 All right, good morning everyone. Welcome to a new week. Good morning Sir. Good morning Sir, good morning. All right, let's begin this time with a word of prayer. So, if you one of us can please lead a prayer. Name one of us. Yes, go ahead please. For that, in the mighty name of Jesus, patient of this, we thank you this morning for giving us the opportunity to learn again. Thank you O Lord, because you are the God who started this week with us. Thank you for a lecture, thank you for all your students. Thank you for the building council of the school, in the name of Jesus. That if we start this week O Lord, in you, we start with you O Lord. May we hand with you in the name of Jesus. And Lord, give all attentive memory and Lord above all, let know you more and more in the name of Jesus. We so can accept this with the blood of Jesus Christ in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen, thank you so much, success. All right, so we'll get into chapter 5. We're going to be talking about competitive advantage and strategy. Like I mentioned briefly last class, in ministry, there is no competition, right? We're not going to say, okay, we're competing with other ministries or other churches. That is not there. We know that we are one, whether we are small, big, whether we are in the city, whether in villages or towns, it doesn't matter, we are building God's kingdom. So there's no competition in ministry, but there are some principles that we can use from this lesson to help us, whether maybe some of us are in the workplace, some of them, some of us are only in ministry, but we can use these principles in ministry. And of course, if you're in business, you can, that is competitive advantage. It's good to have a healthy competition. So let's look at competitive advantage and strategy in chapter 5. First one, know what you're up against, right? Luke chapter 14, 28 to 33. I'll read that. If one of you is planning to build a tower, you sit down first, figure out what it'll cost to see if you have enough money to finish the job. If you don't, you will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation, and all who see what will happen will make fun of you. You began to build but cannot finish the job, they will say. If a king goes out with 10,000 men to fight another king, who comes out against him with 20,000 men, he will sit down first and decide if he is strong enough to face the other king. If he isn't, he will send messengers to meet the other king to ask for terms of peace while he's still long off. In the same way, Jesus concluded, none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have. Now, we all understand that there is a price, there is a cost in terms of following Jesus Christ. There is a price that we have to pay, another price may be small, maybe big, but there is a price. But every time we think of a vision, remember it involves a cost. For example, if I want to start a ministry, I want to start a business, it involves a cost. Now, the cost could be in terms of putting in, others may put in 80% of hard work, you will have to put in 120%, why? Because it involves a cost, there's a vision. If you're starting a ministry, for example, others are putting in 90%, you'll have to put in 150% because you are driving that vision. So, it's very important to have a clear understanding what it takes to pursue a vision. Built in Nehemiah, what happened? There was an anguish in his heart and he said, oh man, the gates have been burned down, the walls are broken down, the vision was dead. Okay, need to build it. But here's what he did, he sat down and he probably took a few days to think of the cost. It's going to take a lot for me to do this. I need people, I need material, I need the favor. So, there's this whole feeling of, okay, I need to understand this vision. I don't want to start the wall in between, just stop. So, when you and I, when God puts something in our heart, sit and think about it. It's good to have a vision, we talked about it. It's good to have a vision, it's good to write down your vision, it's good to pray about it, but what is the cost involved? So, for example, if it's ministry and you feel, okay, God is calling you to start plant a ministry. If you're praying one hour a day, you know it's not enough. If you're reading the Word, if we are reading the Word of God, we're spending maybe one, one and a half hours a day, you know it's not enough. There's a cost involved. There needs to be that additional effort. So, know what you're up against. If you have a vision, if you have a plan, if it's a small business, big business, whatever it is, know what you're up against. Consider, look at this. This is Jesus' words. He's saying, when you plant this, build a tower, first you stop, you think about it, whether you'll be able to finish it, and then you begin, lest you start, and then everyone say, oh, you couldn't finish it, they make fun of you. This is Jesus telling, look at the wisdom there. So, one of the ways that you and I can know what we're up against is know what's in the market. In terms of competition, that is similar to