 Okay, good morning everyone. Welcome to a new week Right, let's begin this time the word of prayer Let's pray father. We want to thank you for this wonderful week of God. We thank you for Lord your grace and your mercies your abundant joy that you bestow upon each one of us and Lord even as we begin this new week, we look forward to learning from your word Holy Spirit, we ask that you open our hearts that we may hear What you have to say to us a God and even as we study the subject I pray God that you will give us clarity You will give us a clearer vision For everything that is in store for us ahead of God We come at this time into your hands and Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right Let's get into today's class Last week Just want to do a quick review of what we did last week last week. We looked at chapter one where You and I were made for the purpose and we are called to discover that purpose they call to Live that purpose which God has for us and we looked at a few important points. First one was the foundation Meaning even as we pursue discovering what God has for our lives or even if we know what you know God has planned for our lives and we are working on it First thing is the foundation what we build on really matters So good foundations is very important for our professional life and for our personal life Right. So setting up those Foundations at an early age. It's really helpful and then we also looked at developing a life plan reviewing it planning and Continuously looking at that plan which God puts in your heart now We looked at last week that you know, we can make a one-year plan. We can make a five-year plan a 10-year plan It's good to plan right and even as we plan Remember that God is able to make those changes within the plan So we are not to you know, say, no, this is what only thing that I'm going to do But God along the course will help us to develop that life plan and we looked at three important points the person that God wants us to be The place that God wants us to be and the purpose that God has for us right, we looked at insights from Genesis 12 from the life of Abraham When God told Abraham You will be a father of a great nation as a person that he's going to be Then he says to him you will inherit a land that I will give you and that land will be flowing with milk and honey and all of those things That's the place that God wanted Abraham to be and Then he ends that whole Calling by saying you will be a blessing to the to your families and to the nation and the nations That was the purpose So even in each of our lives God has a plan for our life a Place that he wants us to be in and a purpose for our life and we looked at that right The person that he wants us to be Is to be a child of God and also when we took a look about the natural aspect God wants us to you know Fulfill the call that he has for us It could be the place could be a geographical place or in the professional Field wherever he wants us to be And then the purpose again is to give glory to God is to build God's kingdom And so we closed on that Let's look at chapter 2 this morning a Carrier plan now many of us are young got a life ahead of us and We may have many plans right You know before COVID Maybe some of us have written our plans and we've kept it aside because of the pandemic and all that has happened But having a life plan a carrier plan is very important And maybe some of you are already in the ministry Maybe some of you are looking out for a corporate job or you want to start your small business right now remember we started the session saying that just because you're in the corporate or just because you're a teacher or a Working in the government sector does not mean you're not in ministry. You are in ministry Right and so this applies to everyone even those in ministry We can't say, okay, you know, I'm a pastor. So my carrier is over my plans are done This is what I'm going to do for the rest of my life Even as a pastor or a evangelist or a preacher we have to plan ahead right, so Having a life plan includes many areas right Let's look at a few of them first one spiritual life Right always remember that as we plan for our carrier It all needs to be the foundation needs to be a good spiritual walk with God to personal personal health Education profession family finances Ministry all these are part of career planning Right now as we plan for our career Know your grace know your gifts and know your skills right now, I'm sure you've studied this in Fulfilling God's purpose for your life where we looked at, you know our plans Calling and our gifts always go together. It's like a railway track If this is our calling God will also gift us in that area Now we may not know we are gifted in that area But as we continue to plan and step out and do what God has called us to do Along the way, we will realize, hey, I'm good at this. I think I can do this I think God has given me this gift, which I didn't even know all these years Let me give you this example You know after the pandemic a lot of our students in church. They they went back to their hometowns And so we were opening up auditions for singing vocalists So I remember talking to this this girl in the church and She said, you know, I don't mind serving in all these different areas and I said, can