, US, Actor

August 18. Denzel Washington. Denzel was the son of a preacher and a hairstylist.

Denzel says, “I was what they call ‘throwing rocks at the penitentiary,’ but I never hit it.” He adds, “I never got caught.... But I also knew right from wrong, so I never wanted to go too far.”

Proactively, his mother sent him off to boarding school before things could go too wrong. When someone asks what advice Denzel would give to his 15-year-old self, he answers, “Listen to your mother!” In today’s story, Denzel was in college.

It’s not how much you have; it’s what you do with what you have.

Denzel felt like a failure.

Struggling in college, his grade point average was 1.7, so low that he worried he would flunk out. And he started to question whether he had really made the right choices about his education. A part of him wondered if he should just start over and join the army. Maybe there, he would find more success.

One March day, he took his frustrations to his mother’s beauty shop and occasionally glanced up at the mirror to see what was happening behind him. But one time he looked in the mirror, he realized an older woman under the hairdryer was looking back at him.

He looked away. Maybe it was one of those accidental eye contacts.

But after that, every time he looked up, she was looking back. And it started to feel weird. He didn’t recognize the woman.

Suddenly, she called out, “Somebody, get me a pen! Get me a pencil! I have a prophecy.”

Somebody handed her a blue envelope, and the woman scribbled on it. Then she spoke to Denzel. “Boy,” she began, “you are gonna travel the world and speak to millions of people.”

Denzel was taken aback. The woman was a prophet? Didn’t she know he was flunking out of school? Didn’t she know he was just wandering through life? Didn’t she know he didn’t have a clue what he should do? But something in his spirit stirred. He felt it.

The woman gave him the envelope with the word: “Prophecy” written on it. And his mother came along and added the word “preacher.” Perhaps that was what he was going to be. Denzel wrote his own name on the envelope.

And he took the blue envelope home. About four months later, Denzel decided to try something new—acting. He had found his calling.

Looking back, he realized that the moment in the beauty shop had had a profound effect on him. Even though he had felt lost in his life, God still had His hand on him and was guiding him—even if Denzel didn’t realize it at the time. “I’ve been protected. I’ve been directed. I’ve been corrected,” Denzel said. “I didn’t always stick with Him, but He always stuck with me.”

Denzel knew a calling from God came with responsibility. God gave him success, and just as the older woman spoke God’s calling into Denzel’s life, Denzel would speak God’s calling into the lives of others ... not always with words, but with action.

At , another young man was studying to become an actor. His mentor at the school offered him an opportunity to further his education and study at Oxford. But the young man didn’t have enough money to go. He was going to have to limit his dream due to lack of funds.

His mentor, Phylicia, knew Denzel (who was a famous actor by then) and contacted him. Denzel then paid for the student to go to the Oxford program.

Years later, the mystery of the young man whom Denzel had sponsored came out. He was Chadwick Boseman, now famous for playing Black Panther in the Marvel Superhero movies.

Denzel remembered what it was like to struggle in college. During a commencement speech at Dillard University, Denzel said, “It’s not how much you have; it’s what you do with what you have.” “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21 NIV).

With whatever resources you have, be intentional about speaking life into other men’s lives. “It’s not how much you have; it’s what you do with what you have.”

Above Inspiration. “Put God First—Denzel Washington Motivational & Inspiring Commencement Speech.” Published 26 Oct. 2017. https: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=BxY_eJLBflk&feature=youtu.be. Smith, Dean. “An old woman’s prophecy over actor Denzel Washington said he would speak to millions.” OpentheWord.org. February 12, 2017. https: //opentheword.org/2017/02/12/an-old-womans-prophecy-over- actor-denzel-washington-said-he-would-speak-to-millions/. Hill, Zahara. “Denzel Washington and Phylicia Rashad Helped Chadwick Boseman Study at Oxford.” Ebony. Published February 20, 2018. https: //www.ebony.com/entertainment/denzel-washington-phylicia-rashad- chadwick-boseman/.

Story read by: Stephen Holcomb Introduction read by: Daniel Carpenter Audio production: Joel Carpenter Editor: Teresa Crumpton, https://authorspark.org/ Project Manager: Blake Mattocks Copyright © 2020, 365 Christian Men, LLC. All rights reserved.