Redeeming My Loss for God’s Greater Good | Marie-José Mann

The key takeaway from this message is that loss does not have to define your future. 

God is able to redeem pain, grief, and disappointment by leading us into something new through His presence and promises. When we stop dwelling on what was and begin trusting Him with what is ahead, we can experience healing, renewal, and hope again. 

Even in difficult seasons, God is still working, guiding, and making a way forward.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I happen to have my mother here this morning. My mom is 91 years young. And mom, I'm not on that screen, but I have the opportunity to be here standing in front of this beautiful family of mine. And I want to say I tell you, and she remercies of having supported during two days with the prayer. And to all the mothers again, a very happy Mother's Day. And to all the other women who may be here, and perhaps you have an aching heart this morning or this afternoon. I'll get adjusted here this afternoon. I want you to know that God understands your pain, and he's whispering to you right now that he loves you. And we love all of our mothers this morning. There was a gesture that became quite popular in the mid-80s. It was basically prevalent amongst Canadian, uh, Canadians, comedians, and rappers. It was that of the intentional dropping of a microphone, and no worry, I won't do it. I was told I would have to pay for it if I did. And we're not gonna do that. It depicted the intentional dropping of one's microphone at the end of a performance or a speech. And many got in on the act after that through the years. I remember from president, actors, actresses, and even preachers alike, for sure. As I'm holding this microphone this afternoon, I had just been uh given a book written by Levi Loshko, and one of the paragraphs, or the chapter rather, in the book was entitled Microphone. And it got me thinking, my wheel started going because I had already started to pen out a little bit my story here. And it got me thinking: no matter our story, our hardships, our ups and downs, whatever the the question remains is we've been given a microphone to hold in our hands, each one of us. And the question is, what are we gonna do with it? Will we mic drop it, signaling the end, and perhaps before it should take place, the ending? Or will we use it to share and to live out and to pass on God's redemptive work of salvation? Will we use it to bring hope, encouragement to one who so desperately needs to hear a word because they're hurting and because their hearts are aching? Would we choose it to pick it up and proclaim the love of Jesus Christ to somebody else? Since experiencing great loss in my life, the heart of my cry has been that God would redeem my loss for his greater good. I kept saying it's gotta count for something. It's gotta count for something. I refuse to believe that it's that it's gonna account for nothing. It's been life-changing, a reshaping of my life, as I've been aligned exactly perfectly with God's perfect plan for me. My story filled with joy and hardship has been shaped by the hand of God. My prayer is that it would even offer, not only this afternoon, but throughout the remainder of my journey, hope. Hope to an individual who so needs to be pointed to God's redemptive story of restoration amidst sorrow and pain. So today I hold my mic before you and I proclaim that I consciously made a choice during a grief journey that was so painful that I would hold up my mic and that I would turn my pain into a microphone. Oh, you can applaud. God doesn't give us stories only for ourselves, it gives them so that others can see his goodness through us. I remember clearly how I felt in my heart as I was calling God and telling him, and God had whispered in my heart that one day you will tell your story on how you overcame what you went through, and it will be someone else's survival guide, because that's exactly what God does. If you're walking presently in a dark place, if you're struggling to find words for your pain, this story is for you. To all of those who perhaps are in the beginning stages of grief or of pain, whatever the reason may be, a divorce, a diagnosis, the betrayal of a friend, perhaps, the story is for you. And the fact and the reality is that no one gets through life unscathed. The story is for you too. So when heartache comes, you're gonna be equipped to face it. I throw out my challenge from the very beginning to you. Will you be part of God's eternal plan by choosing to view life as an adventure while making an eternal impact? Because this is what God so desires for us. And when heartache comes, because it will, will you be willing to turn your pain into a microphone by living out your story for God's glory? I was born and raised actually here in Longueuil, very close to this church. In grade five, my parents made the decision to send me and my siblings to an English school in preparation for my secondary studies. They just felt that this was something they wanted to do. They had struggled themselves to learn English. And my father had said, I will not have my children go through that. So I want them to know and to speak English. Little did they know how impactful it would be in my life and that of my siblings alike. She kept searching for happiness, perhaps in