 Good morning, everyone. Welcome to a new week. Let's begin this time with a word of prayer. Then we begin with our session. Yes, can any one of us please lead in prayer? Go ahead, anyone can lead. J. Heavenly Father, we come to you under the name of Jesus. We thank you for this beautiful day and for the class we are about to have. God, we pray that as we learn, we take every single word into our heart. We treasure each and every word that the pastor teaches to us. And we take it deep in our heart and we will put it in our efforts. We will put it in our actions, Jesus. God, I pray for all my classmates who are about to join. God, I pray for good wifi connection throughout the sessions. I pray that you will bring them to the class at the right time. I pray that this class will be a blessing to everyone who hears. I give pastor Paul into your hands. Be his strength and guidance throughout the session. Help us to open our heart and mind and listen to you, Jesus. The word is life and we are so thankful and we love you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen. Right. Thank you so much, Jeffy. All right. So we moved into chapter two last week and we talked about, you know, the grace and the gifts that God has given us. We talked about how to get started in our plan. We pray, we listen to God and we step out. Right. It's not only about praying, listening to God and, you know, not doing anything about it, but we need to step out. Then we look at knocking for those, meaning knocking for opportunities. God may open those, God may shut those and when he opens those, get into those doors with confidence. Don't be discouraged if those are closed. Maybe that's not the right door that is open. And so we also looked at even as you plan and prepare for what God has for you, expect the unusual favor of God. So you've got your plan, you're praying, you're hearing from God, waiting, you're expecting God to move. Expect the unusual favor of God. And we look at a few examples. We look at Daniel and we look at Nehemiah as well. And how, you know, they didn't know what was ahead. They probably thinking, oh man, what is ahead? But we see that there was an unusual favor upon them. The same unusual favor, the divine favor of God can be upon each one of us. Even as we plan, prepare and look to God. So we'll move into the next point of the same chapter. The next point, you can check your notes. Please have your notes open so you can track along as well. The next point is you can build only after you settle down. Stop wandering. As we missed Proverbs 27 and verse 8, people who won't settle down, wandering hither and yon, are like restless birds flitting to and fro. Now, there is something called as transitions. And usually, when you look at transitions, it happens over a period of four to five years. Because four to five years is a good time to learn, to develop, to develop our skills, to grow, to contribute to the organization. Now, transitions are important. But you must remember that transitions must be done at the right time. So for example, you're working in a company, you're working in an organization and it's been a year there. Sometimes you feel, this is not what I want to do. Immediately we want to transition to something else. Now, yes, there are times that can happen, but always remember a transition phase is always four to five years, because that helps you to learn about what you're doing. Develop yourself, grow, make a meaningful contribution. Now, if we keep moving from one place to another, very quickly, what happens? This word says it very clearly, people who don't, who won't settle down, wandering and hither and yon, which means we're just wandering everywhere, are like restless birds. It's like, you know, restless birds don't build a nest, don't lay eggs and don't have young ones. Why? Because they don't want to build a nest. They always want to go flying here and there. They want to do this. They want to go here. They want to do that. They want to look at different options. So they don't establish themselves. And what happens when we don't establish ourselves? We are unproductive and we cannot multiply. We cannot increase. So very important. Resist that temptation of moving very quickly or transitioning very quickly. Many times, I've got the opportunity to speak to many youth and I remember many, many years back, there was this young man who came up to me and he said, please pray for me, pastor. I want to get a good job. I knew that he was already working. So I asked him, hey, I thought you were already working. You were working in the IT sector. Oh no, I quit the job. I said, what happened? Why did you quit? You know, you're just a fresher, just got the job. It was probably eight months that he worked. He said, what happened? He said, his boss shouted at him. So I asked him, why did your boss shout at you? No, because I took an extended break. And so because his boss shouted at him, he quit his job. And I didn't know what to say because as a pastor, you know, we need to give good advice. We need to encourage our church folks. And I told him, but that day I remember telling him, you know, we need to make right decisions at the right time. Don't make decisions in your anger. Don't make decisions out of emotions. And, you know, he really had a tough time getting a job. He got a job after some time. And the job was a very less paying job. He