S3 EP01 | SECOND HALF

Antoine talks about the hope we can have with the perspective of "The Second Half"! If you feel stuck in this season, or feel like nothing's going your way, then this episode is for you!

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Many of us went into this year with our own agenda. And so why would we expect godly results with a selfish plan? With a plan that is indicative to what we want to see instead of what God wants to happen, what's going on, y'all? Welcome back to Humble, where we talk about the real stuff. Real quick, it's season three. Hey, it's season three. Come on, it's season three. Are y'all excited for season three? I'm excited to be back. I know you've seen some videos I've dropped, you know, just kind of like vision dripping this season. Um, and some guests that I cannot wait for you to see on here. But listen, I'm so excited for season three. Uh, this is going to be such a phenomenal season. The fact that I'm even saying season three is a little bit crazy because I'm just as excited now about where we're at and what we're doing as I am for or as I was for season one. Like season one for me was like, man, I feel like God's been putting this in my heart for three years. I know I've told you guys this story. Like, you know, the Lord put it in me, you know, such a long time ago. It finally was able to come out last year in the fall. And, you know, now we're we're, you know, in the summertime and it's season three. And it's crazy to think about that uh and all the guests that we've had uh on the past two seasons, and it's just been such a blessing. So I just want to say thank you. Thank you for continuing to be a part of this. Thank you for even coming back. You could have been like, man, them first two seasons was whack, bro. I don't think what he's talking about is good. I don't like what he's saying. I don't think what he's saying is biblically sound. So I ain't coming back. You could say all of that, and I would be like, okay, I I hear you and I respect your opinion. But the fact that you're watching this right now lets me know uh you are at least considering maybe what the Lord is speaking to you through this community, through this platform. So thank you for committing to be humble in all the things that you do, fostering this idea and this atmosphere to be honest, open, transparent, and vulnerable, and allowing Jesus to be at the center of our lives so that way we can be more like him every day as we talk about our real journey. So this season is going to be no different, y'all. And I'm excited to jump in real quick. I am, if you haven't noticed, at Purposeful Productions, still hanging out with my Purposeful Productions fam. You may see other places that I'm at, but I gotta show love to uh my boy Austin at Purposeful Productions. So uh check him out. His stuff's all over my socials. You can find all of his stuff and what Purposeful Productions is doing. Love recording here. They always do such a good job of taking care of me and bringing these episodes to life. So without further ado, I'm really excited to jump into this because, like I said, by the time you're watching this, it is summer, right? We are in the middle of summer. If you're a parent, you feel this more than anybody. Your kids are out of school, they're excited, but you may feel like you're dying because they're at home every day eating up all your food. I know my kids are right now eating up all my food. Grocery bowl went up, light bill went up. I'm trying to find every vacation Bible school in DFW to put these jokers in. Why? Because they can't be at my house eating up all my stuff, taking up all my time. I'm just kidding, but not really. Because it is summer. And when you enter into a summer season, especially as a parent, the rhythms kind of get thrown off a little bit. And now the good part of that is it's summer, right? So that means the sun is out more. If you're in Texas, it's actually hot and not just a little bit hot, it's actually really hot here in Texas. But that means you get to get outside, you get to go to the pool, you get to, you know, do some things to kind of replenish and refresh your soul, especially if you've had a busy first quarter and second quarter of the year, right? So you get to kind of take a moment, maybe go on a family vacation. I hope you do, um, and be able to just spend some time getting a little bit of break from the rhythms of life that have been thrown at you this year. So I hope you get some time. I plan on doing a family vacation really soon with my fam. Um, so why do I say all that, right? Like, okay, you said summer like four times already. Yes, it's summer. And the reason why I say that is because I did this episode called New Mercies and New Seasons back in uh season two, right? That episode, New Mercy, New Season. And I know that blessed a lot of y'all. I heard a lot of y'all, y'all come back to me and tell me how much of that was a blessing. And I even saw comments and different things on some clips and things uh and on YouTube. But I remember when I recorded that episode from the aspect of it's a new year, it's a new me, all these things, da, that, da, da, da, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We're stepping into 2026. Let's get it. Kick it butt, take it, Days, for the kingdom, for Jesus. Let's