all the wrong places. But once she discovered Christ as her Lord and Savior, joy so filled her life. Her enthusiasm for her newfound faith became contagious. So within a year, my siblings, myself, and my father came to faith because we wanted to join her. That joy that she had captured her life was extremely contagious, and we wanted to be part of it. It was at this point that we started attending a church downtown Montreal, Evangel, for a very short window. And then we moved and to another church, English church again on the South Shore. I mean, we told my parents, my mom, that if you want us to go to church, it's gonna have to be in English. Well, they did send us to English school after all, correct? So we said, we're gonna go to an English church. It was in church that I love my church, and it certainly became a place of spiritual growth and preparation for full-time ministry for me. In fact, I've met my church, my husband in church. He was visiting his brother and he saw me in the choir and he said, I've got to meet this woman. But the problem at that same time, I was just vacillating back and forth on the call that God had placed on my heart. I knew that I was supposed to attend what we call back then Bible college theological studies, and I was just battling it back and forth. I wasn't sure. And dating him meant ministry, and I just wasn't there yet. But within a year, God captured my heart. I said yet, I said yes, and I ended up in my first year of Bible college in Peterborough, Ontario. And guess what? One week into arriving at the college, Pastor Salvin, we started dating. And two years later, we were married. And then our ministry began in Oshawa, Ontario. Our children were born there. And then 13 years later, the Lord brought us back after being involved in youth pastoring, lead pastor of the church, and also involved in church ministries director for our then district, which was which was Eastern Ontario and Quebec. At 1995, the Lord brought us back to Montreal as we became lead pastor of the downtown church, Evangel Church, the first church that we had attended when we first came into a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Who would have known and who would have thought? They were 13 wonderful years. I've often looked back at those years pastoring downtown. It was a multicultural church, and listen to that. That was in 1995. We were there from 95 to 2008. On any given Sunday, there were 75 nations represented as we worship together. I would say I just get to have a little taste of heaven. This is what heaven is all gonna be about, and how blessed we were. I learned to pray. Boy, could these precious, precious people pray and pray and praise on more. And this was just embedded so deeply into my heart to this day. Evangel Choice was a place as well where our children found their mate. I just gave away the punchline. Bad, I'm so bad. I remember when we had first come to Evangel, it was within the first month. I remember this picture vividly. There was a young seven-year-old girl sitting in front of us. She wore a jean dress, she had two poofy ponytails, and no word of a lie, she turned around, batted her eyelashes, and wiggled at a little finger at my innocent seven-year-old son. How dare she? And she went home and she told her best friend, Andrea, I'm going to marry that man one day. Or that boy, I guess. And Julia did, my daughter-in-law Julia. So you see. And it would be years later that my daughter also made met her soulmate, and I didn't know you were going to show all these pictures, Pastor Selvin, Jonathan, who is the children's pastor. I don't know if she battered her eyelashes at her at him or if she just waved her little fingers, but she did something right to win that Brazilian dude, I tell you, because he said yes. And they certainly have been a source of joy. And as you've already mentioned, I don't know who gave you all the information in my introduction. Evangel Church certainly prepared us for our third for our 12 years of ministry overseas. And what an honor it was to serve on the continent of Africa between two countries, Zambia and Pretoria, South Africa, where we spend the last five years of our ministry over there. It was in our fifth year of living in South Africa. My husband was turning 60. He looked at me and he says, I'm turning 60, so I'm booking my annual physical appointment with my doctor on my birth date. I thought, okay, whatever suits you, go for it. And at the same time, I don't remember the context, I don't remember the message I was speaking, but I was speaking at our um at our home church downtown Pretoria. And all I remember is looking down at one of our pastors' wife because her husband had just been diagnosed with colon cancer, and they were walking through that journey, and I know that it was a difficult journey. And all I remember of that morning is looking down at her and saying, Priscilla, it sucks, doesn't it? Yes, I said that in church, in Africa, no less. But it did. It did. Little did I know that a few weeks later, that I would res my husband would receive the same diagnosis, stage four, colon cancer, that had metastasized to his liver. It was an incurable cancer, they told us. This cancer diagnosis instantly changed our lives personally, as a couple, as a family, and ultimately redirected the course of our ministry. I