had to take it. He had no choice. And, you know, I remember he kept telling me, you know, I regret what I did because that company was a very good company. It had a lot of benefits. They would, you know, they were willing to, you know, also, you know, take me to places. They were willing to make me into a trainer, but I just quit. Right. So remember that we are running a life plan. And we're not running a rat race. What we're doing is we have a life plan, right? So try to stick on to places at least for four or five years. Right. Now, there will be times when you feel that God is really putting in your heart to move into this company and you feel that it's the right time. You can go ahead right now. Don't, don't say, no, no, my transition has to be four or five years. So I've only finished two years. So then I should not know. No, it's not a set rule. That's why praying and stepping into what God has for us is very important. Right. Prayerfully do these transitions. Now, in your professional career, we have grace. We have gifts. We have skills. We must sharpen our skills. Right. So if you look at our acts, the acts hand needs to be sharp. Right. Now, if the, if the acts hand is not sharp, I can keep hitting the tree trunk and nothing is going to happen. It still looks like an axe, but it's not doing the work of an axe. Right. Because the edge is not sharp. Now, you and I as believers, the best thing to do, if we want to be, we want to grow in us, walk without, we need to sharpen our edge, learn new things, build your strengths, expand your skills. Right. Now it could be something that is as simple as getting more, you know, tech savvy. And I shared this before. No, I was not really a very, I'm not very tech savvy because I was another, my line of work was more into people. Right. Learning and development. So it was more about developing people, their character, their lifestyle, how to talk, how to speak. That was what I was doing in my workplace. So I spent very little time on computers and laptops and all of that. So over time, I realized that, hey, if I want to, you know, in ministry as well, if I want to do some things and want to sharpen my edge, I need to learn, I need to develop my skills. And I remember early 2014, I guess it was 14 or 15, I think it's 14, where the power to change campaign had started. It was a global campaign. I'm not sure if it was there in other countries. I don't know if it was there in other countries as well. It was a huge campaign. And I got the opportunity to be part of the team in power to change. Like ABC, we were doing, you know, we were partnering with Power to Change to impact the city of Bangalore. And I knew that, okay, so when I got the opportunity, I remember, you know, they said, all the data will come on an Excel sheet. All you need to do is use these shortcuts and add it into another database. And I was like, oh, God, there's so many things that I have to do. And this is all like, you know, technical stuff. But I thank God for this opportunity, for that opportunity because it was during that phase, 14, 15, that I really learned a lot of techniques. I remember I would go and sit in office. I would sit next to the IT head of IT here in our office and I would keep asking him, keep doing, what is this? What is that? And I'm grateful to God because it helped me to build my strength to sharpen my skills. So even as you are in a place, don't feel that, hey, I'm not growing. And now when we look at what's happening around us, we have so much of material. There's media, there's books that we can get that, you know, to just increase and build ourselves, right? So use all of that. Don't look at that, period, oh man, I'm just in the same job doing the same thing, sharpen your skills. Keep building yourself, right? Just want to give you this example, you know, I still take up these, you know, talkings, these, I think you'll find them on YouTube where they, how to talk professionally and these 10 talks where they have, you know, 20 minutes of, you know, how to talk, how to become a good orator, how to do public speeches. I still listen to all that. I still listen to a lot of these things, right? A lot of vocabulary that I like to read and learn. And why do we do that? Because I know that I'm going to be preaching in front of people. Now the people that I'm preaching in front of, maybe heads of companies, managing directors and all of that, right? So I need to sharpen my skills. I can't say, hey, I'm the preacher, you listen to me. No, I need to grow. Next point, take stock of things frequently and review, revise and refine. I love this verse at Proverbs 4.26, ponder the path of your feet and let your ways be established. What a powerful verse, ponder. That means think about it. Think about what step you're taking, why you're taking it, how you're going to take it. And also, if I take this, what must I do? I take this step, right? Now think about it. In your professional career, in your ministry, whatever you plan, in all business that you want to start, you have to ponder your steps. Take stock of things. Think, pause, reflect on how things are going in your professional life. I was just talking to a couple of folks, church folks and as I was talking, I was thinking, hey man, it's been so many years that I've been in APC and I keep thinking, God, thank you. Thank you for these wonderful opportunities that I got