you sing she said no I never sang before You know, I just sing maybe at home. So I said, why don't you sing? I want to hear you sing and so she sang and she sang so well I said, why don't you audition for the worship team? She said, okay, give me a few weeks. I've never done this I've never gone on stage. I've never You know, I never consider myself as a good singer but then she came prepared for the audition and she sang really well and She sang parts and she sang the melody the sopranos the tenor and She did really well and I and I told her, you know what? God has gifted you in this area and she said really I don't know. I didn't know I just thought I can sing at home But but I made her understand that, you know, the way that you're singing God has called you to serve in this area So sometimes we may not even know but along the line God may bring people or God may You know, give you opportunities in areas where we may not be comfortable in then we realize hey Maybe God has called me for this as well. He's given me the gift He's given me the grace and then when we realize that God has given us the grace God has given us this gift We are to empower ourselves. We which means we are to improve our skills and what we have Okay, I for example, you know, you can play the keyboard Now we know that God has gifted you in that but there's this practical aspect of Sitting down and practicing and learning Now that is our responsibility and that's a skill that we have to develop right so The reason God has given us the gifts and the grace is so that we can do something meaningful for God's kingdom right skills our abilities and Knowledge we develop through training and discipline and practice For example, you know, some of you some of us may feel hey, oh, you know, I still need to learn a lot of these technical aspects of you know working maybe the software aspects of you know computers and all of that That's if God is calling you towards that you feel a nudge. There will be things that we have to do We have to prepare ourselves. We need to learn. We need to discipline ourselves We need to train ourselves go for classes, whatever we have to do but together as we faithfully operate in our areas of grace Exercise our gifts God increases the grace. I remember gifts can mature Gifts can grow skills can develop Remember this first time I think I've shared this with you First time I was Asked to lead worship. I was so nervous. It's a god. I've never done this before You know It was so nervous. I was so nervous. I didn't know You know, building the practice everything was fine But then on the Sunday morning, I saw the people and I got so nervous that to a point that When I went on stage my mind was blank. I Didn't know what was the song list. I didn't know what are the five songs? I'm going to sing My mind was completely blank. What are the chords? You know the the whole dynamics of the songs I completely forgot everything right Because God gave me the grace to somehow go through those sessions But as the years passed on as we kept doing this, you know, week after week month after month Gifts mature skills develop And so the same way Even in our careers Whatever God has called you Take small opportunities Don't despise those smaller opportunities. The Bible very clearly teaches us. Do not despise me your beginnings So for example, if God has called you to, you know, be a preacher If you get an opening in Sunday school, you know teaching in Sunday school, don't despise it Don't say who's going to teach children. I want to teach, you know adults and you know the I know so much from the word. No Take small steps Take baby steps and as you do that God will give you the grace to increase Gifts will increase and then we will develop new areas of gifts Gifting right all of a sudden you'll realize hey You know, I'm able to prepare sermons or I'm able to write songs Or if you're a musician, I'm able to come up with melody to the words that I'm writing and so very important is to Use those gifts and use those You know skills that God has given us now. What happens when we don't use it, right? We are suppressing the gifts that God has given us They saying God You know, it's like God is giving us a gift and we are saying no, I don't want to use it right God has given us that and we are to use those gifts for for our benefit and to bless others right so Secondly explore opportunities Get input draw up a plan means let's read Proverbs chapter 11 verse 14 Right Proverbs 11 verse 14 Yes, could one of us please read that Proverbs 11 14. It's in your notes Proverbs 11 14 where there is no counsel the people fall but in the multitude of counselors there is safety Hey, man. Thank you Samuel. What a powerful worse Where there is no counsel The people fall Right in some versions it says where there's no counsel the plans fail But in the multitude of counselors there is safety So even as you begin your maybe you're already, you know in what God wants you to do or you're looking at a future You're planning to start a career right explore opportunities Get input Right when I say get input Ask leader ask people Ask elders right draw up a life plan Meaning you write down what do you want to do? Well five years from now 10 years from now. What do you want to be right drop a plan? Now begin to explore opportunities