remember a commercial that was playing years ago on television. Perhaps you've seen it. You see a couple sitting down in a doctor's office, and as they're giving the diagnosis of cancer, you see the couple being thrust slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly from their chair. And then the scene moves, and then you see the couple breaking the news to their children, and then you see the children being thrust slowly, slowly, slowly and falling down. I tell you, that's exactly how it felt. The only difference was that we had to break the news to our children over FaceTime. God's peace embraced us amidst numbness. My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid. And as peace remained with us to this day. We were walking aimlessly during that weekend. We just didn't want to be around at home. We were so numb. And we kept going from one coffee shop to another. Good thing that Pretoria hosts wonderful coffee shops. And in one of those coffee shops, my husband looked at me and he says, he points to the table we were sitting at and he says, I want you to know I see pieces of the puzzle all over this table. And know that God is going to give us one piece at a time. Because God has the whole story laid out before us, and he's gonna lead us and guide us every step of the way. And then he went on to say, we're gonna laugh every day through this journey. No matter why, what, we're gonna choose joy and we're gonna laugh together, and so we did for three and a half years. No word of a lie. I never felt, we never felt the need to ask God why. Perhaps because of this peace that overwhelmed us when we found out his diagnosis. I don't know, but hear me out, family here. It's perfectly okay to ask why. It's perfectly okay to ask why. You may never know the answer, but I have a strong feeling that you will over time. As you allow God to align you within his will, you will know. So within 10 days after their diagnosis, we sold our house content and we found ourselves back in Canada, where my husband started chemotherapy and faced two major surgeries. How strange it was for us that God directed us to a new audience, that of Cedar Cancer Center at the MUHG in Montreal. It was a new audience for us. But my husband held his mic and he spoke life and displayed God's love to the medical team and to patients alike. He remained positive and his faith never wavered. And our fervent prayer as a couple, our fervent prayer was that people would be impacted through our journey. Although not easy, we wanted so wanted God to be seen in us and through us. And we wanted to display his presence no matter what. And that's exactly what we set out to do. After ending his first round of chemotherapy, we were quite thrilled, obviously. My husband was clear to travel, and we were all scheduled, all set to go back to Africa for a short term. But COVID-19 broke, and these plans were suddenly stopped, as yours were and that of the rest of the world. Once again, God redirected our course, he redirected our path. We moved back into our home in Longue because we didn't know the length of time and we really needed a roof over our head. We were assigned to a new ministry position within our missions organization. And three months after Don's last chemo treatment, a CT scan revealed that two more tumors had reappeared in his liver. So the course again of our lives was redirected. My husband faced two more medical procedures and 60 rounds of chemotherapy over three years. I remember, Jonathan, you gave dad a cup. It says hero, and he was our hero. Because I know he did it for me, he did it for us, his family. And I know that it wasn't easy for him, but God gave him the strength to do so no matter what. But amidst that, God's goodness was incredible. Jonathan and Julia were then living in Toronto, they moved back to Montreal, they had purchased a condo, and they were able to move back in with their precious little daughter that had just been born, my granddaughter Olivia. And for the next three years, we, the sixth or seven with Olivia, got to experience incredible opportunities that forever will stay with us and have impacted our lives because we chose to celebrate every day. No matter what, we celebrated together as a couple, as a family, and we even pulled in our friends within that circle. To say it was an easy journey would be an understatement. It's as if upon the diagnosis, a timer was set. You know, the timer on our iPhone was set. But we have no knowledge, we have no idea of the time it was set at as the countdown began. It was difficult for me to stand and watch my husband lose one piece of his life at a time, or put to death one piece of his life, traveling, preaching, riding, cycling, and even walking. He was at peace with it all and gave him, God again gave him a supernatural strength. I don't know how we survived the last week of his life, but I have some vivid memories of our last night at home. We had managed to bring him to the dining room table. Lori, you've been at our house. You can visualize it. We had managed to bring him there at the table, and for some reason, I don't know why, it just came out of my mouth. All I said, Dawn, any regrets? And in his weakness, he just shook his head and said, No. My husband was a man fully devoted to his Lord and family. He was a man of integrity to no fault. The