what you're doing. I remember many years back when we look at these call centers, the team leaders and managers, what they will do is they will look at other companies and see what they are doing. Probably do a research and come up with strategies, come up with ideas, nothing wrong about it. It's not like you're stealing ideas. You just want to look at competition, learn from each other and develop your company and your organization. So, for example, you want to start a school in a city. Well, what must we do? Oh, there's a lot. Now, there are hundreds of schools in the city. So, what is it that I should do if I have to start a school that people and parents will want to put their children in the school? Okay, one, I should have a good place. I should have good teachers. Three, I should have probably good extracurricular activities, simple things. So, you look at your competitors and see how you can either reach them or improve their standards. Second one, compete but compete clean and fair. Right? Second Timothy 2.5 says, an athlete who runs in a race cannot win the prize unless he obeys the rule. And this is so, so, so true, right? If you look at a, you know, a 100 meter running race or a 200 meter, 400 meters, that attracts the moment a runner, right? If he starts off before the gunshot, he's disqualified. He may finish the race and, you know, come first and celebrate. But at the end of the race, at the end, you know, finish line, there'll be somebody there saying, you're disqualified because he started early. Right? But did he finish first? Yes. Why is he disqualified? He's, he did not compete in a fair way. Second, if the gunshot is shot and they're running the race and in between, the runner cannot decide, okay, let me go into the other track. If he does that, again, he's disqualified. And of course, there are certain races where, you know, they can, they all, the runners come into the single track. But, you know, if you look at a 100 meter, 200 meter dash, they have to follow the rules, right? So it's not enough to just cross the finish line. What is important is whether we have followed the rules, right? Always compete, but compete in a clean way, in a fair way. Build success through the quality of your product and the quality of your service, right? And, you know, in the marketplace, we have something called as a SWOT analysis. And I don't know, it's been many years that I have come out of the corporate sectors. I don't know the jargons that are being used now. But I remember there was a SWOT analysis, strengths, weaknesses, oppositions and strengths, weaknesses, oppositions and threats. Opportunities and threats, I think, yes. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis. So we used to do that, right? Okay. How is it that, you know, what are the strengths? What are our weaknesses? What are some of the opportunities? And what are the threats that we see? And so we would, you know, just make, jot them down and see how we can, you know, better ourselves. Now, time has shown that a lot of times organizations have already become big. But because of mismanagement of funds, misuse of funds, deceptive ways of cheating, probably customers, financial fraud, not paying taxes, all of this has caused organizations to break down. So when you're building an organization, build it in the right way. Make sure that you compete, you know, when you're competing, you know, go again, you're being vigorous, but you're also being fair. Right? Don't see competition as a threat, but see competition as a way of learning from each other. Competition never a threat. It's good to have healthy competition, right? And, you know, competition is something that can spur us to do better, right? Now, what about in ministry? These are some things that we can think of, right? When we see other churches or other ministries that are, you know, going through collapsing because of mismanagement, misuse of funds or, you know, cheating, because you don't use the word cheating, but maybe, you know, drawing people towards certain things and maybe financial fraud, which is there. When we see all of this as a ministry, we must understand, hey, you know, I must, whatever I'm doing, I must do it clean. I must do it in a fair way. I must pay my taxes or ministries don't have to pay because they're the tax exemption, but if there are certain things that you need an accountant, you need to make sure that, okay, all the things that government rules are being followed. Just because we are a church, we can't say, hey, you know, God is my leader and I will only follow what God says, you know, we need to be submitted to the rules that God has put in the organization as well, right? Develop a winning strategy, very important. When you start an organization, when you start a ministry, develop a winning strategy. Don't develop a strategy that can just help us walk through or just, you know, drag through. No, develop a winning strategy. You may be, you know, in your company, you may be 10 people, right? Or maybe 20 people or even 100 people. Develop strategies that can help you win in an