To align yourself to the life plan which God has given you right So if it's in the it company or if it's in government sector if it's arts and entertainment Whatever that God has called you for Begin to look for opportunities now. Remember opportunities You know won't always come to you to your doorstep and say, okay. Here's your opportunity. No If it does happen, that's wonderful praise God for it Right, but very unlikely. There are times we need to go and explore opportunities We need to go and look for uh, you know plans and uh Drop plans get input from people I remember this in the year 2012 right early 2012 One of our locations was apc east which is in the area of east of bangalore and We we didn't have that location yet But there was a group of our church folks. We all you know Uh pastor had decided that we will start a church there, but I love what happened after that We you know, there was a team of people who started with prayer Right. Uh, so for six months they would meet Sit together every week and pray Uh sing a few songs look at the word for a few minutes and then spend most of the time in praying right now east of bangalore has a lot of You know it companies it's an it belt that side Huge id companies and because of those id companies huge apartments have come that side And so we thought that would be a wonderful place for us to start a church because you got the id people And you got uh apartments there people living close by they prefer to Look at a church close by and so uh We started off somewhere. I think it was 2012 september Right, but before we started off there was a lot of planning involved Right a lot of we looked for opportunities in different places. We got input from different Leaders from our pastoral team and then we started it and It was wonderful because even now the church is growing so wonderfully I would say the reason is because we we the planning was done right nothing was done in a hurry Right. It was done prayerfully planned prayerfully and You know, we we put inputs together and together God enabled us to Plant that church there. It is a wonderful way that god You know use that uses that apc east church ministering to people in that side of the city so What am I trying to get at when When we can't sit around and say i'm not i don't have an opportunity. No, we need to step up Right. We need to go out We need to step out and say, okay. This is what I want to do Uh, this is god help me to uh, you know prepare well for this What is ahead of me, right? Now in the early stages Uh, even before we start off or even as we've just begun Get to know What kind of opportunities are ahead? Right So if you're joining if you're starting a business, right? Explore those opportunities now. You know recently a young man He had called me and he asked me What do you think about the stock market? Should I? You know invest in the stock market So I told him see I don't know much about the stock market. I don't really read about it Uh, right But one of the things I Just advised him was go ahead do some research. Don't be in a hurry to just invest do some research Uh, you know take a few months Think about a research pray over it and if god is leading you towards it go ahead and do whatever it is. So Get to know right what is what what you're stepping into How do you do that read research online talk to people who are experienced or even volunteer in different areas? right, um, I remember this In in our in mangalore. There's this Young student young man. He said He wanted to be you know something to do with Helping out. Uh, he wanted to work as an in an NGO But he said I want to start my own NGO. Can you help me with that? Meaning can you give me some inputs and all of it? So I remember telling him, uh, you know as you plan to start an NGO, that's good Uh, but why don't you serve in an NGO first? Right, you may not get any money. They may not, you know, give you money for serving there But when you serve there, you will You know, you will get insight you will be able to explore Opportunities you will learn How an NGO works and what are the things that you need and you know, it's going to help you develop you So he finishes his college And then after college he goes and he serves In an NGO Now what is a bigger picture? He wants to start his own NGO In another city in his hometown, but now what is he doing? He's preparing himself. He's learning How an NGO works? What are the things that are involved? You know in terms of even, you know documents and legal aspects everything that's him. He's learning everything So he's really excited about it. So when we plan Look for opportunities Get input from people Proverbs 15 22 says without council Plans go ori But in the multitude of counselors, they will be established Right Now i'm not saying You make a plan and tell everyone in this world. No Sometimes you make a plan you just tell people who you feel will be able to Pray for you who will be able to give you some insights Right, uh, don't make a plan and tell everybody about it Right, of course you can share it with your family And you know close ones But don't make it like a big news right plan Take it step by step I I remember this man I spoke to a couple of years ago He came to me and he said You know, uh, please pray for me because I'm in a huge