DON’T REACT. RESPOND. | Passing the Test of Pressure

Pressure has a way of exposing what is truly happening within the heart.

In this episode, we explore the difference between reacting emotionally and responding spiritually during seasons of testing. Two people can experience the same trial and walk away completely different, one becomes bitter while the other becomes better.

This conversation dives into:
• Heart posture during difficult seasons
• Why pressure reveals character
• The danger of outward participation but inward resistance
• Responding with the Word instead of emotions
• Trusting God while under pressure
• Leaning on God with a surrendered heart

Scriptures referenced include:
James 1:2–4, Proverbs 18:21, Romans 8:28, Matthew 4:1–11, Proverbs 3:5–6, Isaiah 26:3, and more.

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Though the battle may be hot and the conflicts or so rocky the road as we travel along, hold on a little longer. Take Jesus at his word, and he will carry you through right through to the promised land. So I say press along, saints, rest along in God's own way. Oh, press along, saints, press along in God's own way. Persecution we must bear. Trials and crosses in our way. Said the hotter, the battle, the sweeter the victory. My God, my God. Welcome back, uh Kingdom Warriors. So I'm on the battlefield for my Lord. Oh, I'm on the battlefield for my Lord. See, I'm gonna fight until I die, and I'll never run away. I'm on the battlefield for my Lord. Welcome, welcome, welcome back, Kingdom Warriors, to another episode in our podcast. We're on episode number three, and we are in the book Wake Up Warrior, a biblical review to life's battlefield. Today we are on page 101 where we're gonna be talking about how to respond to trials, right? How to respond to trials. Don't react but respond. We're passing the test of pressure today. Yes, press along, saints. Press along in God's own way. You know, as I as I sing these songs and I meditate on them, you know, one thing came to my mind is that uh these songs were not penned, you know, in comfort or they were not penned when you know life was easier. They're just going through life like a Sunday morning. You know, these songs were penned from people who have been through it, right? They have been through it, they have gone through moments when they were not feeling the best. They have gone through moments where they felt like they're gonna throw in the toggle, like this is rough, bro. Right? They have been in moments where they feel like, you know, I'm gonna put on this cross, you know, you know, because uh can't go another journey with this, I cannot go on with this. They have you know been through moments where my god the bottle was hot and uh they thought about running away, right? But when they think about the old rugged cross, when you know they lean in on God, right? They had to sing, my god, in the middle of their pressure, in the middle of the fire that they were in, they had to make a decision, right? I notice I said a decision, it's not a feeling, it's not an emotional reaction. They had to make a decision, which means that they would have thought about the highs and the lows, the good days, the bad days, right? The pros and the cons, the valleys and the mountains, the good and the bad. They would have thought about those. They would have, you know, played things over in their minds and in their hearts, and they would have made a decision that I'm gonna press along. Hello, somebody. I'm going to run this race with a patience. I'm going to fight until I die and I will never run away. Because, you know, sometimes uh, people of the living God, many of us um would find ourselves in these moments, in those moments where you know the pressure is speaking very loud, you know, it's echoing in our ears like a boom box, right? But the way we respond to what we're going through is what determines you know how we end up on the other side, right? Because these writers or songwriters, when penning these songs and you know, going through what they would have gone through, and they were still able to say, I'm gonna press along, right? I will fight until I die, and I will never run away. This is, I believe, what shifts the atmosphere for them because now they are letting the devil know that you could have come back on every side, me not care, you know. I'm gonna keep going. I'm gonna keep going. Come at me. Right. I um as I I as I go over this episode, I look at uh you know how we respond to trials, and not everybody responds to trials the same way. Um, you could have two people, two good people who love the Lord, two people who know God, two people who you know have been walking the journey for 10, 20, 15, 30 years. They know what pressure feels like, they have gone through things, right? And uh, you know, they they they they they're trying to live right, you know, and they're making every effort in the book to please God because they know you know what is expected of them, right? Those two people can walk through the same trial, those two people can go through the same kind of heartbreak, the same kind of disappointment. You know, they're experiencing the waiting season within the same period, right? And yet somehow one of them comes out being bitter and the other comes out being better than they went in. You get what I'm saying? It does happen, and this is as a result of the way in which they responded to their trials, right? And we see the