get it. And it's summer. As I've said now for the sixth time, I believe, it's summer. And so, what does that mean? That for a lot of us, you're like, yeah, this year has gone exactly how I've wanted it to go. Things have been going great at my job, things have been going great at my church, in my relationships, man. Like all the things that I've set out to do. Maybe you got some workout goals, maybe you have, you know, some fitness goals, some things that you're doing. I'm still on my fitness journey that I've told you guys about. So it's like maybe some things are really locking in for you. Maybe you're seeing finally the fruit of all of the labor that you've been putting in all year long. And you've entered into this summer season and you're going, yes, and amen. We're gonna keep going. I love it. And I also know there's a group of you that you're like, that you're like, actually, this has been the complete opposite of that. That I woke up today and I realized it's June and I have not been able to accomplish any of the things that I set out to do. In fact, this year has looked completely different than anything that I have planned for. In fact, there's been so many curveballs in this year of my life, I don't even know if I want to be in the game anymore. I don't even know if I want to swing the bat anymore. I don't even know if I want to step up to the plate anymore. I think I just want to be done. Like, if you and I were to go to coffee and have a conversation or to go to a nice dope restaurant and just sit across from each other, I imagine that for some of you, your story would look a little bit more like that. Maybe this season for you has been one of the hardest ones. And you came into this year like most of us do with a lot of rah-rah energy and a lot of, man, God's about to do it. And thus saith the Lord, and this is my word of the year, and God's gonna do it. And and I wanna see all the promises of God happen in my life, and glory be to God, and all of that. And and and I'm I'm with you, and you have actually not felt that. And it doesn't mean that's not true, it just means you haven't felt it. And can I just be honest with you for a second? If I'm talking about those two different sides, and maybe you're maybe you're somewhere in the middle of all that, maybe you're like, it's been a little bit of good, a little bit of not so good. But maybe you're on one of those two opposing sides that I just mentioned. And if I'm honest with you today, humble, where we talk about the real stuff. If I'm gonna be honest with you, I think I'm in the second category I just mentioned. My wife and I had a plan, y'all. I mean, I had a document, have a document in my phone of some things that we were planning on accomplishing by this point this year. And some of that has come to fruition. Most of that has not. If I'm honest with you, I'm like, by the summertime, we're gonna see some things happen and it's gonna be awesome. And we're gonna be able to celebrate the testimony of what the Lord has done. If I'm honest with you, I have not seen that yet. I believe it's gonna happen. I still have hope, I still have faith, but I have not seen it happen yet. What I want to talk to you about today is I want to give you this analogy that if you're in sports, you'll know all too well. Many of us know what halftime is. And it's like, you know, in most sports, there's there's a few quarters, you know, most of them have four quarters or periods, right? Depending on the sport. And so I'm gonna use football just because I played football and I love football so much. But if you think about any football game, whether you've played or whether you just watch, even if you've only watched the Super Bowl, you have a little bit of context to what I'm talking about. So just roll with me for a minute. But maybe you're watching the game and like the team you're going for is getting a tail kicked. Like, I mean, it's not even close. Like first quarter, you're like, I have high hopes for them. And then they throw an interception the first play, and you're like, oh my God, this is gonna be the the whole how the whole game's gonna go. And to your point, that's how the first two quarters have been is interception and turnover, and somebody got sacked, you know, the the quarterback got sacked in the backfield and they lost the possession a few times and like all these different things that have happened. Defense is not locking in, you know, the secondary, you know, the safeties and all them are letting the wide receivers get past them and they're throwing these long bombs or these play actions, right? You know, if you if you understand football, you know what I'm saying, right? Like all of this stuff, it seems like it's happening to them, and there's nothing they can do about it. And then halftime happens, and they go to that good old locker room and coach, man, like any good old coach, it's like, hey man, what y'all doing? This ain't nothing what we talked about in practice. Y'all ain't locking in, y'all ain't blocking for dude, y'all ain't tackling, y'all ain't wrapping up. Like, y'all are not doing any of the fundamentals that we have talked about for this game to be successful. You're not doing any of that stuff. So, what are we gonna do right now so that way we have a different mindset? Come on, somebody, some of