debt Over One crore odd. I said one crore. What happened? So he began to tell me what happened Uh, he wanted to start a small business Right, so he needed that initial capital the initial amount Uh, and in a hurry He said he the exact words. He said was you know, I was in a hurry to become rich Uh, you know, he was so sure that that's you know, uh company that small business that he was going to start with He did his research. He did everything Uh, but he's in a hurry what he did was because of that capital to start the business. He sold his house After selling his house he started the business And the business went nowhere Unfortunately, he went into a huge loss The money went away He has no house. He's got a loan on the house. He has no roof under his head And it was very sad to hear his story You know, I just prayed for him and asked the lord to run mercy upon him. But here's the thing if we without council Without people's advice Right when I say people, I mean People in leadership or people for wisdom who you feel can give you good advice without advice plans will go awry Right it's important to take a council take advice from people Right now when you get These opportunities When you get things coming your way You can outline your career plan Right Remember life is lived in seasons Right. I'm sure all of us can testify of this, right Life is lived in seasons and there's always a transition one one season to another season to another season We were all students maybe in school And then we passed on that season Then we went into college The college season may be over Then we began working Which is another season on the other hand We were maybe we were youth And then we got married And responsibilities then we have children additional responsibilities right, so Life is lived through seasons Right, there is a season for everything There's a season, you know, Ecclesiastus Is very clear there There's a there's a time for joy. There's a time for mourning this And and and he brings out the whole aspect of seasons At the right time at the right season God will bring you to the right place When we you know plan and surrender our plans to God Right now each one of us are here. It's a season 2012 was my season 2011-2012 was my season of sitting and listening to sessions Right in the bible college So each of us year season after season God teaches us Yes, Louie has raised his hand go ahead Louie You have a question Good morning, sir. Good morning Good morning everyone. Just that Teen of yes, we know there are seasons but What are the sometimes how do we know the landmarks that seasons have come upon us So you're asking what are the landmarks of Yeah, what are the landmarks that is season has come upon us? Okay, that's a good question. Let me just mute you Louie because yeah, okay Now along the road, you know, some of us now if you're going for a long drive You're riding the bike. You got to go from one city to another And as you're riding or you're driving there's something very important We may know the route, but you will see some things some boards on the highways on the road They are called signposts Now as you're traveling along there are some signposts would say hey no overtaking Some signposts who says beware. There's a you know crossing ahead Or you know no over speeding you're going over 60 miles an hour So you got different signposts right now even as You prepare you and I prepare Now God as we studied God can speak to us in many ways Right. He can speak to us through his word. He can speak to us through a vision He can speak to us through a dream Even in our personal he can speak in our inner being into our spirit So the point is how do we know that okay, this season is over Usually a season or a transition Is somewhere between four to five years now? I'm not saying that you know exactly four to five years is a transition. No Usually in the practical sense four to five years is when you know You you can go develop in the skills that God has or grow in that area where God has called us for Now, how do we know? Okay. Now is the time of transition God will miss God will speak to us in in our heart Now if God is not speaking Continue continue on in what you're doing Right Let me give you this example After working about four years in Bangalore One day we were praying as a family and as as we were praying I felt in my heart that There's going to be a transition for us. I just felt it But I never told anybody I just kept it in my heart And then every day as I pray I just felt okay. God there's something new That you're giving me now just because I got that I did not just you know leave everything and sit and pray 40 days fasting. No Continue to do what I was doing Right, whatever God has called me to do. I was doing that But that that you know that leading became stronger and stronger and stronger And I said okay. God if this is you Speak to us through a vision or a dream or give me a prophetic word Right or speak to me through your word So over the course of maybe two months or we got a word We got a dream And we got a prophetic word also from a person saying that You know, there's going to be a transition in your life and sure enough just to just a few weeks later You know We were asked if you are willing to move to another city and pastor the church apc Mangalore