man, listen to this, Pastor Selvin. The man who stood behind the pulpit was the same man in his private life. And I pray this over you. I pray this over you. His public life aligned with his private life. With the help of my daughter in law, Julia, we started packing his bag because the next The ambulance was coming to take him to a palliative care facility in Bowmanville. We had packed his bag a thousand times during our travel. But this would be the last time. I sat on my bed in my bedroom and wept into my son's arms because I knew that this would be the last time that I would be sharing my bed with him. Yes, it sucked. And yes, it didn't seem fair to me. And yes, it was excruciating. Three days later, on March 27, 23, we, the original four member of our family unit, had the privilege to accompany him to his last breath. We cheered him on to the finishing line. Literally, that's what we did. And we were with him when he saw Jesus face to face. Yes, it was a mic drop moment. Grief gripped me with a vengeance. Grief is defined as a deep and often physical, emotional pain caused by loss, misfortune, or the consequences of sin. It's unavoidable, and as described in scripture, it's a necessary process which can coexist with hope and be turned into joy. But you gotta get there. Grief interrupts plans, rearranges days, and lingers in every corner. It doesn't fit in a box or follow timeline. It's messy and it's unpredictable. Your heart is broken in a thousand pieces, your life is shattered. You can hardly breathe, and you're numb, and you can hardly feel any emotion other than deep, deep sorrow. The pain is surreal, it's deafening, and it's catastrophic. And I am not exaggerating in using those adjectives in describing it, because that's exactly what grief is. I would often wish that God would come and get me because the pain was unbearable. But then I would think of my children and my parents, how could they suffer another loss? I would say I have lost 50% of myself, because as the marriage vow suggests, the two shall become one, and I had lost my 50%. How was I supposed to recover from that? How am I supposed to live with that on my shoulders? Because we truly work one in Christ. I truly believe in my heart that we were a power couple together. You love hard and you grieve hard. And I had to face all the firsts of losing your loved ones, facing an empty seat at the table as you celebrate birthdays, Christmas, or what have you. I had to face all of the waves of griefs that would come over me when you least expected an overwhelming pain that could come over you as these waves of griefs just come over you. And trust me, some of them felt more likely like a tsunami for sure. There were many triggers, smell, sight, what may be, and tears. Oh my, did I ever cry? Did I ever use loads of tissues? I think I kept the Kleenex company going for quite a while. But none of my tears were wasted. Psalm 57, 8 says, He has kept count of my tears, of my tossing, and he's placed every tear in his bottle. Every tear mattered to my God, to my family, and he kept to my uh heavenly father, and he kept count of every one of them. None were wasted. What felt shattered beyond repair was already being gathered by the one who heals the brokenhearted. He cared about what I was walking through and never rushed my healing. I felt God whispering to me through this time of grief, through a devotional. In the valley, God says, I know you're hurt, you don't understand, but this is where you and I will meet and will abide as never before. And this is exactly what happened. If grief had not broken me, had not knocked me down the way it did, I never would have known and discovered my Heavenly Father the way I did. It was an incredible experience. Can you imagine I'm able to say that? It was an intimate experience with my Savior. And I came to a point, yes, I swallowed really hard for that, but I came to a point when I started thanking him for taking my husband. Because if it wouldn't have been for that, I never could have known him in such a way. That's what God was doing in my life, even though I walk through the shadow of the valley of Death. I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. And that's exactly what God did. Because after all, his son Jesus understands grief before the cross and upon the cross. He gets it, he understands it, and he became my source in such a supernatural way. What succeed sustained me was scripture. The word of God sustained me during that journey. I wasn't even able to read my Bible. I would read a little bit of psalm because my mind was so cloudy. But all the scriptures that I had learned through my spiritual journey, throughout my spiritual journey, kept bombarding me and coming back. Those devotionals that I would read in the morning, more times than none, the word that I would hear was exactly what I needed to hear. It was soothing. This is exactly what I needed. I lost my place. Can you believe it? Oh my. That was my favorite one because I would say, if you're close, then you could hear, I can hear you better because you come close to me. Knowing God's word helped me to understand and know God's restorative heart as He was the only one who could restore me through my suffering. Worship music. I wasn't used to having no noise in our home. I wasn't used to this. The quietness was too much