you know where I'm going. What are you gonna do right now to have a different mindset for what I want to get into in this topic, which is we need to have a better mindset, some of us, for what I'm calling the second half. Say it with me, even though I can't hear you. Somebody say second half. Second half. Because right now it's halftime for you. Right now, you're in this pivotal season of this year where you're like, Antoine, nothing, bro, nothing has gone to plan. And I'm about ready to give up. Like I'm about ready to just throw this Jesus thing in, man. You talk about Jesus, how God's a good God, and how he wants to come uh through for you, and how the promises God are available to us. And you always talk about like humble where we talk about the real stuff. And like if we humble ourselves before the Lord, he will exalt him. Like I hear you, bro, and I don't see that scripture coming to fruition in my life. I'm with you. In fact, I'm I'm I'm in your category, like I said before. There are a lot of scriptures I'm believing God for that I've not seen happen in my life. And I feel like I'm getting my tail kicked right now. I feel like the first half of this year has been one of constant setback and adjusting. And I'm like, I'm I'm kind of tired of adjusting. I just wish like the plan that my wife and I set out to accomplish would just happen, right? This is not meant to be a therapy session. This is meant for me just to say I'm with you and I relate to what you're saying. And right now, you and I, my friend, are in this pivotal season called halftime where we're going back to the locker room of grace. Come on, somebody. We're going back to our prayer closet, right? And God, right now, the Holy Spirit is speaking to us and saying, Hey, don't give up yet. Hey, I know the plan that you had is not going according to the plan that you had in your life or the way that you wanted it to look. And it's because it's your plan and not my plan. And so, right now, while we're in this halftime moment, if you would just submit your plan to me and let me exchange your plan for my plan, we might see some different results in the second half. Somebody say second half. Because many of us went into this year with our own agenda. And so, why would we expect godly results with a selfish plan? With a plan that is indicative to what we want to see instead of what God wants to happen. Right now we're in the halftime season. We're going into summer. We're going into this time where, man, so many things, the sun is shining, and it feels like summer is often this analogy for things. You know, uh coming out of spring, things having new life, but summer is often the time where things thrive, right? And you want to see that thriving happen in your life. But oftentimes what we want to see happen in the natural, because we're not submitting in the supernatural or in the spiritual, that's why we're not seeing the things happen. What I'm not saying, just for clarity, is I'm not saying that if you trust God with all of your heart, you will see all of the things that you want happen. That's not a message I'm trying to send. And that's not biblical. What I am saying, though, is oftentimes the added stress and turmoil and the fact that we feel like we're getting our tails kicked, it's really our fault. It's because we are not, come on, come on, my football people and my sports people. It's because the coach gave us a playbook and we're not running any of the plays. We try to do our own thing. We're throwing we're trying to throw the 70-yard bomb every play. And so the defense, the enemy, is seeing that a mile away and going, oh, I know what they're trying to do. They're trying to, they're trying to do this. Well, I'm going to blitz them every day. And so that way, when they wake up, they will not even want to get out of bed. They will not even want to get back into the game. And many of you feel that. So while we're in the locker room right now, while we're in halftime, what I want to submit to you is don't leave the locker room the same way you came in. In fact, as we are in the counseling of the great physician right now, as we are being counseled by the wonderful counselor right now, like the Bible calls our Savior, that we will take heed to what his word says. We will take heed to what uh his word says about our lives and how when we honor God in the principles of God by what scripture says, that like it says in Proverbs, our lives are more likely to be blessed because we are honoring God. Again, I said more likely doesn't mean it's a one-for-one. Because we live in a fallen world, because we live in a broken world, because there's sin in the world, sometimes life just be life. And can I just pause and say, for many of us, that's really what it is. For some of us, it's not even that we haven't been running the play, it's the fact that life has been life. Because we're in a fallen and broken world, we have a real enemy that comes to seek, uh, kill and destroy us, and to still kill and destroy us, because of that, because he's trying to take us out, life is just life. So you could be doing all of the right things spiritually. And because you still live on this earth and the enemy is running rampant on this earth, you're dealing with life. Sometimes things happen. Sometimes there are setbacks. Sometimes you