organization. And even in ministry, you may start off with just three people. Develop winning strategies. I just want to use this example. I was reading this article on Jack Ma, who's the founder of Alibaba. And the article really just, you know, there's nothing about, you know, it's not like he prayed and all of that, but the heart of a visionary, right? It was just so much in him. He was meeting in a small two-bedroom house, right? And he had about 10 people. And he told those 10 people, if you stick on with this organization, every day he would have team meetings. And he was, you know, sharing this in a couple of interviews that I was reading and CNN, he was talking about it as well. If you stick with me in this company, you all, all 10 of you will become millionaires. Now he's talking the early 90s probably in a small two-bedroom house with a, you know, small whiteboard there. And they were doing some business, you know, small packages they would buy and just, you know, deliver it to people, nothing. And he told those 10 staff, you work for me, right? You, you know, he was not even paying them, right? You work for me, you give all you have, you all will turn out to be millionaires. Right? Out of the 10, five of them left. They said, yeah, not even able to, they're not even able to pay us salads. And you're seeing all of this. And so some of them didn't cash them, but about five of them stayed back. Right? In that five, three of them were, you know, they continued to, you know, two of them said, no, we wanted to start their own thing. So three of them were stayed and they really, you know, worked with Jack Ma, who's the founder. And of course, many years later, you know, the business started growing, they started doing the hired staff and all of that. But in the end, those three of them, even now, multi-millionaires. Now it's not about the money, but you see the vision that, when a visionary has, he developed a winning strategy. Were there other companies doing this? Probably, yes. That's a winning strategy. Strategy is a military term, which is usually, you know, used with the art of war, like a guerrilla warfare. When armies attack each other, they have strategies. Whether it's the Navy, whether it's the land army, whether it is any other, they have a strategy. They don't just go arbitrarily, they have a strategy. To win, you and I need a strategy. To reach our goals, we need a strategy. We need inputs from people. That is why teamwork is important. I talk to experts in your field, survey the market, talk to customers, see what works, see what doesn't work. Now, if you want to translate this in ministry, you need a strategy to reach out to people. We can't do what we were doing in the early 2000s. Now it's 2020, 2022 things have changed, 2023 that the year we are in, it's just, you know, the way we reach out to children, the way we reach out to teens is going to be very different. Because everything is changing. Children are so aware of what's happening around them. So get advice, get strategies, talk to people. One of the things I always do is, this is something personally I always do. I talk to these elder couples, I love talking to them. You know, their children are in their early 20s and I keep talking to them and say, hey, how did you manage when your kids were 5, 5th standard or in 6th grade? No, they're learning, they're exposed to all this. What did you do? Did you force them to come to church? Did you force them to read the Bible? Or how did you manage to get them to, you know, and get involved in church? So what am I doing? I'm getting insights. Now, I may not apply the same thing, but I'm, okay, this is something that I can do. Everyone gave different thoughts, different ideas. Why? Because they already know they've gone through it. Right? I may be the pastor leading the church, but I can't say, okay, I'm a pastor and not to learn from each other. Right? I need to develop a winning strategy. And when you look at churches, you know, I talk to people or I read up a lot and look at churches and see how they've been growing, how they've been effective, how they've been able to raise up these wonderful leaders, develop winning strategies. Proverbs 20, 18 says, get good advice and you will succeed. Don't go charging into back without a plan. And you look at the Old Testament all through when the Israelites went, there was strategies. And some of the strategies were given by God himself. Although Moses, you go as long as your hand is up, you're going to be winning. It's the army, the Israelite army, when the moment your hand comes down, you're going to be losing. You'll see defeat happening. So that was the strategy he does. Joshua, Joshua, just don't do anything. The walls look big. Go around the walls seven days, seven times, blow the halls. I will bring the walls down. Strategy, right? And to David, he gives strategies. He said, David, now is not the time. I'll tell you when to go, then you go. So it's good to ask and to learn from each other and learn strategies. Ask God to give you strategies. Remember, God is a source of all wisdom. He can give us