marcus a taylor
by Mujahid HussainLaddies and gentleman Let me ask you a question—and I want you to let it hit your heart, not just your ears:
Why not you?
You see, the enemy of your purpose isn’t your past. It’s not your failures. It’s not what they said or didn’t say. The real enemy is the voice in your mind that whispers, “Maybe I’m not the one.”
But today—I came to challenge that lie. I came to stir your faith. Because if you’ve ever looked at someone else and thought, “That could be me,” I want you to flip the script today and say with boldness: “That SHOULD be me.”
Fear is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. It has the potential to keep us stuck, to paralyze us with doubt, and to prevent us from stepping into the fullness of our potential. It whispers to us, “What if you fail?” “What if you’re not good enough?” “What if you fall flat on your face?” And for many, these questions create an overwhelming sense of hesitation that prevents them from moving forward.
But here's the truth: **fear will always talk you out of your future, but faith will take you into it.** The key to overcoming fear is not to deny that it exists, but to choose to move in spite of it. Fear will always show up. It will always try to convince you that you're not capable, that you're not ready, or that you're going to fall short. But if you allow fear to dictate your actions, you'll miss out on the opportunities that are waiting for you.
Faith, on the other hand, doesn't eliminate fear. Faith simply tells you to take a step forward even when you don't have all the answers. Faith says, “I don’t know how this is going to work, but I believe it will.” It’s trusting that even if you can’t see the whole picture, you’re still willing to step into it. Faith is not about having all the confidence in the world or having everything figured out. It’s about trusting that, even with all the uncertainty, there is a bigger plan at work.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is waiting for the fear to go away before they take action. They think, “Once I’m not afraid anymore, I’ll move forward.” But the reality is, fear often doesn't disappear on its own. It has to be confronted head-on. Every step of faith you take is a step that diminishes fear’s power. The more you step out in faith, the less hold fear has over you. Faith grows as you practice it, and every time you overcome a fear, it becomes easier to take the next step.
If you wait for fear to be gone before you act, you’ll never act. But if you act in the face of fear, you’ll discover something powerful—that you can do things you never thought you were capable of. When you push through the fear, you uncover strengths you didn’t even know you had. You realize that the very things you feared were not nearly as powerful as the faith you’ve been carrying all along.
Let me share a story to illustrate this. There was a young man who had always dreamed of starting his own business, but the idea of failure terrified him. He’d heard the stories of others who failed and lost everything, and that fear kept him from even taking the first step. He kept telling himself, “What if my business fails? What if I don’t make enough money? What if I end up in debt?” His fear held him back for years, and his dream seemed to slip further away with each passing day.
One day, after a particularly difficult week, he reached a breaking point. He realized that his fear of failure had kept him stuck in a place of inaction for far too long. He had spent so many years waiting for the fear to go away, but it never did. So, he decided to step out in faith. He invested in the tools and resources he needed to start his business. He didn’t know if it would succeed or if it would fail, but he took the first step anyway.
Months later, he was amazed at the progress he had made. His business was growing, and he was learning more than he had ever expected. He still faced challenges and setbacks, but he had discovered that failure wasn’t something to fear—it was something to learn from. The fear that had once paralyzed him had now become a stepping stone toward growth. His business was far from perfect, but it was real, and it was his.
This man’s story is a powerful example of how faith, not fear, takes you into your future. The fear didn’t disappear, but his faith in the process, in his ability to grow, and in his ability to handle whatever came his way carried him forward.
Fear will always try to tell you “no,” but your faith will always tell you “yes.” And it’s that “yes” that will carry you into the future you were meant for. You don’t have to have all the answers or a perfect plan. You just have to take that first step, even if it’s in the face of fear. And when you do, you’ll find that the future you once feared is actually the future you were made for.
So many people spend their lives waiting for someone to validate what’s already inside of them. They look around, comparing their gifts to others, doubting their worth because they don’t sound like him or look like her or lead like them. But the truth is, your uniqueness is not a weakness—it’s your superpower. No one else can do exactly what you do in the way that you do it. You were crafted with intentionality. Every quirk, every tone in your voice, every twist in your story, every gift you carry—it was all put there for a reason. And when you minimize what makes you different, you actually rob the world of something it desperately needs.
You don’t need to be a copy of someone else to be powerful. The most impactful people in history didn’t follow a formula—they followed conviction. They embraced what made them different, even if it made others uncomfortable. That’s because power doesn’t come from imitation—it comes from authenticity. The world isn’t transformed by people who fit in. It’s changed by people who stand out.