over all these years. So I pause, I reflect back. I mean, now it usually happens in the first month of every year. We pause and reflect back. But for me, it's April, because March, April, somewhere around that time is when I joined the full-time ministry many years back. So every time this March, April, I take stock of things. I stop and I reflect, I review. And so sometimes we make a plan and it's good when we see that, okay, we're working towards that plan. But sometimes you may feel, God, I'm at a dead end. I don't see any progress. It's all right. It's all right. Review back, revise your plan. So the Lord may say, you know what, you change this. Remove this from your plan. Add this into your plan. Or you can, you know, God may lead you to refine your plan. Right? And I always say this, you know, I never planned that I would, you know, I always thought I would be in Bangalore, but I never thought I'd go to Bangalore. I never thought of it. It was not even in my radar, I would say. I never thought of it. I never thought of going to another city because I've been born and brought up here. This is where I always thought I'm going to be. But when the opportunity came, I didn't have it in my tenure plan. My tenure plan didn't have an angle. But I realized that, hey, it is fulfilling some of the purposes that I have. Only thing, the place, the geographical location is different. Right? So I had to review, I had to refine and revise certain things in that tenure plan. Right? So there would be new areas of grace that God will give you. There would be new opportunities that God will open. Now, ponder the paths you take. At every step that you take, be firm and well thought of. Right? Very important. Because a wrong step can completely alter the course of events in your life. Right? And I can give you some examples. There are many, sometimes they call us. They say, you know, my marriage is falling apart. And I said, what happened? What is it? What's wrong? And they began to share. They say, you know what? Before marriage, I love this girl or I love this guy. But we are from different faiths. But he or she promised me that after we get married, they'll become a believer. They will come to church with me. But after marriage, they completely changed. They said, no, I'm not coming to church. There was pressure from their parents saying, you go to church. And now what's happening is they've got an idol and put it at home. So this is an example. Right? This has happened. The father, you know, he goes to church. The husband goes to church. He's a believer. But the mother or the wife is at home, praying at home to another God. And the children are completely confused what's happening. And there's friction between families. And obviously, when there's friction, it's going to just increase. He doesn't want to do what she says. She doesn't want to do what he says. And it's just maybe three, four years into marriage. And the person, you know, many times they say, I made a mistake. I knew this was not right in the eyes of God. But emotions, like emotions, how I love this person. So not well thought of. Like ponder, state firm on what decision you take. Right? Because it can really alter. Everything can change just by one decision that can go wrong. Right? So be open to revising or reviewing, refining your plans. You make the plan, have it open. Let God make, you know, those changes here whenever he has to. Next point, feel free to stop me if you have any questions, right? I'll just keep going. Next point, to grow, you need to change. Right? There's this thing, right? Change is always constant. That's where you first Corinthians 1311. And I was a child. I spoke as a child. I understood as a child. And I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childless things. Paul is writing to the Corinthians and, you know, the church in Corinth is flowing in the gifts. They have wonderful, you know, they have a prophetic word of knowledge. They were flowing all these gifts, but they were immature in their thinking. There was division. There was strife. There was, you know, they were partaking in the Lord's table in an unworthy manner. There was groupism. They were questioning the apostle Paul. Why are you telling us what to do? Were they flowing in the gifts? Yes. Were they speaking in tongues and, you know, just flowing in healing and deliverance? Yes, everything wonderful was happening in the church. But in their mind, their spirit was immature. They had not yet put away the childless things. Growth happens through a process of change. Second Corinthians 3.18 says, we are changed from glory to glory. What we were ten years back or five years back, we should not be the same right now. We must have grown. We must have at least, you know, mature in our thinking. Right? Maturity is simply growing up. That happens through change. And sometimes maturity happens through situations. We go through situations or we go through the consequences of our decisions that I should not have done it. Or thank God I did this. And maturity comes in. Right? So in our profession, in our ministry, we need to be mature. We can have gifts in the Holy Spirit, the anointing and all of that and still be immature. We need to grow in maturity. Now, some of these changes that we need may simple as and easy. If you look at the notes, it's there. It's as simple as building further on your strength, which is growing in maturity. Sometimes these changes may be significant, which is important changes. Changes may be things you anticipated and are intentional about. Some changes just come up unexpectedly. Learn to take change in stride. Enjoy the seasons of change. Sometimes these seasons of change, may not be stability, may not be certainty. But as long as you're moving forward, go with it. Enjoy it. Right? I always think about this. This may not be the best example, but this is the first thing that comes to my mind. When I was 27, I had my first son. My first child, 27 years old. I had no idea. But how do I look after kids? All my life, I was like, this boy who had just out there, doing all things and freedom. 