for me, so I would play worship music continually. And I would allow its words, its lyrics to simply seep through my heart. It was like a soothing oil that would just wash over me. And what could I have done without the prayers of the people? Literally, during the cancer journey, we would receive texts and emails from all over the world, people assuring us that they were praying, that they were sustaining us, and that they were believing for God's God's healing. I came to a point where I had to solely concentrate on the reality, our reality. My husband and I coined that statement when faith meets reality. Faith says that you will be healed, and the reality says death is imminent. And it's at that point where I had what brought me comfort was knowing that people were praying for us, believing for us on our behalf for his healing. But I want you to know one thing this morning, this afternoon. I did it again. That God heals people. Whether emotionally, physically, what may be, God is in the healing business. And furthermore, my husband did receive his healing. Perhaps not the way I so would have desired initially, but he is now whole, he is now cancer free because he is in the presence of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Yes, he is healed. I had to learn to embrace the newness that each new day brought. Upon Don's departure, my my life took a 100 degree turn. Everything changed. Except for my family and friends, everything changed. Ministry. I was now living back in Canada. I still had not settled into a church because of COVID-19 and then my first year of grief. And I had just moved to a new city. Life as I had known it was no more and would never be again. It was a lot to take in. How does one rebuild a life when everything that stands around in front of me is total blackness or unknown, I should say rather. I had to learn to embrace the now and the newness that each day brings. You take a deep breath, you thrust forward in faith, you push through one day at a time, whether you life you feel like it or not. And more times than done, I didn't feel like it, but I pushed through. I didn't give up. It was not easy, but it was hard work. Does an African proverb? It says, How do you eat an elephant? And you probably have already guessed the answer. My African friends here wave at me. One bite, there you are, one bite at a time. Yes. Because of living on the continent, I had the incredible privilege, my husband and I, and even our children, to be on several, or should I say rather multiple safaris. You've already alluded to that, Pastor Selvin. And yes, name it, we saw it. We saw the big five over and over again. But because that unknown in front of me felt more likely like an elephant, I just thought I would illustrate. They're not Pastor Selvin's, you know, high-quality pictures, but they do the job. And on multiple occasions, whether it was in a boat on the Zambezi River or found ourselves in a Jeep in the bits of a bush, we could hardly reach over and touch those elephants or the animals. I'll forever be grateful for this wonderful experience that we've had. They used to say, when in Africa, do African things, and we certainly took advantage of that. One thing for sure, there's no way that I could have faced my elephant, my unknown future, within my own strength. As I said, I sought God daily and held on for Him for dear life. I held on to the scripture, and actually it's my mom that had sent it to us during the cancer journey, but it became my guide and it became my daily promise. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my loving hand upon you. And I love that. My loving hand upon you. I sought him for guidance in pretty much every aspect of my life because that's all I could do. I didn't know any better. And relying on my own understanding simply was not an option. How comforting to know that he was guiding me, instructing me with his loving hand upon me, one bite at a time, and one day at a time. Remember the puzzle that my husband had shared with me. As mentioned, God did hand us many pieces of that puzzle during the cancer journey, but the puzzle was never finished. And it's about a year and a half ago that God brought back the puzzle in my life. He reminded me that he was not done yet in handing out the pieces, although I was the now the sole recipient, that he had not forgotten me, and that it would keep handing me one piece of the puzzle at a time. God had the whole story laid out, and he was gonna going to reveal it one piece at a time. So as I wait in expectation, I am confident that truly I will see its completion within God's perfect timing and appointed time. Amidst my grief journey, God led me to experience new beginnings, newness in my life. And that's another scripture that became pivotal for me. Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. It now springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. It totally healed me, not instantly, for I'm still walking through that grief journey, even as we speak right now. But it transformed me from that very moment. It was a start time where I needed to start embracing all the newness that was coming my way. It was time to stop mourning my present life or even my former life. Not that I put it to death, I want you to know that, because I am the woman I am today, because of the 40 years that I was married to this wonderful man and the life that we built together. But I could not dwell on this anymore. God was saying, let it go, let it go. Embrace the newness, embrace every peace puzzle that I'm gonna be handing out to you and start living and start rejoicing and be filled with a joy that became so overwhelming. And I think of my mom, this joy that God gave you when you first came to know him. And that's what I want. I want my joy to be contagious. I want the presence of my Lord and Savior to be seen in me and through me because I want to see people change. I want to see people impacted because of what God has done in me and through me, precious people. I remember writing down in my journal, Mid-Grief, I don't understand the wise and all that I face, but I trust you enough to believe that this time is not wasted. It is not an end. It's a redirection into a new beginning, into the life you have planned for me, a life of love, abundance, and favor, as God was not done with me yet. It was at this time period, actually, it'll be soon two years, that I started to attend New Life. It was a time in my life, I was just one year into my grieving journey. I would tell my friends and family, I need happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy. I'm sure I trove them nuts, but I needed happy at this point in my life. And this is when I started attending New Life, and it became my happy place. The only problem is we were meeting only twice a month. It just wasn't enough back then. And ironically, isn't it something that God brought me back full circle in my city of birth, the city when I came to discover Christ as my Lord and Savior? He brought me back to a church located right here. And I get to be part of an incredible family. I was drawn to new life because at that point in my life I had been longing for quite a while for vibrant worship. I had been longing for inspirational word of God that would be shared. I had been longing to be with a community of faith where I could just feel at home, where I could just freely express myself. And perhaps you're here and it's new to you, and you wonder why are people so happy? Why are people waving their hands in the air? Why are people jumping out and up and down? Well, look at my life. I need it happy and happy, and yes, I did jump up and down. Yes, I did wave my arms, and yes, I danced around because God was doing a transforming work in my life. And how else can I just express it and just give him all the praise, give him all the glory? He's such a faithful God. And this was also the place here at New Life where I still don't believe it happened, but I reconnected with so many people who were in our church while we pastored downtown Montreal, and they're now serving in this body. They might have been children, they might have been teenagers back then, but you don't know what it does to me just to see so many of you that are not now involved, and we all get to serve together in this beautiful community. Furthermore, when I need to get my African fix, I go see my South African divas, I call them. Where are they? Are they here today? Wave at me. They're not, they're always here. Maybe it's the Habs game, I doubt it. I don't think Africans do well at hockey. Not sure about that, sorry guys. But how comforting it has been just to be able to get my African fix. Some of them that have lived in the very same city that I have been, have been in countries, I've come from countries that I've had the awesome privilege to travel in and get to know some of their leaders and get to minister in some of their churches alike. And the one that really blew me, and there's time here, and I will share it. I was serving on the prayer team with a gentleman, a Kenyan, his name Jumba. And every time I looked at him, I thought, it was bothering me. I should know that person. And he would do the same when he would look at me and say, I should know you. Can you believe that we had worked with Jumba in Narobi, Kenya, on several occasions? We had preached in his church. Jumba is a humble person, there you are, but I'm just gonna feature you. He was part of a network of churches, just like Nouvelle V. And no word of a lie, they I think those numbers have changed, but back then, about five years ago, they were ministering to at least over a hundred thousand people who attended all of their churches. And Jumba was the pastor of one of those churches where thousands were in his assembly, and we had had the privilege to preach in his church on several occasions and in other sites as well where he had been assisting. Can you believe it? Full circle, right here in Longueuil at New Life. You want to know why it's such a happy place? I get to reconnect with people that we ministered with years ago while we pastored downtown Montreal. I get to reconnect with my African friends. And I just found out before the service, Francois, who serves at the uh a technician at the sound booth, that one blows me over, Lori. He was in our church in Oshawa, Ontario, our very first church at the age of five years old. I mean, this is incredible. Only God could script such a story. So you want to know why, Pastor Selvan? I love my church. There's so points, so many points of connection, because it's been my happy place and continues to be my happy place. Only God could do that. And lastly, it's