After taking off King Saul’s armor, David did something else…

Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth
stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of
his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand,
approached the Philistine. (1 Samuel 17:40, NIV)

David knew his anointing: to hold a slingshot, not a sword.
To run like the wind, not walk around in a clunky armor.

This brings us to an important question: How do you know your anointing?

To find your anointing, do what David did: He found his anointing by looking at his past. David said to King Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth” (1 Samuel 17:34-35, NIV).

Look for a Trail of Triumphs

I promise you, if you regularly step out of your comfort zone, if you regularly fight lions, if you regularly stretch yourself, if you regularly do what’s scary — even if you know you’ll fail many times — you’ll discover your anointing.

How? Look for a pattern in all your little successes. When you line up all your little wins in a row, you’ll discover one common denominator — one thing that’s always there in every little win you had in your life. That’s your anointing.

When David lined up his successes — defeating the bear and the lion — the one thing that was common among them was his slingshot.

I gave my first talk when I was 13. We held the first Light of Jesus prayer meeting when I was 14. I won a two-year Bible quiz on national television at 16. I wrote my first book at 20. What was common in all those wins? I used words.

That was my anointing.

My ability to use words was my slingshot.

Fight Some Lions!

Young people ask me all the time, “Brother Bo, how do I know my anointing?”

I tell them, “If you want to know your anointing, fight some lions. Fight some bears.”

What do I mean? Step out of your comfort zone, and step into your courage zone.

Here’s a truth: All anointing is found only in your courage zone. So when an older person says, “I don’t know my anointing,” the problem is not ignorance but fear. Because it is fear that prevents us from knowing our anointing. To be more specific, let’s talk about two kinds of fear.

First is the fear of failure. If you live in your comfort zone, if you’re afraid of other people’s opinions, if you don’t want to rock the boat, if you don’t want to stand out, if you don’t want to ruffle the feathers of other people, if you always want to remain safe, you’ll never know your anointing.

Second is the fear of success. Yes, success. Success is scary. People will remain mediocre, no matter how painful mediocrity is, because at least it’s familiar. It’s like the little child’s favorite pillow that stinks like a decomposing rat.

His mother begs him, “Baby, let’s throw this old pillow and buy a new one.”

But the toddler screams, “NOOOOOO! This is my friend Poopoo!”

“But, honey, it really smells like poopoo.”

But the boy and his friend the pillow are inseparable. Why? Because the pillow is familiar.

Mediocrity is like that. We remain mediocre subconsciously because it’s comfortable. We’re not successful because we’re afraid of success.

Role, Anointing, and Purpose

Someone asked me, “Bo, I read somewhere in your book that for 18 years, you were a spiritual teacher. But when you hit 30 years old, you also became a financial teacher. I thought you said we should stick to one thing. Aren’t you now doing two things?”

Don’t be confused between role, anointing, and purpose.

My purpose is to love people.

And my anointing is to communicate.

 

Those two things hardly change.

But roles can change. That’s why I can be a financial teacher and spiritual teacher at the same time.

When my wife was a young girl, she loved kids. She enjoyed playing with them, talking with them, and caring for them.

When she became a mother for the first time, she held our baby in her hands and said, “Bo, this is my ministry.”

And for 17 years, she focused on our kids with joy.

Last year, our youngest son turned 10. We knew then it was time for us to change hats — to discard the “controlling hat” and take on the “coaching hat.”

Marowe had to start to let go. So little by little, I saw my wife serve more in ministry. Now that her biological children are bigger, God has given her spiritual children to take care of.

Roles change, but usually the anointing does not.

Here’s another question I want to answer…

Can God Give You a Second Anointing?

I believe anointing has layers.

Because a second anointing can multiply a first anointing.

David experienced that.

David’s first anointing was his slingshot.

David’s second anointing was his leadership.

And that’s why he ended up being king — and one of the greatest kings of Israel.

My first anointing is communication. My second anointing is zumba dancing. Just kidding. It’s leadership too. That’s the reason I ended up leading Light of Jesus Family and a few other ministries.

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