27, I had my first son. I had no idea what to do. My parents were there, but everything changes. I thought to myself, oh man, I've just stepped into ministry. I was 25 or when I began to work. 23, when I started sharing the gospel and leaching out and just going to these small meetings. 25, when I began to take Bible college lessons and all of that. And so at my young age, I enjoyed my Bible college season. But after that, I got married, got a child, and I was like, oh man, I have no idea what to do. And babies are crying. Sometimes I don't know why they're crying. And they're just crying the whole night. And I remember thinking to myself, oh God, what is this? I thought to myself, man, I just got into ministry. All these questions would come up. Is it too early to have a child? Why? Oh, how am I going to manage this? Oh, God, give me opportunities. Everyone is seeing me. I'm carrying a baby and walking around. When will I preach? When will I preach? When will I read verses? All these questions are coming. Man, I think I have to wait another four years. So it even came to my mind that I take a break, let the kids grow up, maybe till they're about five years old, and then join back ministry. And I remember God just saying to me, it is a season. It is a season. That was a season. You were a youth. And now you are a family man. You may be young, but you are a family man. You got to look after the child. And doing that, I learned so much. I can tell you, I learned how to be patient. I learned how to, you know, just stretch myself. I learned how to be kind. I learned how to answer questions, because when they grow up, they ask questions. And now, when I look back, I thank God for that season. Was it difficult? Very difficult. But did I learn something? Yes, a lot. I learned so much. And now, when I see families, couples, small babies, I think to myself, oh God, thank you. It's a grown-up. Finally, they grown up. And now they, you know, I'm grateful to God. And, you know, I thank God for those times. And I thank God that I enjoyed those seasons. Was it difficult? Yes, but I enjoyed it. So to grow, we need change. We need to take what is coming our way. Of course, we plan through things. But even as we plan, we need to be willing to, you know, change. And I hope that, you know, example made sense. Basically, what I'm saying is, you know, there will come a time, right? Even now, when I look at some families, you know, the kids are grown up. And they tell me, you know, hey, you know what you be with your kids, enjoy time with your children, because once they, you know, reach eighth, ninth, or tenth grade, they are not going to come near you and start talking to you. They will have their friends. They'll be busy. So now is the time when you have to sow into their lives, right? And so I know this is a different kind of a season. No more changing diapers, but it's a different season. I've got to speak into their lives. I've got to equip them. I've got to lease them into what God has for them. Know their gifts, build their gifts, right? Make them speak into their lives. And then there'll come a time, as you grow the teens and youth, there will be different seasons for us, right? So enjoy each season is what I'm saying, right? Now, as you're going through the journey, look for clarity, right? Don't be in a place where, okay, God is a God who will, you know, only give us nuggets of what's going to happen. He'll not tell us exactly what will happen. No, you and I can pray for clarity. The Spirit of God is the Spirit who reveals the deepest secrets of God and deepest things of God can be revealed, right? So we can never come to a place where saying, oh, you know, oh God, I'm living in this, you know, this place where everything is a mystery and I just need to walk in that mystery and suddenly God will leave me. No, look for clarity. Ask God what you want to, right? Ask God, God, give me clarity on what I must do, what I must say and what is my next step as we get Proverbs 4, 18. But the part of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter into the perfect day, right? The part of the just is like shining sun, bringing clarity, bringing clearness, bringing light, right? So things may be unclear initially, but over time, right? First, we may not know the white, we may not know the what, we may not know the where, the when, the how. We may not have all these answers, but what we do have is we can ask the Holy Spirit to bring clarity. And many times when we have to take a decision, God can just give you the right decision at the right time. He may tell you, do this in your spirit or he may give you a word many times, many, many times. I