BIG moment in my life and I better be ready for it. (no pressure lol)

That night when I started to speak, there had to be 75-80 people in the room and the room was packed.

But an interesting thing occurred that night.

The more I spoke, the attendance in my room actually grew to the point of the room being packed solid, standing room only, and I had people lined up along the walls, all the way to the front of the room where I was speaking.

I attributed that to LA California traffic, people getting stuck in it, and being late until I was approached afterward by a gentleman named Samuel. ?

Anytime you speak at an event, there are always those that want to come and shake you hand, and say hi to you.

Nowadays, they want to do that and take a picture.

But Samuel waited until the room was just about empty and then he made his approach,

"TC, you don't recognize me do you?”

"No sir, I don't" was my reply.

"My name is Samuel (last name withheld by his request) I have starred in multiple TV shows and movies and I have to dress this way (old blue jeans, scruffy beard, and old baseball cap resting on top of his long scruffy hair) when I come to these type of events, out of respect to the company hosting the event to not cause a disturbance and protect my privacy”

"Yes Sir, now I recognize you.”

"TC, I waited until after everyone has left because I needed to tell you something that you are probably not aware of.?

In my 30 years in this industry, I have NEVER seen happen what happened here tonight”

He continued " I was signed up for a seminar that was happening next door to yours.?

I paid very good money to attend that seminar but the speaker wasn't very good, and at the same time he was speaking, you could tell something POWERFUL was happening on the other side of that wall where you were speaking.?

TC, you drew over half of the people that paid money to attend that workshop to your workshop, Sir that is why you had standing room only in your room.

You just KNEW sitting there in that other room that you were in the wrong room that night, that something GOOD was happening in that other room and you just had to be there. ?

I have never seen anything like that in my 30 plus years in this industry and I just had to come and shake your hand and make you aware of what REALLY happened here tonight”

As amazing as this true story is, it could easily be one of the most tragic stories you could have read today, instead of an inspirational story.

You see, I have ALWAYS had this gifting inside of me to inspire and move people speaking, yet for 30 plus years, I, for the most part, have let that gifting reside dormant inside of me.

I have filled that void in other ways, but 30 years is a long time folks.

I rarely ever share this story publicly because I have been very hard on myself, feeling that maybe I have wasted this gifting that God has given me.

To have a movie star say what he said to me is pretty cool, yet I have kept this story a secret for all of these years.

Even my wife Vickie only recently heard this story recently because of these feelings.?

I am and always will be very hard on myself

. No one is harder on me than me.

You may think I am sharing this story for my ego, and you would be wrong.

It has bothered me that this actually happened, and I have this nagging feeling that I have not done enough with my giftings.?

That I have not been dreaming big enough and I could have done much more than I have with the gifts that I have been given. It's like in spite of any notable success that I have had, that I have been in the wilderness for 30 plus years.

I am sharing it now because, of what I received after talking to God about this.?

I told the Lord, " Lord, I feel so bad that you have placed such gifting in me and I have not done anything with it, not to the level that I could have.”

The Lord responded (again not audibly, but in that small inner voice that we ignore or tune out nowadays) ?

"Yes Son I placed that gifting in you, but not the assignment....until NOW.

But now, I have placed the assignment in you so you can now use that gifting”

I am not sure who you are, or where you are this moment in your life, but I know 2 things.

You have an unique gifting that the Lord has placed inside of you, and you have an unique assignment you have been given to accomplish.?

Don't get frustrated if you have the gifting, but not the assignment.

When those 2 things meet at the intersection of your life, that is when you see your giftings flourish and prosper.

Part of my assignment is moving God's people from where they are currently, to where God wants them to be.

God is getting ready to move some folks into their assignment in 2024!

Get laser-focused on your assignment, and stop looking at what you think you may have lost or wasted.

The other issue is God's timing.

God doesn't look at time the same way that you and I do.

God plays the LONG game and we play the short game.

We play checkers and God plays chess.

Which can be very FRUSTRATING to us.

So you can have the giftings, and know your assignment, but sometimes you have to wait on God's perfect timing.?

I had an opportunity to do a TV show in 2005 that I never followed up on.

Literally, a TV show producer had contacted me to discuss appearing on this man's TV show, which is seen globally, and I would not return the call and told them I was passing on it for now via email.?

It was not God's timing and I KNEW it...Oh I could have FORCED that door open but I knew it was not God's timing.

Now, it is, and I have been doing TV and helping others do TV as well.

I now have my own Nationally Syndicated Television show, but folks that first TV opportunity came over 18 years ago.

So when it came back around this time, I was ready.?

When it is God's timing, you have to ACT on it.

Without hesitation.

I cannot stress how important this is to your destiny.

When you KNOW that it is God's timing for something, do NOT talk yourself out of taking the action.?

These "destiny moments" can be fleeting.

It's never too late for you to fulfill what God has called you and only you to do in your life, but you have to take ACTION when you KNOW it's God's timing.?

I have my gifting and I have my assignment, and I am relentless in fulfilling every bit of my assignment.

That is why I walk BOLDY.

That is why I am UNAPOLOGETIC.

I have my gifting and my assignment and no man or woman walking the face of this earth can stop me.