difference here is not in what actually happened, right? But it is in how it was processed. Uh, the one who becomes bitter doesn't necessarily start out that way because, like I said before, they're both on the same journey, right? They're both treading the path, they're both fasting and praying and doing things, right? So they know the way. So it doesn't necessarily mean that that person started out that way. And when it comes to being bitter, it is something that starts out subtly, right? It starts with that question here and there, right? A little bit of disappointment. And uh, you know, you find yourself in a position where you're asking God, you know, why did you allow this? And I'm gonna use that question because we're in the season or the season we're talking about trials and tribulations, right? So this is when the person is gonna ask, Lord, you know, why why did you allow this, right? After everything that I have done, why am I now going through this? You know, and uh something that starts out as a question, right? It uh slowly and surely becomes your heart posture. And we're gonna talk a little bit about that because I find that a lot of us we're talking about it, but we don't really understand what that is. When I say posture, I don't mean that you know me sitting up straight like this. I'm talking about uh our heart's position towards God when we're in the middle of trials and tribulations, right? It is uh the way we see God, your posture is how you approach God, your posture is how you respond to what He allows, right? So it is the internal position of your spirit man. Ah, it's your internal position of your spirit man, because you can be saying the the right words physically, and this is why it's it's internal, because uh you know you can be saying the right things with your mouth, right? But uh your heart is saying something else, you know, your heart can be closed off or guarded or resistant towards the things, and uh you know scripture does say that the Lord does not pay attention to the outward appearance, but he is reading our heart, that means he's reading our posture, so shake up yourself and shuffle up yourself because that is what God is paying attention to, right? So you and I can be saying, I trust you, Lord, my God, right? I trust you with my life. One of us is saying it from a place of surrender, right? And the other can be saying it uh through you just say it, right? You just say it. So so so so the one that is saying it from a surrendered heart is saying, uh God, even if I don't understand what is happening, even if I don't understand how you're going to make it happen, even if I don't know how you're going to deliver me out of this, I trust you to carry me because you have an aerial view of my life. So if you say go right, I am going to go right because I trust you. If you say go left, Father, I'm gonna go left because I trust you, right? This is somebody who has the heart posture that is surrendered to God. While the other one is saying, Lord, I trust you. We're both saying the same thing, right? One is coming from a surrendered heart, but the other one is saying, God, I trust you. But minister, how this possible can't work, right? The other one is saying, Lord, I trust you, while you're putting your foot in the water, you're saying the bottom say too deep, so you're pulling back yourself, right? So you both of us are saying I trust you, God, but it's coming from two different uh places, right? And uh uh what we need to understand is that a posture does not something that uh changes overnight, it uh it uh shifts subtly, right? You know, slowly but surely. And uh, you know, it starts off with uh you don't get your prayer, you you've been praying about something, and the outcome that you were expecting didn't quite work out that way, right? It didn't quite work out that way, and uh so you know you you you find that uh you know you start praying a little bit less, less, all right? And you start trusting a little bit less. So um it's it's not even just the fact that you didn't do one of your prayers weren't answered the way you expected it to, right? But you were disappointed here, um, and you had a little moment where you know you you felt like you felt like you weren't feeling the spirit of God, and so you feel like you know you're left alone in this. So God threw me in the lion's den and left me there. And so there's a moment of confusion, and so you find that your trust factor is is is a little bit less, right? You you end up in a place where you start withholding, you end up in a place where you don't open up too much, you're guarded, right? So we're still in church, we're hearing the word, we're listening, we're still showing up, but but our posture has a change. You're no longer leaning in, trusting that the Lord will catch you if you fall on the face, you're stepping a little bit back because you're looking behind you to see what is behind you, so you can step on a level ground, right? Your heart posture has a changed because you don't trust that God can carry you through. You don't trust that uh you know you won't experience another disappointment down the road. You don't trust that uh there won't be confusion further on, right? So your heart posture is slowly shifting based on the situations, the trials that you would have gone through, right? And this is why people of the living God, this matter is so much in trials because your posture will determine your outcome. If your