ideas and strategies if you never even thought about it. Goliath is not your real enemy. Fear is, first Samuel 17, 10 and 11 and verse 24. And the Philistines said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistines, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Look at that. Saul was anointed of God. Being the king of Israel, he has already defeated mighty armies. He's saying, when they heard this Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. Look at that. It started off with Saul. Saul was afraid. The army saw Saul, probably saw Saul and they were afraid. And they just ran away. The entire army of Israel, the soldiers were left immobilized when they saw Goliath. What happened? Did they not go against enemies before? They're used to it. They've gone. They have fought the Moabai. They have fought the Keranai. They've won victories, but fear gripped them. The fear of the unknown. The fear that, oh, what can this guy, this huge man Goliath, what if he just kills all of us? What if I go and then he destroys me? All of these fearful thoughts can leave us in a place of inaction. Right? So for us in ministry or in business, of course, we don't make foolish decisions, but we must avoid the fear of failure. Fear of failure can leave us in a place of inaction. Your real enemy is not your competition. Fear is your real enemy. And sometimes fear can hold us back. They can just stop us. And, you know, what does it say? You know, we've heard that famous saying, fear negates faith. Right? Some places they say doubt negates faith as well. This fear is, it's a natural thing, but Goliath is not our real enemy. Fear is, look at what David did. He was, look at Goliath at all. He said, I'm not fearful. So the size of the battle, they don't matter. Right? Leverage your experience with lions and bears to face Goliath. We skip that verse, but we'll just see what we can learn from this. David knew the odds are against him. Right? A shepherd against a trained soldier, small boy versus a grown big man who is so huge. But no one in their right mind would have thought what David would have done. David tapped into the, his history with God. Right? David tapped into his history with God. So he looked at his previous battles. David looked at his previous, no, winds that he had, right? The battles that he had faced. So I can only picture this. And David was looking at Goliath, this huge, probably 9, 10 feet, whatever, big man. And then David closes his eyes and he thinks to himself, you know, I've killed a lion. I've seen a lion face to face. I've seen a bear face to face. And I have killed it with my own hands. What was happening? David is tapping into his previous battles where he won. Hey, I've killed a lion now. So there was really some kind of a bold escape. And then he said, this man is nothing. God has enabled me to kill a lion and a bear. I can, I can take him. Right? As far as David was concerned, Goliath was no different. Maybe Goliath just saw him as another lion. Maybe strong, maybe powerful, but I defeated it. Even your small successes adds competitive advantage. Right? Don't look at those small successes and don't forget about it. Keep it in your mind. Right? Those small things that small times when you have succeeded, hold on to that. Use it as a, you know, when the, when the time comes in the future, you know, it could be, you know, if you're looking at ministry, but look at those times when, okay, you tried something that was successful. And, you know, you saw that people were blessed, continue to do it. Look back and sometimes we feel, oh, my God is not using me. Look back and see, okay, you know, these are things that I did. And I felt the anointing of God. I feel that God is, you know, was closer to me during those days. Maybe I should get back to that, get back to that time of prayer, to that time of worship. Right? So those small victories are very powerful. Right? Sometimes just one pebble is all it takes. Like all of this is from the strategy that David used. Now, David's strategy against Goliath was simple. What was it? He took the stones, he used the slim and he just, he took what he was best at. Right? Remember, Saul says, okay, David, you want to go, I don't know why you want to go, but you want to go, okay, you got to take my sword, take my armor, wear it on, so I can see if this is going. So David tried it on and he was uncomfortable. He said, hey, this is not, this is only going to slow me down. Right? This is only going to, you know, this is not what I'm comfortable with. What am I, what are my strengths? My strength is my sling and a stone. Probably the brothers would have said, oh, please don't tell me you're going to fight this man. With a sling and a couple of pebbles. But maybe the king was like, oh, you have to wear the armor and go, you can't go like this. But David knew his strength, he knew all it takes is up one pebble, just one pebble, one stone was all, because that was his strength. What if David went with the sword and with the shield and the helmet and all of that, you know, probably lost his agility, his strength, the