are just in a season where things are not going well. And we got to go back to the locker room where we got to refocus. Because sometimes it's that too. Sometimes in the first half, you've been doing all things that God has asked you to do. And it's just not working. So what you need right now is encouragement. You don't need necessarily a talk and two of do the right thing. No, no, no. You need to be reminded to continue to focus on doing the right thing, to be encouraged to still focus on the promises of God. Somebody say second half. Because I got my preacher on right now, because in this second half, I'm believing that it's going to look different for you because you're going to lock in like never before. You're going to trust God like never before. You're going to have some people, your teammates that are surrounding you be uh people of encouragement for you. And when you get down, they're going to help you up. Hey, it's all right. Let's get back in the game and let's go one more play. We got one more play in us, one more play, one more day, one more season, one more, one more game in us so that way we can accomplish the promises of God for our life. As we are coming out of halftime, going into the fall, where there may be a lot of things thrown at you. Do that with a posture of I'm going into the second half with God at my side and God's word in my heart. Halftime is not a waste of time. Halftime is not a wasted season. The things that happened to you in the first half is not wasted either. Because God can use that to help us learn, to help us grow, and to help prepare us for what we're about to step into. Your first half wasn't wasted, my friends. Even if it feels like it was, even if you feel tired and exhausted, I'm with you. Even if that's what you feel, even if that's been your posture, we're in the locker room for a reason right now. We're getting a pep top from our dad. And our dad and our coach is saying, Don't give up. There is more that he has for us. There is more in you. You've got one more block in you, you've got one more tackle in you. And when I take that analogy and I think about real life, some of you are supposed to step into things that you have been too afraid to step into because of the first half of this year. Some of you have goals, like we talked about earlier this year, that you have yet to accomplish. This year is not over. This season is not over. If there's one more day that you are here on this earth, that means that's another day that you get to step into the promises of God. And you get to step into all that He has for your life. Do not be debilitated by the first half. In fact, while we're in halftime right now, let's refocus. Let's regroup and let's step into the second half of this year. More focused as husbands, more focused as fathers, more locked in as wives, more overjoyed as mothers with our kids. Let's be as focused and as locked in as ever because there are people attached to you that need your best in the second half. There are lives attached to you. So don't give up on that fitness goal. Don't give up on trying to do your best at that job, even though you feel like they're treating you poorly. You are called to that environment to be a light in a season where it feels like there's a lot of darkness surrounding you. Why am I speaking so passionately about this? Because many of us are ready to throw in the towel. Many of us are ready to give up. Many of us, the second month into this in February, you were like, I'm done. And now it's June, and you're like, I don't even know what to do, Antoine. My encouragement to you is don't give up. My encouragement to you is as you're in the second half, as we are about to step into that, there is more in you that you have yet to see. But you can't accomplish that by yourself. You can't accomplish that without God being with you. You could try, but you'll find yourself winding up back in the same place of being defeated and being depleted. Somebody say second half. I'm having you repeat it because I want it to be ingrained in your mind. I want it to be ingrained in your soul. I want it to be ingrained in your heart so that way on the days that you wake up and feel like not getting out of bed, that you do it anyway. You go to the gym anyway, you go to work anyway. The business that you were called to start, you continue to do it anyway. Why? Because it's about you, but it's bigger than you. The company that you are supposed to start, the people that God has called you to lead. Maybe you're a supervisor or a manager and you have a team and you feel like, man, my team is not where they need to be. And I feel like the first half of this year has not been good. You are in the locker room in halftime for a reason. So that way when you come out the locker room, you can step into the second half with a renewed focus. Because back to the football game for a second, we can all tell by the first couple plays and the first couple minutes in the second half when you're watching a game. You can all we can all tell how that locker room talk went. Where it's like, man, they look like a brand new team. Or they look like the same beat up team that we saw before. Which one is it gonna be, my friends? What we can control is obedience. What God controls is the outcome. Don't be so focused on the outcome has to