posture becomes defensive, then of course you're gonna become bitter. If your posture remains in a position where it is surrendered and yielded to God, then you are going to become better, right? So the issue is not what you and I are going through, it's not the trials and tribulations that we are going through, right? But it is what this situation is doing to our heart posture. It is what it is doing to our heart posture. And if we should carefully um look and meditate on this a little bit deeper, we would understand that you know there are a lot of times when we go through, you know, trials and tribulations, it's external, but it doesn't it doesn't stay in the external phase for too long, right? It is an external situation that you're going through, but before, not before long, you'll realize that it becomes a little bit internal, right? So the offense starts to take root on the inside, and it starts it grow from a little plant to a little bursting um seed to a little seedling, right? To a plant into a tree, it takes root on the inside, the disappointment that you would have experienced, it settles in. Cut in, drink champagne, because I just live right now. You understand? And your trust is a little bit fractured, right? So now it is no longer external, it is something that is inside of you, and without us even realizing, we are now in a position where our relationship with Christ is a compromise. So this is no longer just somebody going through a situation or battling a trial, right? Is now us struggling in our relationship with God, a dangerous place to be, people of the living God, a dangerous place to be, right? And this is why we cannot afford to just uh uh react in moments of pressure, yeah, because reactions will shift your posture without you even realizing it. It is encouraged that we respond, right? Because what the response does, it aligns you with the word of God, it aligns you with the will of God, even if you do not understand what lies ahead, even if you don't know if you're going to come out of this alive, when you respond to a trial, it aligns you with God. Because in your response, like I said earlier, it is more intentional, right? It is more intentional. Yes. So so we have to understand that we instead of reacting to our trials, we have to take time and respond. So now we're gonna look at the other person on the other side, right? The person who would have gone through the same trial, right? This is another person now. Uh, the same kind of pressure, the same tears were were cried, you know, the same kind of confusion, the same kind of disappointment, right? But uh there's a difference in the posture. So instead of withdrawing themselves, they now lean in because I can't do this by myself. I need you, Lord. I cannot run this race alone. I need you, Lord Jesus, right? Instead of accusing, we seek out, Lord, how should I pursue? How should I go about the way you seek for direction? Instead of shutting down and putting ourselves in isolation, we lean in, we build a prayer altar, right? We go into a prayer closet and we pray, we talk to the one who has the plan for our lives, right? And when they don't understand, they say, Lord, I trust you. That is the person who has a different heart posture would have gone through the same thing. When they don't understand, they say, Lord, work something out for me, right? Because I believe that you're gonna carry me through this, and that is the shift from being withdrawn, that is the shift from having a heart posture of uh you don't see no way out. I trust it, but I don't see no way out to surrendering, Lord. I give everything to you, right? I give everything to you. So this right here is a somebody who is responding to the trial and not reacting to the trial, right? And this brings us uh into something that uh you know we have to confront and we have to confront it honestly and truly, because a lot of us out here we're hindering, uh we're hindering our blessing, we're hindering last week, last the last episode we spoke about Job and how what Job went through. If Job had not um been patient and go through what he would have gone through, he would not have experienced the double that God had in store for him. So a lot of us we react to our trials, right? Because his friends and everybody when he was was what they were they were encouraging him to do was to react. And instead, he responded to the trial, he responded, he intentionally responded to what he was going through, and he was able to be blessed with the double of everything. And this is the problem that a lot of us are facing in Christendom today. Many times when the pressure hits, we don't pause long enough to recognize what we're actually dealing with, or what we're actually going through, or what we're actually in. We don't pause long enough, praise God, to think about what God is trying to do in the season of my life, right? And we think that we're responding, but in reality, we're just reacting, and there is a difference. The reaction is immediate, the reaction comes with emotions, right? The reaction is driven by how you feel in the moment, but when you respond, it is intentional. When you respond, you process it with your mind, your heart, your soul, everything inside. When you respond, it is governed by something that is deeper than emotion. This is why the scripture becomes so critical in seasons like these. Praise be to God. Right? The scripture says in James chapter 1, verses 2 to 4, My brethren, hello. Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing. This is not a suggestion for us to react with our feelings. This is an instruction that was given to us by the true and living God for us to respond to our trials, how we respond. It is an instruction for your response. Because if people of the living God were going to respond correctly under pressure, we have to understand. The source of that response, right? It doesn't appear in the moment, but it is a drawn from what has already been built within you, right? And uh if we should carefully look back over our lives, I had some time to sit down and look and think back over my life, and I we do realize that uh you know there were many areas where I would have been exposed in this situation, right? Because it's when it comes to pressure, pressure does not create character. What pressure does is reveals your character. It reveals your character, so it is like a spotlight. Pressure is like a spotlight, it doesn't put something uh new inside of you. What it does, it uh it basically illuminates what has already been there, right? So whether it was developed or it was neglected, but something that would have been there, it does that. Pressure does that, it just reveals that it takes it, it shows it up, it exposes that, right? And this means that when pressure hits, that's not the time for you to rise to the occasion, right? That's not the time for you to rise to the occasion. Because if it's not already in you, right? If it's not already in you, it will not come out. This is the moment for you to fall back on what you would have prepared for. This is a moment for you to fall back into preparation, you know, what you would have you have you'd have prepared yourself for. You'd have gone through a season of preparation, just like you know, kids who are doing exams, you know, um, you come out of the classroom because the classroom is training ground, the classroom is preparation ground. You don't get an exam paper and you run back for your book for study, no, right? You get the exam and you regurgitate what you would have studied and learned. And so what would have taken place in the preparation phase is what you're going to need in this testing phase, right? So when you're under pressure, when you're under pressure, you have to rely on what you would have gone through in the preparation phase. You fall to what you would have practiced, you fall to what you would have had stored up inside of you, your heart, your head, your heart, your mind, right? You fall back to what you would have consistently allowed to shape your inner life. So this is not the time for rehearsal, right? It is not the time for rehearsal, it is the time to fall back on what you would have done in your secret place, right? So whatever has been cultivated in your prayer closet, in you know, your moments of being still in the presence of God, it is what will surface in public, right? And uh, that's why when we look at the example of Jesus Christ in the wilderness, we see um where he was very intentional, right? And remember when he was there, he was a hundred percent man and god at the same time, which means then he had feelings just like me and you, right? So um a lot of times people say that, but he was God, so you know, no, right? He was a fully man, so he hungered. He would have been, he would have not eaten for 40 days and 40 nights. He is dehydrated, he was dehydrated in the moment, right? So this encounter wasn't anything that uh was you know just uh something that has happened out of the blues, right? It I believe that in this moment of pressure, imagine being hungry, imagine not being not drinking for days. I went on a three days and three-night fasting, and I could not even drink water after that because everything that passes my throat seems so acidic and feel like I can't manage. Right? So we have to understand that this was something that was very intense. And when he was attempted of the devil, he could have reacted, but he did not, right? He responded, and his response was not based on how he felt in the moment. Uh else it wouldn't have been a response, it would have been a reaction. Because a reaction is uh how you re how how you how you react in the moment. A reaction is something that is given off uh based on how you feel in the moment. So he did not react because he could have, because he was hungry, right? But he responded, he was intentional about what came out of his mouth, right? And he said, It is written, it is written. This tells us that you know his response was not something that he just came up with on the spot, right there. Because when you're fasting, when you're in a prayer, when you're in your, you know, when you're you're closed away with the presence of the living God, it's in that moment that the Lord do things, it's in that moment that the Lord teaches you, it's in that moment that the Lord prunes you, it's in that moment that you are strengthened for the next leg of the journey. Right? So when the pressure came on Jesus, he would have already been formed before, he would have already been prepared before for that time to come, right? So he didn't have to search for the answer, it was right there. He pulled from what he would have gathered or prepared for in that moment, right? Because he was hungry, he could have reacted, and he did not, right? Praise God. So now we understand that when a pressure hits, when uh pressure hits, we cannot uh