way to, that was not something that he was comfortable with. Right? You don't have to be big to be better. If you can outdo competition in other areas such as skill, agility, innovation, efficiency and service, you don't have to be bigger. You can be a smaller company, but be better. Then the bigger ones, right? And that's something that's very powerful. Now, when you look at a church, of course, we're not looking at being better than someone, but you may be a small church, 100, 150 people. But do the ministry in that church in a way that you can really, you know, to the best of your ability, to your competency, to every use, every skill that you have, right? Raising up leaders, raising up teams for the church, right? And you'll know, and you'll see that, hey, God is, you know, beginning to empower the church. Teams are very, very important. And we talked about that, right? Sounds 27 says, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord God. All right, next one, if you stop me, ask me questions, if you have any, get the Lord's counsel, your key to competitive advantage and strategy. Very important. Get counsel from the Lord, right? Consult the Lord. I love this word. Second Samuel 522 to 25. Samuel is, sorry, David is the king here. And what does it say? Then the Philistines went back to Refaim Valley and occupied it again. Once more, David consulted with the Lord who answered, don't attack them from here. Look at this strategy. This is God giving David this strategy. Don't attack them from here, but go around and get ready to attack from the other side. You're the balsam trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the treetops, then attack. I will be marching ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army. David did what the Lord had commanded and was able to drive the Philistines back to Geba all the way to Giza. Okay, look at what's happening here. David, okay, was probably outnumbered here. Now, David had a mighty army, but the Philistines were strong. Now, what does David do? He could have defeated the Philistines on his own. Hey, I have 40,000 soldiers. I can just go in and defeat them. But what does he do? He consults the Lord. And when he consults the Lord, the Lord speaks to him and says, okay, here's what you do, David. You don't go in straight. You go from the sides, go from around and attack, go from the side. And when you hear the sound of marching on the treetops, you will hear the sound of marching. Then you attack because I will go ahead of you. And with this strategy, they were able to defeat the Philistines now. Right? And it's so wonderful. It's so wonderful how God can give us these simple strategies that can really change the course of events. I'm not sure if I've shared this example, but many a times. I was, God, God, give me an idea on how to do certain things. It may be evangelistic or maybe just reaching out to people. Many times, it may be a very simple idea. Right? There was this one time I was praying. I was just praying for the church, Lord. Bless the church, raise up leaders, let us all grow in maturity. All of a sudden, it's got an idea. The idea was tap into the northeastern community of the city, northeast. So we're talking about the northeast of India. Tap into that community. So how do I tap into that community? So, but then that was a thought. So I again, you know, just kept it in place. But how do I tap into it? So I realized that, hey, there was some of us here in the church who were, who are from the northeast background. So I asked them, what is it that they like? I said, hey, we like, they like worship. They like music and they like fellowship. And they may not be too interested in sitting and listening to the word. You know, for 30, 40 minutes, but they like fellowship. They like music. So he said, okay, what can we do? Let's start worship evenings. Worship evening is targeted to the northeast community. So he said, okay, let's worship you. How many people in the church? 10 people. Right, that's good. Thank you for the strategy. Now, what do we do? Do the other things? Which day is the best? Is it Monday to Friday? They all study? Okay, Saturday. Okay, Saturday. So how do we reach out to them? Do we make printouts? Do we make invites? Make invites. Make something nice. And then go reach out. It was a simple strategy, but it all came as just a thought. Right? So be open to what God is doing. Ask God for strategies. God will give you, right? Divya shares second Samuel 520. So David went to Baal Parism and David defeated them there. And he said, the Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breakthrough order. Therefore, he called the name of that place Baal Parism. This is in line with what we are talking. Okay, so this is the previous verse to that. Yeah, I was just adding it there because this verse came to me earlier. And there's a movie called Breakthrough. Yeah, it talks about a mother who kind of lost her son. But the son, if he was all like stated dead, like he was dead actually. But this mother came and prayed and that boy came back to life. It's a real story. It happened in US Mount. I think it's in an icy lake that happened. I think it's a place called Minneapolis. And there's a movie on that story. So the movie name is Breakthrough. And this was one of the words that came at the beginning of the year. So yeah, I just wanted to share that words. Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Divya. That's nice. Thank you for sharing. Right, let's move on. So now each one of us, you know, some of us may be housed where they say, I don't need strategy. No, you need strategies. Strategies to raise up your kids strategy to be effective at home. Maybe some of us are saying, hey, this is student. You need a strategy. Hey, I haven't planned what I'm going to do ahead. You need a strategy. Every, every sphere, every, every, you know, season of life you're in, you will need a strategy to be effective, right? And God can give us those small nuggets, which can be so powerful, right? And, you know, really, so consult the Lord, look to the Lord. And when you ask God for these strategies now, you know, that God is a God who does unusual things. He makes, He comes up with unusual ideas, not something that we may comprehend. So be open to unusual strategies as well, right? The example from Joshua, right? And the gates of Jerusalem, right? Let's just read the last part. On the seventh day, I think that was four, I think. On the seventh day, Joshua six was four. On the seventh day, you and your soldiers are to march around the city seven times when the priests blow the trumpets. Then they are to sound one long note. As soon as you hear it, all the people are to give a loud shout and the city walls will collapse. Then the whole army will go straight into the city. What an unusual strategy, right? Again, He has done it in the past. He can do it even now. God can tell us to do things that look very unusual. Do it, but make sure that it's God telling you, right? Pray and know if it's certain that it is God who's telling you. Who would have thought of sending a band of worshipers to stand in front of a wall that was probably 40 feet high? And telling those worshipers, blow one note. And there could have been just one monotonous note, but let shouts of praise arise and the walls of Jericho will fall down. Now, Joshua could have said, hold on. The walls of Jericho, God, are not built on not built on some regular sand. They are walls, so strong, so wide. We need tools to break them down. So should I get the army ready? God, Joshua's God is saying, hey, no, no, no, no army, nothing. You don't have to fight. I'm going to fight for you this time, right? So you see that God can use these unusual strategies or whether it's business, whether it's ministry, be open to unusual strategies. As you work, God moves on your behalf when expecting unusual strategies from God. Don't forget to do the normal task of thinking through planning and executing. So God gives you an unusual strategy. Think about it. Of course, God is going to do it. But there's also involved the planning. How do I execute this strategy? All of that is important. The strategy is from God. But how do I cause these? Or how do I make the strategy work? That we'll have to plan it out. If God is giving you every point, what to do, that's wonderful. But it's very unlikely that God does that. He gives the strategy. We have to continue working on it, right? Generally, you will have more of the normal than the unusual. Yes, go ahead, Divya. Yeah, this is in context with the unusual strategies. So when you said, make sure that it is from God, yeah, I was thinking about how, because in the first place, it's unusual. So how do we ensure it is from God? Right, that's a very good question. Now, one way of understanding and knowing that it is from God is the Holy Spirit inside us will testify to us. Now, I'll picture this in the book of Joshua and all of them in the Old Testament. The ministry of the Holy Spirit was very limited. I didn't come, minister, and go. But you and I, you have the Holy Spirit always inside us. So the Holy Spirit can testify to our spirit. The simple thing is this. How do I know that I believe in Jesus? I know because the Holy Spirit testifies of it. How do I know that I have to do the ministry? Nowhere has God woke me up like how you woke up for Samuel and said, Samuel, come, I'm calling you for ministry. No, never happened. How do I know? Because there's a, the Holy Spirit is testifying it to us. Now, so as we keep thinking and praying on a certain point, right? So for example, I'm praying for God, an example, right? I want to start this small business. The business is about a stationary business, stationary things. I'm just giving this example, right? Stationary business. How do I do it? Where should I do it? I'm thinking about it. I need vendors who can provide me for the things. Now, suddenly God may say, more than a stationary, what I want you to do is also start this whole tuition center. I'm just giving you an example, starting tuition center. It's like, God, I'm not used to that. When I don't know, is it going to be a big thing at tuition center? You need, you