Mother's Day, and I want to honor my children. What a privilege, and I never would a million years would have thought that I would get to serve in this church with my children. Only God. Amidst deep grief, amidst deep pain, this is what God has done for me. I honor my kids this morning because they've been an inspiration. To me, amidst grief and amidst facing their own challenges, and believe you me, they've had unbelievable challenges that they've had to face. They have chosen to turn their pain into a microphone. So I honor them this morning, this afternoon. And I honor them because they have dared to pick up their mics, not only serve within this church body, but they had set out to impact work colleagues and on church people. And I honor them this morning because they're impacting people and they are not ashamed of the God they serve. And they share Him and they tell people, people that are in pain, they tell them we have the answer. We're gonna pray for you, we're gonna support you, we're gonna stand with you. But you know what has impacted me the most? They're now living out their dad's legacy, and that's what touches my heart the most. You know how? Because they have learned to seek God, and God has been redeeming their loss for his greater good. And the best in that story is that my three grandchildren get to be part of this incredible story. That's why. That's what God does. God restores, God renews, and only God could write such a script. He didn't only do it for me, folks, because we're all called to live out our story for his glory, no matter what. That's just for me. Yes, I've been given the privilege to hold this mic and thank you so much for the opportunity. I told Pastor Selvin a while back, I give you permission to nudge me and to push me. And he's been ever so gentle with it. And I thank you, sir. In fact, you were the first one to hand me a piece of the puzzle over a year ago. Thank you. God used you. Thank you. Until we reach our final goal, which is that of our eternal reward. We're not exempt from suffering, we all know that. And we're gonna face more life challenges. We can choose to wither, wither and die and lose out, or we can choose to flourish in our journey, whether it's pain, whether it's happy moments, joyful moments, whatever it may be, we can choose to flourish by allowing God to have full access into our lives because this is what he does. I'm going to invite you, every one of you, to stand at this moment. And listen to me, we're going to be closing very, very shortly. I want you to know that the hardest season can be your best preparation for the plan, for the purpose, for the destiny that God has chosen you for. I want you to know, and I want you to do it with me right now, with your heart symbolically, to hold up your mic and to say yes to God and to say, no matter what, no matter what my pain may be at this moment, because I know some of you are hurting. I know it, it's a fact, it's life. But choose to hold your mic up today and declare and stake a claim in the ground and say, I will not be defeated. I choose to flourish in my pain. I choose to allow God to manifest himself in me and through me. I choose to be transformed in his presence no matter what, and I choose to flourish. It's a little bit like last week, striking the arrow, isn't it? And it's as if right now God is calling us and asking us to strike that arrow and proclaim that we will flourish no matter what, and we're gonna set out and do the task that He has so asked us and commissioned us to do. I challenge you as you hold your mics, say yes. Say yes, and know that the final act is still to come. The final mic drop is still to come, for there is hope. There's an eternal dwelling that is awaiting every one of us, every one of us who has proclaimed Christ as the Lord and Savior. God has promised eternal life, He has. It's the hope that we have as believers in Christ, and furthermore, listen to this. For those of us who are now walking through grief because of losing a loved one, listen to that, what a promise. Know that we do not grieve like the rest of mankind, the Bible tells us, who have no hope. For there's coming a day, and that keeps me going, trust me. There's coming a day where we're gonna be reunited with our loved ones. Hallelujah! I get to see my dawn again. I'm gonna see him again. It's not gonna be like it was on earth. No, the scripture tells us that we're gonna have resurrected bodies, it will look different, but we're gonna know one another. We're gonna be together, we're gonna be united together in Christ for eternity, and so shall we ever be with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because He is resurrected. Let's strike another arrow. There we go. Because this is what God does. And there's one more promise, one more final act might drop. For those, all of us, because all of us hurt, all of us experience grief no matter what it looks like. But we have this last promise, He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Listen to this: there will be no more death, there will be no more mourning. Hallelujah! I'm gonna be free. There's gonna be no more crying or pain, for the old order of things have passed away. This is what God does. He is so good, he is so sovereign, he's generous, and he loves us with a love that is everlasting, with a love that is eternal.