react, right? We cannot react, we cannot react, we have to respond, we have to respond. So we find that uh when we're in certain positions, we have to consistently ask ourselves, what am I depositing in my spirit? What am I feeding my spirit on? And what am I feeding my spirit on, you know, my spirit man, what am I consuming? What am I allowing to enter into my gates, right? And because if we do not pay attention to you know to these things that are happening around us, we will fall into a space where when pressure comes, we're not prepared for it, and we're trying to pull or draw blanks because you know there's nothing that is stored up on the inside. David said that words have hidden my heart that I may not sin against thee. Yeah. So we have to understand that we have to spend time in the word of the living God so that when the pressure comes, when the trials and temptations come, we can pull up for a scripture, we can pull for a word, we can pull for a song, we can pull up for a song, right? So whatever is stored up on the inside of you, that is what will speak for you in the moment of testing. In the moment of testing, and uh, you know, if for those of us who have been in the classroom before, you know that that is not the hard part because you go in and the teacher is teaching, you get your notes and you get a little test, and you're you know, you're past them, right? The real work is on the day of the big exam, the final exam, the exam that will take you from this level to the next. Lord of mercy. Oh, Jesus. The exam that will take you from this level to the other level, that will take you from lower level to higher level, that is where the real work is. And it's the same thing in Christendom. If we desire, praise God, to have uh an outcome that is favorable, it means then that we have to spend some time preparing ourselves. Many of us desire the outcome without uh committing to the process that produces the outcome, right? So we have to take some time to prepare ourselves. We want a peace in chaotic moments in our lives, but uh we have not trained our minds to rest in God when things are calm, we have not spent enough time with the Prince of Peace in our moments of a quietness, right? So we have to understand that if we want a peace, hey Jesus, hallelujah! If we want that peace that the Bible speaks about, the peace that passeth all understanding, you've gotta spend some time with the Prince of Peace. You gotta train your mind to rest in God when things are calm. Many of us want stability, right? But uh, we have not developed the discipline in our daily walk. It takes work. We can't think that these athletes, when they go out there, they don't just go there and win race, they don't party out their lives and eat all sorts of foolishness and then go out there and track and become stars. No, it doesn't work like that, it requires work, you know. We want a clarity when decisions must be made quickly, but uh, we have not spent a time uh cultivating our sensitivity to the voice of God, right? We have to spend a time in the presence of God so that we can know his voice, we can know his voice. I remember watching a movie long, long, long, long time ago, back in in I don't even remember, 2000s, early days, called So Close with um as two Chinese sisters, they were trained to fight. They were trained to fight. And um, I remember there was at one point that one of the sisters went out, and you know, men are always after them because you know of the the line of work that they were in. And I remember there was a time when one of the sisters went out and uh the men came to attack her. She was surrounded by so many different men. And uh, you know, while she was surrounded, she dialed in on her, you know, thing with her sister, and her sister pulled up her location where she was up, and she was able to get a view of the area that she was in. And she was just telling her, turn right, turn left, jump here, bend there, do that, do that, do that. And she gave her instructions until she was able to lose the men. Right. I look at that, and I'm saying that even when she was go running through the park and there was noise all over, she was focused on the voice that was in her ear, her sister's ear, because her sister had a view of the entire terrain, right? So she so she trusted her sister's instructions as a children of the living God, we gotta trust God or Savior or Father or soon coming king. All right, so when a pressure does show up, when trials and uh tribulation actually um shows up at your door, not not not pump-poom pump. I am here, right? It is not waiting for you to gather yourself in that moment, it is not going to pause, right, while you try to get yourself in position and you grab this and you grab that and you say, All right, I'm ready for you. No, it hits you off guard, and it is what is inside of you that is going to come out, it reveals your position, right? It reveals up what uh actually governs your thought process, right? It uh reveals what anchors your emotions, it reveals what uh you turn to when you are stretched. Hello, somebody, right? So so the moment of uh testing and trials is uh not the time to build a new bridge for you to walk on. The bridge should have already been built for you to run past or on, right? It should have already been built. And you know, um, something else that came home to me while I was putting together this episode was that um there's another dimension that we cannot uh you know