may be talking to people, the Holy Spirit has said, stop, stop talking and just move out of there. Many times it has happened, many times the Holy Spirit has said, tell this person to do this or even for my own personal, the Holy Spirit has said, you do this, write this email or go to this person and speak to him and tell him this is what, or him or her, this is what you must do. And so it was very clear. It's as if it's, you know, you're seeing it written in paper. So clear, right? So praying and seeking God through these seasons, you and I can ask God for clarity, right? Ask God, give me clarity, look at Apostle Paul. I love what he says. He knew exactly what is going to happen. He asked God, remember he's going to Rome, the Book of Acts, his final journey. The angel of the Lord came and told me, as long as you're on this boat, nothing is going to, everyone is going to live and the boat will be, the ship will be shipwrecked and we will land on an island called Malta and we will be there. Exactly, clarity, clear. Because God told me that I will go to Rome, I will reach Rome, I will testify. So Apostle Paul was not afraid, oh, what if I die in the sea? No, he knew it. That was clarity. I have to stand in front of Caesar. And so even in our seasons of life, we can ask God, give me the clarity. He can give you a word, he can give you a vision, he can give you a prophetic word to somebody else. Of course, we do what we have to do, meaning we authenticate, we ask the Holy Spirit, especially when it's a prophecy. You look, whether it's in line with God's word, whether it's in line with what you want to do, all of that. But God can release those things through us. Next point. Avoid the donkey and the horse syndrome, right? Psalm 32 and verse 8 and 9. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Do not be like the horse or the mule which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and brittle, else they will not come near you. Now, God has instructed us that he will guide us, he will teach us, he will watch over us. Plenty of verses, Psalms and Isaiah, the New Testament, plenty, plenty, plenty of verses. Now, God also tells us, don't be like the donkey or don't be like the horse. Now, let's look at this. A donkey can be stubborn. You keep pulling a donkey. Come on, you need to go, but the donkey is not moving, not willing to move at all. They're stuck in that same place, very reluctant, refusing to move. And the horse can get so excited or get so, you know, activated or energized that it runs ahead. So even as the trainer tries to stop it, it may not stop or the horse is just, you know, just running ahead of things. Very hard to handle it. Now, God is saying, don't be like the donkey. Now you refuse to move. I'm opening the door you're not going in. All you're doing is sitting and praying, sitting and asking God, but I'm opening the door you're not going. Don't be stubborn. Or don't be like the horse. Now in a hurry, you know, we may take decisions ahead of what God is doing. God is saying, wait, I'm going to open the right door for you. No, God, I'm in a hurry. No, this can happen in anything. Anything. It could be in terms of carrier, in terms of, you know, buying something. You know, there could be, you know, this is families that I know of, right? And they were sharing with me everything. You know, I'm in a huge debt. So what happened? I bought this big house. And now I have this huge loan upon me. And it looks like I'm going to be paying this loan for the next 20 or years. What happened? How did you not plan your finances? We planned. We were going to go for a two-bedroom house. But what happened was we saw this wonderful house in the heart of the city. It was a duplex. It was a four-bedroom house. It was wonderful. It had car parking. Everything was, and we thought, okay, this will be a wonderful thing. We went and purchased it. And now I realized that, hey, I'm going to be paying it over 20 years. And the interest rates are just going up and up. And they were very upset. They were very distraught and have made this decision. And they were asking me, what do we do? You know, how do I get, what do I do? What must I do? The first thing that came to my mind was the horse syndrome. Sometimes we jump into things and then regret later. And that's why I love that verse. Ponder the path of your feet. Think about it. Think ahead. You know, thinking, planning ahead is very... Look at Jesus. He planned ahead. He didn't jump into things initially. He planned, what must I do? When must I do it? So don't be like the horse running off ahead of what God has in another direction. Don't be like the donkey, not going, not taking the step, but just staying in one place. Just be in sync with God. If he's not saying anything, continue to do what you're doing. That means God wants you to do what you're doing. Just keep doing it. Psalms 25 verse 12 says, Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way he chooses. Let's look at the next point. Your steps are ordered by the Lord. Psalms 37 verse 23 and 24. Wonderful verse. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his ways. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholds him in his hand. There was this as a young, we used to go to these vacation Bible school as kids and there was a song on this, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his ways. Though he falls, though he falls, he shall not be cast down for the Lord upholds him in his hand. I really loved that verse. Something intriguing about this was the steps of a good man are ordered by God. That means God will tell you, take the next step. It is God who is saying, don't take the step. And the picture that was always there in my mind as a little boy was during those days when it rained during the monsoon seasons, it would all be slushy and wet everywhere and I remember going to school and the whole ground, the playground would be slushy full of mud puddles everywhere, not a nice sight. But I remember my dad would always come to pick us up from school and he would say, he would take us through those wet places and he would say, okay, put your foot here, now you jump in and you come there, you come into the other side, then you and he would purposely do that. He would purposely take us through these slushes. He would put bricks here, stones here and there and he would say, okay, jump here, jump here. And for us, it was more of a game just to make us happy. But I realized that every time I read this verse, I think of that, a father directing the steps of a son. Steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Every time my dad would put those stones or those bricks, I would be so happy. Oh man, thank God I can jump and no more. I don't have to go into this puddle and my shoes become all wet and dirty. I would be so happy. And once we crossed that whole slushy muddy puddles I would be so happy. My dad helped me cross this whole place. I would tell my brothers, look, my shoes are all clean and my dad helped me to cross. It's such a joy. Our Heavenly Father directs our steps. He may put stones. He may put leaves. He may put things in our way to help us cross over. Even if you make a mistake, even if you fall, the Lord will uphold us with his righteous right hand. If we feel we've taken a wrong step, if turned the wrong way, he can still, he's bigger than our mistakes. He can still make a way out for us. And so maybe some of us are here. We've made a decision. It's gone the wrong way. We may be facing the consequences of the situation. Don't feel guilty to go back to God. You can always go back to God and say, God, I've messed up, but I'm putting the situation into your hands. Can you please help me fix it? Can you please direct my paths? He will uphold us with his righteous right hand. Next point is trust God, even when you can't figure out everything. Over this life's journey, we will not be able to figure out everything. Yes, we ask God for clarity, but there are some things we cannot figure out. We cannot understand why this is happening. Let's read Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust God from the bottom of your heart. Don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything that you do everywhere you go. He is the one who will keep you on track. Always love the message translation. Trust God from the bottom of your heart. And don't try to figure out everything on your own. What happens when we try to figure out everything on our own? We'll end up stressed. We'll end up doubtful. Maybe there's fear. There's questions. Just trust God. Don't try to figure out everything on your own. And when we look at the Bible, we look at the Old Testament, especially how they put their trust in God, how these wonderful men and women of God, it did not make sense at all. But it did not make sense. Imagine telling Joshua, not telling Joshua, you just go around that wall of Jericho seven times and on the seventh time, blow your trumpets and praise God, the wall is going to fall. It doesn't make sense. I can imagine Joshua saying, are you serious? The wall is probably 30, 40 feet. It's so wide. How? Trust God. Look here. Elijah. Elijah, you go into the brooks, go and be there. Send the ravens to send you food. And I can only imagine Elijah saying, ravens are going to bring me food. What are they going to bring me? Worms, right? But sometimes you just need to trust God. He will provide. Look at David. Look at Daniel, Jeremiah, all these wonderful men and women of God. Trust God, even when we can't figure out things can change. Sometimes transitions happen unexpectedly. Sometimes things change in the organization unexpectedly. In spite of all the planning we do, we must always rely on the Lord and continuously walk by and walk by and walk by and continuously walk by faith. Plan. Do all the planning. Trust in the Lord. Walk in faith. Planning and preparation is an expression of our stewardship towards God. So we are saying, God, I'm not just living arbitrarily. I have a plan. I have a purpose. And here it is. But God, it is us responding with gratitude and sincerity to what has been entrusted to us. So maybe God is telling us, maybe some of us, God may say, I'm going to make you start your own business. I'm going to grow that business or I'm going to make you start your own ministry and this ministry is going to bless your life. You're going to impact many, many youth and families and many lives that are going to be touched. But right now, you may be just somebody very insignificant. Trust God. He can do it for you. I can only imagine David's brothers. Right? David's brothers are all standing there. Oh man, I'm going to be the next king of Israel or is it going to be me? You know, I've got all the qualities required for what God