be a certain way, Antoine, so that way I can prove that the second half was successful. That's not what God's asking you to do. God's asking you to be obedient to what He's asked you to do. Somebody say second half. I want you to say it because I want you to believe it. And my friends, if you found yourself in this season where you've gotten beat up, maybe you feel defeated, or uh maybe maybe you just feel off right now in this season. My prayer for you, my hope for you is that you will come out of this locker room better than ever. So people that are watching the game of your life will be like, that's a new team that I'm looking at. That's a new person that I'm looking at right now. There and they are not allowing the first half of this year to define them. Why do I say all this? Because many of us give up right before we see some of the greatest blessings of our life. Again, it's not about the blessing itself, but the blessing oftentimes is the fruit of the root of us trusting God. And He does want to bless us. And He does want His kids to prosper. That's not a bad word. What becomes bad about prospering is when we try to prosper ourselves instead of giving God the glory in the prospering, in the blessing. That the one who blessed us gets all of our adoration and praise, right? But when those blessings come, celebrate that. Give God the praise for that. Honor Him for that. And don't give up, my friends, because in this second half, there is more in you. So I just want to take a moment right now and I want to pray for you. Because I know that while I'm using all these cool analogies and metaphors and all that kind of stuff, that many of you are just like, man, I don't even know what the fall is going to look like. Come August, I don't even know. My life is so turned upside down right now, I can't even look past today. That's all right. Because you're watching this for such a time as this today. For whatever reason, you've locked into this episode. And so what I feel called and led to do in this moment, and I just want to pray for you. I want to pray that you are not defeated by the first half. And while you're in halftime, that you will feel so charged up and so encouraged and so inspired by the Holy Spirit that you have a new energy for the second half of this year. God, I pray that for all of us that have felt a little beat up in this season, God, for all of us that feel a little tired and worn out and exhausted, God, I pray that you are our strength in that exhaustion. God, I pray that you are our strength in our weakness, Lord. I pray that we will not be focused on the blessing as much as we're focused on the presence of you. And God, while your presence is with us, Lord, that we are encouraged to take another step, God. We are encouraged to wake up and live another day, God. We're encouraged to go back to uh what may seem like a crazy environment at work. We are encouraged to do one more day, one more business deal, one more client deal, one more podcast, one more whatever it is, fill in the blank, God. We all have something different. Give us the energy to sustain us one more day, one more opportunity so that way you can get all the glory, all the honor, all the praise. Lord, fill us up with your spirit, renew us, transform us, and help us to focus on you on the days where we feel like giving up. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. My friends, I hope, I hope that this is encouragement to you today. Like I'm kicking off season three with a banger because I truly believe many of you feel like I do, and you feel like you have every opportunity to give up. But God, if God is for us, nothing can be against us. And as long as we have that, we have much to live for and we have much to do in the kingdom of God. I pray this blessed you today. Until next time, lock into season three. And if you're just joining us for the first time, go back and watch all of season one, all of season two. It'll give you a lot of context to even who I am, what the show is about, and what we're trying to accomplish in this community. My friends, this is Humble, where we talk about the real stuff. And I cannot wait to see you next time. Peace. Thank you so much for checking out this episode of the Humble Podcast. And here's my prayer is that something that was shared through the content today resonates with you in a way that changes your life. And I can actually use your help with something. While you're watching this, would you mind subscribing to what we're doing on YouTube? As you do that, that helps other people to be able to see and value what we're doing, just like you do. But also tap that bell icon so you never miss an episode. Next, if you are listening on Spotify and on Apple, leave us a review or comment so that way other people can see what God is doing. And lastly, I would love to invite you into the Patreon community. Simply go to patreon.com slash humble podcast and you can become a patron where you can financially support what we're doing. That gives you access to perks and rewards and like special QA's and different things like that that I'm doing. So that way this community can actually be one where we foster vulnerability and we talk about our real stories and our real journeys with Jesus. Thank you so much for doing that, and I cannot wait to see you next time.