um really ignore when it comes to us um you know facing trials and tribulations because um what begins uh you know within you does not really stay hidden, right? It eventually finds a way to express itself, right? So just like I said before, that um pressure is what reveals what is inside of you, right? Um the the aspect that I touched on is has to do with behavior or how it comes out. But uh when we we look a little bit deeper, we talk about uh you know a thought process or expression, you know, whatever is being processed internally, how it comes out. So it is the way we respond verbally, right? The way we respond verbally. There um there are many people right who lose battles that they were actually uh strengthened to win. They already received the strength to win the battle. However, when they open their mouths is when they lost it, right? There, and I have spoken to people who have, and I if if I probably dig a little bit deeper, I probably would find a season in my life when I hindered, you know, I hindered a lot of things because of my mouth. And like I said, I would have spoken to other people, and uh you know, I remember recently I was talking to this young lady and she was mentioning that you know she was at the edge of our breakthrough, and you know, just something that she said just threw off everything, right? It shows throws off everything. So uh a lot of times we lose battles not because we did we don't have the capacity to to win, or you know, we lacked the ability, right? But it is because uh of what uh we confess with our mouths, right? What we say contradicts our position in the kingdom of God. The word of God says in the book of Proverbs, chapter 18, verse 21, that uh life and death is in the power of the tongue, right? So we have to ask ourselves the question, what am I saying in the midst of my trial? You know, um are the words that are coming out of my mouth aligning with defeat. There's a song that says, No, no, don't talk defeat to me. I am a child of God and I've got the victory, right? So is are the words coming out of my mouth uh aligning with what looks like defeat? You know, sometimes we get what we just said, boy, me not butter now because it's now work out, and nothing we may ever do ever work out, everything we may ever do not work out for it, you know. Can't bother with this, can't hang with this, right? Are the words coming out of our mouth aligning with that? Or are our words aligning with faith? You know, it looks a little bit dim, but I know that God is with me. The past don't even look like it is possible, right? But I know God will not leave me. The trial is heavy, the fire is hot, but I know that God will not fail me. Yeah, yeah, we have to let our words align with that of faith in King Jesus, right? We have to let our words align with faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And just before we close off, you know, this episode, um, I I want to talk to us a little bit about um oh um a question that you know somebody asked uh recently in a session. They were asking, you know, sometimes you go through the trials and uh tribulations, but um, you know, sometimes uh it may not be the issue, right? The the trial itself is not the actual issue. And I I thought that was a very mature thing to say, especially spiritual immaturity, because um a lot of times this is where that uh takes a shape, this is where that is formed, the spiritual maturity is formed, and it doesn't happen overnight. It's something that you know you have to book it to, you have to you have to fail and then uh get up back. You know, it takes a lot of you know you being in the secret place with the most high God to understand his ways so that you can develop that level of maturity in him. Um failing and not stopping at failure. But the Bible says that the righteous man falls seven times when he gets back up, right? So it is clear that you know God has given us enough room, and uh not that we're gonna take it for granted, right? But we have to understand that failure is not the dead end, you know, but it is a transition for us to be greater, for our next step to be bigger and greater, right? So um, so what if the trial itself is not the issue, you know? What if nothing about the situation that you're going through needs to change for God to move forward with the you know what if your response is what is delaying your promotion? Hello? You know it's not uh your gifting, it's not uh the calling that is up on your life, it is not even the desire that you have to do things, right? But it is your response, it is your response, and your response can be in the form of your attitude, your response is in the form of your posture, your response is in the form of what comes out of your mouth. God is not only concerned with where you're going, but he's concerned with who you are coming, who you are becoming on the way. He is not concerned with uh where you're going, but he is uh concerned about who you're becoming or what you're becoming in the process of you getting to where he wants you to go. All right, and um, you know, there's certain doors. I we were having a conversation today, you know, there's certain doors that will not open for us, and it's not because right you you you are in the called, it's not because the door was not meant for you, but it is uh because you are not yet conditioned to sustain what is uh behind those doors, right? So uh the pressure again is coming out in this episode. Again, it