says. No, no, no. David, you're going to be king. He didn't figure out how things are going to work out and he began with trust God. Same thing with the Apostle Paul. Same thing with all these wonderful men and women. Imagine Peter. Peter, the Lord Jesus meets him after his resurrection tells Peter, Peter, you are going to lead the church. Can you imagine Peter? I'm going to lead the church. You want me to do this? I'm the one who denied you. I'm the one who talks ahead of thinking. Before thinking I talk, I talk and then think. And I betrayed you. I'm just a fisherman. I'm not well learned. You're telling me to do this? Right? Everything changes because he begins to trust God. Always remain focused on the Lord. Keep trusting. Keep listening. Be prepared for what is ahead. Delight yourself in the Lord. Every step you take matters and whatever step you take commit to that step. Commit to what you're doing. If you're there doing something be fully in it. Finally, step up to your mountain. We know that there are seven spheres of influence, seven mountains in our society and one is family, institution set up by God, religion includes the church, the people of God, education which is schools, colleges, academics, universities, media, electronic print and electronic newspaper, TV, internet then you got arts and entertainment, business and then government. So these are basically the seven spheres of influence which cover almost all spheres of of society. Step up to your mountain. For example, for me personally I'm mountainous religion. I would say my mountain is also family. Because that's what God has set up for me. So I know, okay God help me to be to raise up a good family raise up the Lord children and also the sphere of religion of just ministering to people being powerful terminus help me to do help me to grow in this sphere. Whatever God has called you for maybe some of them God has called you in the media team or business or some of you are in traditional system in the government working in the government arts and entertainment. So some could be footballers or tennis players do it for the glory of God. So step up to your mountain take what God has called you for right. And within this there are plenty of subgroups that you can be working in now the point of this seven spheres is just for our understanding now doesn't mean that we you know we keep thinking oh I'm in the sphere of religion or I'm in the sphere of education so this is what categorizing it is not important what you are doing what God has called you for step up in that right and on every mountain remember there are giants conquer your giants you know that is the word of the Lord for 2022 there are challenges there are giants so don't shy away don't be afraid don't run away prepare yourself put on the armor of God fight the good fight of faith overcome conquer the mountain which God has given you the Lord will be with us he has promised us don't look at those giants and say oh man how am I going to bring these giants down how am I going to solve these problems now look at God who is leading you okay so we close with chapter 2 next week this Wednesday we will pick up from chapter 3 right workplace interviews yes Divya has got a question how can a person come to a decision if there is lack of clarity for example if taking up a course in a university where there is a lot at stake and there is also time constraint what is the good course of action that's a good question Divya what I would say is take time if there is no clarity it's okay if a year passes by but don't step into things where you feel that this is not the right time right now now for example there is you want to do your masters in I don't know engineering but right now you are working for example right you are working you want to do your masters in engineering good leave it up to God open it ask God for clarity maybe it's a year nothing has come it's not spoken continue on what you are doing continue to do your research continue to look out for colleges or if you have already chosen a college continue to pray ask God lead me when should I do this because as you said it's a lot at stake you have to leave your job and you have to get into this course it's going to be a two year course how are you going to manage meanwhile like I shared last week you can do the practical steps now what if I am praying God help me to get into this university you know the fees is probably about five lakhs and you know that you will be studying for two years and you only need these extra expenses you need money what must you do practical things begin to save up money right and what if God tells you after two years okay now is the time get into the university and then saying oh man what should I do next I need money for this anyway no you pretend you are sorted okay even if I have to take an education loan this is how I am going to take it this is how I am going to repay it this is the amount that I have saved up this is what I am going to use for my hostel when I stay everything is planned out I have taken two years for us to do that but it is okay we are not being like the horse taking a decision very quickly maybe I hope that that answers your question alright I think it is time so you may have to get to your next class thank you so much we will meet on Wednesday and continue from chapter three God bless have a great day ahead thank you so much God bless