Now the moment You know pastor asked me this at that moment. I knew That this was God Right. I knew it I knew because previously About four months before God had been speaking to me Right And and the moment this opportunity came up. I knew that that was what God had for me So I didn't have to think twice. Oh You know, I have two small kids. How do I move to Mangalore? There's nobody in Mangalore. I don't know anyone There's no family All that is secondary I knew that God had called me God. That was my opportunity So Louis to answer your question usually when there is when God wants to take you to a transition He will prepare you before that And he will speak to you Through your word or anyway, he will speak to you So Even if he does when he does write them down Pray about it Right and then at the right time He will make a way, you know, the right doors will be open Right people will come into your life right Another good example would be of the great apostle Paul He had this wonderful encounter with the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus and He he just shared a little bit here and there 15 days in Jerusalem Three and a half years in the wilderness and then nobody heard about Paul Where's this? Where's apostle Paul? Nobody's there There's no sign of him. He's gone to Tarsus and for 14 years nobody has heard of him Right 14 years was his season But after 14 years God calls Barnabas Just go to Tarsus Get Saul of Tarsus and bring him to Jerusalem use him for the ministry So we see how the transition happened God used somebody to bring Paul out of this place of obscurity to a place of visibility So I hope that answers your question. Do you? Yeah, very well. Thank you so much. God bless. God bless. Yes, Samuel. Go ahead Thank you pastor Something that I've been sitting with since the first session itself pastor and I'm thinking probably down the line We will touch upon this But something that keeps coming up is To recognize the difference between What God is trying to prepare you for or even the season that God wants in your life Versus Your own desire or you know your Your own conviction. So so the conviction that you have, you know, to know that it's from God or so For example, let's say, uh, you know, you want to Say Lead worship ministry You know, and you have the strong desire in your heart that someday I will Lead worship ministry and you keep pressing on you keep pressing on. Um, you know, those don't open But you don't give up on it And uh, how do you like come to a place where you realize that? Or, you know At what one point is where you don't want to give up on your dream. You want to keep pressing on But the danger of maybe there's an idol, you know in you That's that's kind of Pushing you forward and it's it's not from God, but but uh, but you're so Much into it. You just you don't want to give up. You just keep you you keep practicing you keep looking for opportunities And you don't see so so Does I mean so what happens in the end like do you do you eventually? Give up on something that you've been holding on for so long To finally realize that that's not what God has for you I mean and and that I imagine would be something Like, you know, I mean Like if let's say you wait for 10 years and then you have to give up It's it would be so hard to kind of let go of that um, or you know because of Like so, you know, if Paul spent 17 years preparing that that's a long time and he didn't give up on it Or or even Moses like he spent his entire lifetime to fulfill So so when do you kind of draw the line that you know or or you just keep pressing like you have something in your heart And you just keep pressing on So so something I've been sitting here. Thank you. Yeah, that's a that's a great question. Yes, Samuel. So Here's the thing now Firstly we need to see whether Whatever we are planning Is it in line with God's word? like does it does it deviate you Now I'm talking about both the professional and the ministry aspect, right? So let's keep that in mind does it deviate you from God's call or meaning does it Take distract you from the call of God in your life, right? Now here's the thing There God our spirit and the Holy Spirit You know, once we have believers are united the Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit So there are times we may feel hey, this is my own my own thought Right, uh, like this wonderful example you gave me right if you want to be a leader in the worship ministry And you've been waiting 10 years now Here's the thing. I would say don't give up Even if it's 15 years don't give up Right if you feel that Now for example, you don't know how to play an instrument Right, or you don't you haven't really Sang in church But if we're waiting 10 years waiting and saying, okay, god, I want to be a worship leader I want to be and we don't do anything about it. It's not going to happen Right, uh, but then you say, okay. I want to do this so pick up an instrument Learn and listen to songs learn how to sing And as you start small You know that you're taking a step forward Now even as you take steps forward, I completely understand what you're saying Because we all go through that, right? Say, hey, nothing's happening It's been five years And nothing's happening It's been 10 years. I've been, you know, leading in this church with 