When you hide your voice to match someone else’s, you silence the very thing that can unlock change. There’s a sound that only you can release. A perspective that only you can bring. A story that only you can tell. Someone is waiting—not just for a message—but for your voice, your lens, your heart. What feels ordinary to you might be extraordinary to someone else. That’s why you have to stop underestimating what you carry.
Sometimes we think our gifts are too small. We downplay our creativity, our leadership, our empathy, our problem-solving, our storytelling, our ability to encourage, to build, to dream. But even in Scripture, we see that God used what people already had in their hands. A staff. A slingshot. A jar of oil. The issue was never the size of the gift—it was whether they had the faith to use it. The same is true for you. What’s in your hands is already enough—if you stop hiding it.
And yes, it takes courage to stand in your own lane. It’s easier to blend in. It’s safer to follow the crowd. But ease and greatness don’t walk hand in hand. Every time you choose to own your voice, you make space for someone else to do the same. You give others permission to show up fully when you stop shrinking to fit.
Let me give you a powerful example. There was a young man who grew up quiet, observant, always drawing, always sketching. He wasn’t loud. He wasn’t the class clown or the star athlete. But he had an eye for beauty. He could take the pain and chaos of the world and turn it into something visual, something healing. For years, he hid it—thinking no one would care, that it was just a hobby. Until one day, a teacher stumbled upon one of his sketches and encouraged him to enter a local art showcase.
He hesitated. Felt like an imposter. But he entered. And not only did he win, but his piece caught the attention of a nonprofit that worked with youth affected by violence. They asked him to design a mural in a local community center. His art—his quiet, hidden gift—became the voice of hope for an entire neighborhood. He didn’t need to be loud. He didn’t need to change who he was. He just needed to show up as himself.
That’s what happens when you stop apologizing for your difference. You start walking in purpose. Your gift may not look like theirs—and it’s not supposed to. You’re not here to fill someone else’s shoes. You’re here to walk boldly in your own.
So the next time doubt tells you you’re not enough, remember: no one else can do what you do the way you do it. You’re not random. You’re intentional. And the world is waiting on you.
In life, we often confuse delay with denial. When things don’t happen as quickly as we expect or when we face unexpected setbacks, it’s easy to think that our dreams have been postponed indefinitely. We assume that if we don’t see immediate results, then we’re not on the right path or maybe, just maybe, we’re not meant to succeed at all. But let me tell you something: delay is not denial—it’s simply part of the process of development.
Just because things aren’t moving as fast as you want doesn’t mean they’re not moving. God works in seasons, and just like a seed buried in the ground, growth happens beneath the surface before it can be seen above. And yes, sometimes the process feels long and the waiting feels unbearable, but it’s in those seasons that you’re being prepared for what you’ve asked for.
Think about any worthwhile achievement in life—whether it’s personal, academic, or professional. The road is rarely straight. The path isn’t always clear. But what you often find is that every delay, every setback, was a lesson, an opportunity for growth. It’s easy to look at successful people and think that they just “got lucky” or that their success came overnight. The truth is, most people you admire have endured moments of doubt, struggle, and waiting. What you don’t see are the years of preparation, the learning, the mistakes, and the failures that set them up for their moment.
You see, what feels like a detour is often the very thing that will equip you for the breakthrough you’re about to experience. Those moments when you feel stuck or when things don’t seem to be progressing—they’re giving you the strength, the resilience, and the wisdom to manage the success you’ve been praying for. If you get everything you desire too soon, you might not be ready for it. You might not have the tools, the mental toughness, or the emotional resilience to handle it.
Development takes time, and just because you’re not seeing instant results doesn’t mean you’re not moving forward. Growth is like the process of building a muscle. It doesn’t happen overnight. It requires consistent effort and time. When you work out, the muscle fibers tear before they grow back stronger. In the same way, your journey of growth will stretch you and challenge you in ways that will make you stronger, more capable, and more prepared for what’s to come.
One of the most common mistakes people make is thinking that the absence of immediate results means the absence of progress. But real growth is often invisible to the eye. What you don’t see is the internal change happening inside of you. You may not have the promotion, the recognition, or the breakthrough yet, but inside, you’re becoming the person who can handle it. You’re developing the character, the wisdom, and the perseverance to not only achieve your dreams but to sustain them once you get there.
Consider the example of a woman who spent years trying to get her business off the ground. She had the vision, the passion, and the dedication, but for the longest time, she struggled with low sales, inconsistent clients, and financial instability. She questioned whether she had what it took. She thought about quitting on several occasions, but something inside of her kept pushing forward. It was in those years of waiting—when she felt like nothing was happening—that she learned the ins and outs of running her business. She gained a deeper understanding of her customers, her strengths, and her weaknesses.