is not uh to punish you like we would think, right? But it is your preparation, it is shaping your endurance, it is uh strengthening your capacity, your capacity to be true. God desires you to be through strengthening your capacity to love. Your neighbor as yourself, it is a strengthening your capacity to be that man of valor that the Lord wants you to be, it is a strengthening your capacity to be that human conscious woman that the Lord designed you to be. It is a refining your discernment. That pressure, that trial, that test, that trigulation is refining your discernment. Right? The Lord requires a version of you that can handle weight without breaking. You know, we have to go through the water, right? We have to go through the portal. We have to go through the portal. So if you cannot remain steady at this level of test or trial or pressure, you know, uh, we have to ask ourselves how will I carry the responsibility that comes with the next level? You know, I remember just uh a few moments ago I mentioned that in the classroom is not where the issue is because in that time you're learning, you can ask all the questions that you want to ask, you can get the clarity that you need in that moment. But when it comes to the big exam time that takes you from one level to the next level, hey, when it comes to that exam that takes you from primary school to high school or from high school to university, oh Jesus, or from university to the real world, that is the real deal. That is the real deal, that is the true test of the years that you would have spent in preparation of somebody, right? So if small delays shake you, if small delays shake you, what will you do when the stakes are higher? Sometimes we see uh people's glory, but we don't know their story, we don't know what they went through, right? We don't know what hurdles they had to drop, we don't know um how many fires they want to do, we don't know how many lines then they were facing, and we don't know the process that they took in order to get to where they are in that moment, right? If a minor opposition discourages you, let me take up minor. If if if an opposition, one single opposition or two or three or four, you know, um discourages you, what will happen when a greater resistance comes up, right? God is not just trying to bring you out of something, but he's preparing you to step up into something that is greater than this level, and uh preparation, people of the living God, is uh not always comfortable. It is not always comfortable, but uh I'm gonna sell tell you that it is indeed necessary. So this is not just a season that is difficult because you know, trials and testing, you know, um it's like everyone may turn, Maka joke me, everyone may turn there is an obstacle. Why? You know, it is not just a difficult season, and I need you to understand that this is an exam, this is our exam, right? It is assessing our stability in God, it is uh evaluating our consistency in God, yes, it is a measuring our trust in God because when we're faced with these things, how we respond, who we call on, how we call on him is very much important, and I want us to understand that heaven is not just observing what we are going through in this particular season of our life, but uh heaven is also making a record of how we respond, right? How we speak, how we think, how we handle the pressure when no one else is watching. Our response is the evidence that is needed, the evidence of growth, the evidence of strength, right? So I want us to leave here today with a question that we ask ourselves: what am I facing? Because every single person is facing something, right? How am I responding to what I am facing? Am I reacting out of emotion or am I responding with intention? Am I allowing the pressure to push me away from God or am I allowing it to press me deeper into Him? I am pressing, I am pressing, I am pressing my way. I'm on my way to glory, and I feel like pressing my way. The battle is hot, but I'm gonna press anyways. The battle is hot and the conflict is sore, the road is rocky, but I'm gonna press my way. Before you speak, pause before you react, pause, and ask yourself what response aligns me with who I am becoming, right? Ask yourself that genuine question, then choose you know that response. Choose whatever it is that you're feeling in your spirit in that moment, it's going to feel natural and it's going to feel like it's aligning with what God says about you, right? It's going to feel like it is aligning with what God says about you. Every time you choose the right response, you are not just surviving in the moment, but you are passing the test. Don't fail the test of people of God. But if it so happens that you feel the test, you're on the journey to make it better, right? You have another opportunity to make things right. It is just a pause, it is not a full stop. Alright? And every test that you pass, it positions you for what is next, and that next is something greater, something bigger, and something better. I do hope that something was said uh to bless your heart on tonight. I do hope that you walk away with something. And if this episode blessed you, I'm gonna ask you to go ahead and share it with your friend or family member. If you have a prayer request, feel free to also share that. And uh, if you want to get in touch with me, you can also check the description box in the video where you'll see how you can reach out to me. Until next time, God bless you.