10 15 people But the bigger vision is to lead, you know, be a worship pastor or lead the bigger church Nothing's happening It's it's not that, you know, uh, god has forgotten you or anything continue to press on I would say It just took a moment Like if you read the book of acts, it's so wonderful Just a moment. God told, uh, Barnabas, go bring salt of dust It was just a moment Right and what happened after that when we see after that Barnabas did not hardly preached everywhere they went in Damascus also Paul was preaching Barnabas was like an associate. He was sitting Like an assistant And then Paul's life is more, you know, written about Paul's life Paul's The the epistles and all that he did is emphasize more in the word than Barnabas We don't know what happened to Barnabas after the first missionary journey So what I'm trying to say is if god Has if you feel that god has called you for that and you've been waiting and waiting Continue to press on Right. Uh, somebody one of my lecturers told me this What what god can what we try in 10 years God can do it In two years We may feel oh man god. I'm 40 years old now When is it going to happen or I'm 45? When is it going to happen? Oh, you know, I I thought by 35 I'll do what I what you called me to do but now I'm 45 But whatever god whatever we plan to do in 10 years god can do it in five years uh but again To decipher between is it my own thought or is it god speaking to me Very important thing is to see if it's in line with the word of god if it's in line with your gifts and your calling and uh And then You know, this is this wonderful verse. My sheep will hear my voice each one of us god will speak to us It would be Through people it will be through situations dreams somehow god will speak to us. So my answers samuel don't give up Even if you're 60 Don't give up just continue to press on uh, you know as we do that we we can say hey god You know, I've been faithful till the end. I was faithful Uh, so that's a wonderful experience again. So I hope that answers your questions Thank you. Thank you, but it does it does and it encourages as well. Yes. Yes. Yes, it's good. Yeah, very good. All right. Let's let's move on Uh, as we explore opportunities as we get inputs as we draw a plan all of this Will help us fulfill those three things the person the place and the purpose that god has for us So let's move on How do we get started and I carry your plans Pray Listen and step out Let's read proverbs 30 that verse four Yes, could one of us please read that proverbs 13 and verse four Yes, anyone Proverbs 13 and verse four Okay, I'll read It says this the soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing But the soul of a diligent shall be made rich Amen. Thank you, mangy the soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing But the soul of the diligent should be shall be made rich such a powerful verse Right as we plan a carrier Right Very important Was don't be lazy Right, let me give you this example that happened to me Right. I was about 20 years old Experienced the lord And I thought to myself I am going to sit and pray the whole day I'm going to fast and pray and sit and pray and pray and pray and then I'll start my own ministry And so I said, okay So I began to spray and pray and pray the whole day It was good for me But then I later realized God one day was you know, was speaking to me and said I don't want you to do this. I want you to go and work I said, oh man, I was thinking I don't want to work. I don't want to go to the it company You know the whole eight hours goes there then another two hours for traveling When will I pray? So God very clearly told me The reason you're comfortable sitting at home and praying is because you're getting lazy There's food Breakfast lunch dinner I say in my with my parents. So breakfast lunch dinner is there the whole day of whatever you're praying doing all that which is good But after praying if you don't do anything about it The soul of a lazy man desires But it has nothing And I was really convicted. I said God It's and I realized, you know, it's not about sitting and praying and praying the whole day and you know, not Doing anything about it. Yes. Did I grow spiritually strong? Yes But God told Adam Work in the garden. God loves when we work God blesses the work of our hands Right God blessed the people of Israel as they worked as they till the fields The land flowing with milk and honey as they began to work on it. God blessed it Right. So Preparatory work of praying Listening to God is very important But even as we do that step out Because if we just desire and just plan and just, you know, keep thinking about it and don't act on it We will accomplish nothing I was spending hours In prayer thinking, okay, one day I will preach one day I will preach Then one day I realized, hey, I don't know anything from the word You know, all I know is, you know, uh, Jesus had 12 disciples Uh, you know, Jonah was in the belly of the fish. Daniel was in the lion's den And uh, that's it. I mean, I don't know the stories, but If I need to preach or I need to teach people I myself need to be equipped So it's not about praying 10 hours a day the whole day, but I also need to read the word and I need to prepare myself And I realized I need to step out. I can't be sitting at