Black Women Have It Going On

Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Good morning from Colorado! Yesterday we talked about knowing what we don’t know. Today I want to take that thought one step further and ask a question I’ve had to ask myself more than once: What are you doing with what you have?

That’s a different question than asking what you want. It’s different from asking what you wish you had. And it’s certainly different from looking at what someone else has and wondering why you didn’t get the same thing. This question forces us to look at what is already in our hands.

I’ll be honest with you. It took me years to understand this, and I’m still growing in this department. What am I doing with what I have? There have been seasons when I spent more time thinking about what I didn’t have than appreciating what God had already given me. I wanted the next thing, the better thing, the thing that seemed to make more sense. But sometimes we can become so focused on what we’re waiting for that we fail to recognize what we already possess.

Think about those three pecan seedlings from my cousin’s pots. She didn’t ask for pecan trees. She wanted a particular cherry tree. So when those little seedlings appeared, they weren’t what she wanted. From her perspective, they were simply something she didn’t need. But I looked at those seedlings and immediately started thinking about what could be done with them.

That doesn’t mean my idea was necessarily the right thing for her. Maybe she didn’t want to grow and sell trees. Maybe that wasn’t her calling at all. But the situation made me think about how differently we can look at the same thing. One person can see a problem while another sees possibility.

And sometimes the difference isn’t what we’re looking at. It’s what we’ve learned to see.

I’ve spent enough time around business to know that many successful businesses had very humble beginnings. They didn’t begin with everything figured out. They began with an idea, a skill, a product, a service, or something someone already knew how to do. I once knew a young woman whose brother started one of Colorado’s pizza chains in his parents’ garage. The garage didn’t look like a restaurant chain. But beginnings rarely look like endings.

That brings me to one of Jesus’ parables—the story of the talents in Matthew 25. A master entrusted different amounts to three servants. Two of them took what they had been given and put it to work. One buried his because he was afraid.

The lesson isn’t simply about money. It’s about stewardship.

What are we doing with what has been entrusted to us?

God hasn’t given all of us the same gifts, the same opportunities, the same resources, or the same starting point. And thank God for that, because we aren’t supposed to live someone else’s life.

The person with five talents doesn’t have to apologize to the person with one. And the person with one doesn’t have to become bitter because someone else received five.

We are responsible for what we have been given.

Maybe what you have doesn’t seem like much. Maybe it’s one skill, one idea, one opportunity, one relationship, one testimony, or one little seed of faith. Maybe it’s a story you could share with somebody else or a lesson you’ve learned the hard way.

Don’t underestimate it.

You may be looking at a seed while God is showing you a tree. You may be looking at a garage while God is showing you a business. You may be looking at your past while God is showing you a testimony. You may be looking at your limitations while God is showing you another way forward.

And perhaps that’s why today’s question is so important.

What are you doing with what you have?

Not what your neighbor has. Not what your cousin has. Not what somebody on social media appears to have.

What did God put in your hands?

And what are you doing with it?

The Takeaway for Us

I’ve learned that comparing what I have to what someone else has will keep me distracted from what God has placed in my own hands. God didn’t ask me to be responsible for someone else’s gifts. He asked me to be faithful with mine.

I’ve also learned that small doesn’t mean useless. A seed is small, but it carries the possibility of something much larger. Recognizing what we have is only the beginning. The next question is what we’re willing to do with it.

The Call to Action

Today, make a list of what you already have. Don’t start with what you need. Start with what you have.

What skills have you developed? What experiences have shaped you? What knowledge have you gained? What gifts do people recognize in you? What has God brought you through? What is sitting in your hands that you haven’t considered valuable?

Then ask God, “Lord, what do You want me to do with what You’ve already given me?”

That’s a question worth sitting with.

Don’t worry about having five talents if God gave you one. Don’t worry about starting where someone else started. Start where you are. Use what you have. Trust God with what comes next.

Scripture

Matthew 25:21 (KJV)

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Notice that the master didn’t say, “Well done, thou servant who had the most.”

He called him faithful.

Faithfulness isn’t about having the most. It’s about what we do with what we’ve been given.

15 Minutes with God

Father, thank You for everything You have placed in my hands.

Forgive me for the times I’ve been so focused on what I didn’t have that I failed to appreciate what You had already given me.

Help me recognize my gifts, my experiences, my knowledge, and even the lessons that came through difficult seasons. Teach me how to use what I have wisely.

Keep me from comparing my life to someone else’s. Give me courage to begin with what is already in front of me, even when it seems small.

And when I don’t know what to do next, remind me that I don’t have to see the entire tree when all I have is a seed. I only need to be faithful with what You have placed in my hands.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

I’ll see you tomorrow for another 15 Minutes with God.