know, good teachers, you need this, you need that. Now, it's something unusually, never thought of it. But as you keep praying, now it doesn't mean that, you know, I don't do it, right? So, you know, okay, we started the stationary shop or the stationary business that God has already told you. You begin to do what is the normal, right? But you keep praying about something that has not been in your heart, but God is speaking to you about it. So as you keep praying, the Holy Spirit will testify in your heart. It's okay. Now, I think this is what I have to do, because it's pushing me. Holy Spirit is pushing me, God is pushing me towards it. So, if you have to answer your question, I think we need to spend, we don't have to be in a hurry, but a way to really understand that this is gone is take your time, but pray about it, right? Pray targeted prayers. God, is this something you want me to do? How do you want me to do it? Give me the strategy. Give me the wisdom to understand what I must do. Do your research, right? So, tuition center, okay, what do I need? I need good teachers firstly. I need a place, you know, I need to look at what the others are doing in terms of starting a tuition center. So, I do my groundwork, but I'm still keeping it in prayer. I'm just looking at, okay, God, this is what I should do. If you feel this is what I should do, Lord, you open the right door for me. Give me the wisdom on how I should go about things, and then come a time when you will be certain that this is what God wants you to do. And I'm just given this example, but it can be anything. It can be ministry. It can be starting a small group or whatever it is. So, give time. You don't have to jump into it immediately. Pray about it, think about it, and while you're doing that, don't be stagnant. So, don't say, okay, I'm waiting for God to answer me in this. So, till then, I'll wait. You know, we keep doing the other practical things, and at the right time, God will just testify to you. The Holy Spirit will testify and say, now you do this. So, not always, it's like you can hear the voice of God, very unlikely. God just testifies it to us. But of course, the Word is there. That is a very powerful way. You just keep reading the Word. The Word will minister and can tell us what to do, because we always say this, right? The Word of God is God speaking to us. So, we open to that as well. Last point, and then, yeah, last two points here. Down but up, not out. Now, come back with a new strategy. In Judges 20, the Israelite soldiers were going against one of the tribes. The tribe of Benjamin faced defeat on two consecutive days. They were discouraged, but the Lord directed them to go back into battle for the third time. And when they went into the battle for the third time, they used a different strategy, and they were able to defeat the enemy, and they won. The battle was over, but here's the thing. Sometimes we fail, and we all know that, very familiar, saying failure is a stepping stone to success. But sometimes, yes, failure is a stepping stone to success, but the consequences of the failure can be really big. Remember, you're down, but not out. Come back with a strategy. Come back with a new strategy. Develop a winning strategy. Get up and try again. This is so encouraging. In the book of Isaiah, God tells, we may fall, but He lifts us up. We may be weary, but He gives us the strength. And so many wonderful promises of God that He's talking to the Israelites, and He's saying, hey, why are you downcast? Don't worry, I'm going to lift you up. You may be in captivity now, but listen, the glory of the Lord will arise upon you. He's telling Jeremiah, Jeremiah, tell the people I have plans for them, plans to prosper them. They may be down right now in captivity, but I have plans. So get up and try again. Right now. Many times in ministry and the things that, you know, we are assigned, we may fail. It may not have, you know, we have done our best, but then it's not good enough. It failed. Don't say, oh man, I'm not going to do this again. Last time I failed. No. Come back with a strategy. Right. Try it. If you fail, come back with a new strategy. Try it again. Keep trying, keep trying. Don't give up. Last point. Time and chance happen. Be alert. Act quick and capture the moment. Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 11 says, I returned. So sorry. I think the connection completely dropped. I'm so sorry about that. Right. So we passed that time, but let's just close with this. Good times and good circumstances, bad times and bad circumstances come to all. What is required is wisdom to handle both these situations. Both these circumstances. Capture the moment. Act quick. So there will be good times. There will be difficult times. There will be challenging seasons, good seasons. Ask God for wisdom to help us maneuver during these seasons. Right. So let's close. Sorry, I took an additional time. Sorry for that. I think the internet just dropped. So, right. Thank you so much. We will meet on Wednesday and continue. God bless you. Have a wonderful day ahead. Thank you, Vastan.