Then, after years of perseverance, the breakthrough came. Her business took off, and she was finally able to scale. But when people asked her about her success, she didn’t talk about the moment she “made it.” She talked about the years of setbacks, the sleepless nights, the self-doubt, and how every delay taught her something new. She didn’t just get a successful business; she got the tools, knowledge, and strength to handle it.
Her delay wasn’t a denial—it was preparation. What she thought were setbacks were actually setups for the kind of success that lasts. That success wasn’t just about the money; it was about becoming the person capable of sustaining it.
So, when you feel like the world is telling you “not yet” or “maybe never,” remember that delay doesn’t mean denial. It means you’re being prepared for something greater. Keep going. Keep growing. Your moment is coming, and when it does, you’ll be more than ready.
Fear is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. It has the potential to keep us stuck, to paralyze us with doubt, and to prevent us from stepping into the fullness of our potential. It whispers to us, “What if you fail?” “What if you’re not good enough?” “What if you fall flat on your face?” And for many, these questions create an overwhelming sense of hesitation that prevents them from moving forward.
But here's the truth: fear will always talk you out of your future, but faith will take you into it. The key to overcoming fear is not to deny that it exists, but to choose to move in spite of it. Fear will always show up. It will always try to convince you that you're not capable, that you're not ready, or that you're going to fall short. But if you allow fear to dictate your actions, you'll miss out on the opportunities that are waiting for you.
Faith, on the other hand, doesn't eliminate fear. Faith simply tells you to take a step forward even when you don't have all the answers. Faith says, “I don’t know how this is going to work, but I believe it will.” It’s trusting that even if you can’t see the whole picture, you’re still willing to step into it. Faith is not about having all the confidence in the world or having everything figured out. It’s about trusting that, even with all the uncertainty, there is a bigger plan at work.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is waiting for the fear to go away before they take action. They think, “Once I’m not afraid anymore, I’ll move forward.” But the reality is, fear often doesn't disappear on its own. It has to be confronted head-on. Every step of faith you take is a step that diminishes fear’s power. The more you step out in faith, the less hold fear has over you. Faith grows as you practice it, and every time you overcome a fear, it becomes easier to take the next step.
If you wait for fear to be gone before you act, you’ll never act. But if you act in the face of fear, you’ll discover something powerful—that you can do things you never thought you were capable of. When you push through the fear, you uncover strengths you didn’t even know you had. You realize that the very things you feared were not nearly as powerful as the faith you’ve been carrying all along.
Let me share a story to illustrate this. There was a young man who had always dreamed of starting his own business, but the idea of failure terrified him. He’d heard the stories of others who failed and lost everything, and that fear kept him from even taking the first step. He kept telling himself, “What if my business fails? What if I don’t make enough money? What if I end up in debt?” His fear held him back for years, and his dream seemed to slip further away with each passing day.
One day, after a particularly difficult week, he reached a breaking point. He realized that his fear of failure had kept him stuck in a place of inaction for far too long. He had spent so many years waiting for the fear to go away, but it never did. So, he decided to step out in faith. He invested in the tools and resources he needed to start his business. He didn’t know if it would succeed or if it would fail, but he took the first step anyway.
Months later, he was amazed at the progress he had made. His business was growing, and he was learning more than he had ever expected. He still faced challenges and setbacks, but he had discovered that failure wasn’t something to fear—it was something to learn from. The fear that had once paralyzed him had now become a stepping stone toward growth. His business was far from perfect, but it was real, and it was his.
This man’s story is a powerful example of how faith, not fear, takes you into your future. The fear didn’t disappear, but his faith in the process, in his ability to grow, and in his ability to handle whatever came his way carried him forward.
Fear will always try to tell you “no,” but your faith will always tell you “yes.” And it’s that “yes” that will carry you into the future you were meant for. You don’t have to have all the answers or a perfect plan. You just have to take that first step, even if it’s in the face of fear. And when you do, you’ll find that the future you once feared is actually the future you were made for.
So I’ll ask you one more time—not as a question, but as a declaration:
WHY NOT YOU?
Why not you to be the first?
Why not you to break the cycle?
Why not you to walk in purpose, power, and authority?
You were born for this.
You are not random. You are chosen.
You are not broken. You are being built.
And no matter what’s behind you, what’s in front of you is greater.
So walk in it.
Own it.
Declare it.
Because the world doesn’t just need someone to do it—they need YOU.