home and am I doing a good thing? Yes I'm not doing anything sinful by sitting and praying the whole day, but I'm not acting on what God wants me to do So then I said, okay, I'll begin to work I began working after a couple of years God in his wonderful way Allowed me or gave me an opportunity To study in bible college. I kept praying. I said, god, I need to study the word. I don't know I I know the simple stories, but I need to study the word in depth for me to be able to Preach and teach to people How can I teach somebody when I don't know myself? And so I joined the bible college Was it easy? No, it was not easy You know, it was it was an online. You have morning to evening classes. It was intense classes Right, so up to evening and then after that we would have worship time and then fasting prayers and It kept us all busy. But here's the thing It was a time where I could step out out of my comfort zone But initially it was very difficult because for over one and a half years I was sitting at home and you know not interacting with people outside and all of a sudden I'm going out and talking to people and It was very, you know difficult for me But I realized I have to do this because there's a bigger vision. There's a bigger call ahead of us. So Start knocking And make an entry You know One day one of the pastors came and said, uh, you know, paul I've seen you leading worship in the bible college When we were in bible college 2011 or I've seen you leading in the bible college. Can you lead worship in one of these locations? That was like, okay. Yes. Yes, I'll do it That was an opening door. That was the first opportunity right so What if I was only sitting at home and praying praying praying would I have got these opportunities? Opportunities don't always come to your home We need to step out Knock for doors to be opened right Proverbs chapter 16 verse 1. I'll just read that The preparations of the heart belong to man But the answer of the tongue is from the lord Preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer belongs Uh, but the answer Of the tongue is from the lord so If an opportunity comes To you at your door even though you did not knock that's wonderful But most often we have to go through that knocking process Do your best to prepare Preparation is the responsibility of man After we've prepared after we've done our best You leave the results up to god Right Sometimes the outcome may not be what we had desired Remember you've done your best You left the result to god and god is working out a plan for your life Right, uh, I think I shared that story with you That story it's a testimony of this man who the year 2000 and I think it was 2019 early 2019 he Got told him to start a business with the hand sanitizers He was like why hand sanitizers sort of all of this But the desire was so strong in him said, okay, let's start. He started a small, you know business after a couple of months And then 2020 the pandemic hit and he started getting orders from all over the place IT companies businesses hospitals everywhere so Even as god as you go knocking God can open wonderful doors for you right, uh One of the things that I always I've written down and kept on the mirror I always I always say this to myself Big doors open on small hinges Right If you want a big door to open remember there are small hinges on that door Look for small opportunities keep knocking keep preparing And the doors will be open. Remember joshua and Caleb joshua And Caleb are getting into the promised land and all of a sudden They come into Jericho and there's this huge wall ahead of them Right huge wall. What do we do joshua's? God God says to joshua Whatever I tell you to do you do go around that wall seven times go back to your camps And they did that And the last time when they when they did it the walls came crumbling down so When we keep knocking when we keep pressing on God will open the right doors If there's no door open doesn't mean that god is not answering our prayer doesn't mean that god is not hearing us There's no door open. God wants us to press on God wants us to wait in the place. We are maybe the transition is not yet there Maybe god is asking us to hold on Not yet I can picture moses that i'm close with this Moses knew in his heart that he was going to bring the people of israel out of egypt Maybe he's sitting there when he was 40 45 years old looking after his father-in-law sheep Thinking I was the one who was supposed to go and bring the people out of egypt But now I made a mistake and i'm here looking after sheep when i'm supposed to be the leader 45 50 55 60 maybe 60 he lost his hope said okay forget about it. This is my calling looking after sheep But when he was 80 god reminded him through the burning bull saying you are not a shepherd You are the man who was going to bring the people out of egypt That's what you you are going to do Even as we wait as we were sharing with samuel don't give up Even if we give up God in the in those Seasons of giving up he will remind us Hey, I've got the bigger picture here. I've got the blueprint Just just hold fast Just continue to be strong continue to be faithful I'm going to lead you All right, so let's close today's class We'll meet tomorrow and we'll continue from where we stopped right god bless. Have a great day ahead