Hearing God's Voice: Part Three

Peace as Our Guide

How can peace help us recognise the voice and direction of God? In the third message of our Hearing God series, Levi explores how God’s peace can act as a referee in our lives, helping us discern when to move forward, pause, or reconsider our path.

Drawing from Philippians 4 and John 14, Levi reminds us that God’s peace can remain steady even when life feels chaotic. Through personal stories of unusual confirmations, family decisions, and a difficult dental journey with his son, he shows how peace and unrest can invite us to pray, seek wisdom, and pay closer attention to where God may be leading.

Where do you sense peace in your life, and where might God be asking you to pause?

Transcript

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This is our third week now, I think, on a five-week series on hearing the voice of God. Or um, and I sort of certainly want to preface that by just saying that um I'm not preaching to you about this topic as an expert, uh, but someone who like you is on the journey. I've been a Christian for 30 years, and there's just some things that I've learned along the way that I would love to kind of just submit, just offer up to us about this great mysterious and important thing of hearing God's voice. And I think trying to, uh even like uh as a preface, even before hearing his voice, trying to be in his will. Trying to know that what we're doing is what he wants us to do. Um, trying to, you know, understand that the decisions that we make are decisions that he's proud of or happy with or he affirms. Um and so we do that by many, I think, by many different ways. I think having good friends, good counsel around you, I think is really important. Um having the scriptures as a filter with which we'd make decisions in our lives, all of those things are really crucial. But one thing is actually going, okay, beyond those things, Lord, I believe and I want to believe that you can speak to me, that you will speak to me. And so this series is about exploring how God does that. Um I've never heard God's audible voice in my life, not one time. I've never seen, you know, like a cloud image in the sky that's been uh in some, you know, writing that I can understand. I've never walked past the burning bush. But many times thoughts or an impression in my heart, um, I say many, actually, let me rephrase that. I probably think in my life of times where I've been absolutely sure that God has spoken to me clearly, really clearly, is probably less than the digits on my hands. But the amount of times that I've felt that could be God and have then moved and then realized that that was God, many, many times. But still, in all of that journey, you know, there's there's still those moments where you're just trying to figure it out. And so um today I want to talk about peace. And peace being um, you know, we're in the middle of the FIFA um, you know, World Cup at the moment. Peace kind of being um the um the referee, the umpire. You know, with you know, I watch those games, and sometimes those umpires look like they're under the pump. You know, a lot of um, and I love watching different umpires in different sports, you know, and and uh and the way that they condone themselves and you know, the way that they behave. But the soccer umpires, it feels like they are um always so close to being physically touched by the players, you know, and then they're kind of like and then they come here and then the card, and then it's all very, you know, like the whole thing, and there's a lot in the because it's a global game, the the passion from the culture of those nations comes in, and they're just the the refs just getting screamed at the whole time. Whereas you watch uh um, you know, like a rugby game, which is historically like a white-collar private boys' school game, and there's a lot more like a guy gets sent off, and without even, you know, they don't even have a conversation, it's like you're in the bin. Like Reuben Love last night, oh dang it, you know, he goes to the bin, then the other refs like, no, no, actually bring him back on the field, then he comes back on the field, and it's all you know, it's it's it's reasonably respectful. But without the ref, who knows that a game of like um one of my favorite things is watching Christians play sport, you know, because I think that when they hop on that hardwood or that grass, they immediately uh become unchristian, you know, it's like that's it. I've had enough of this faith thing, and then they play the game, and then when they finish they go, okay, Lord, back to being a Christian again, you know. And um, but in in in in sports games, you know, and certainly no names, you know, um, and no recent experiences of that, you know. But as you um the the thing about pickup games or certainly Christian sports is often they're just social and there's no ref. And so now you're just like you just pointing fingers at the other team. We're trying to make up the amount of times we played basketball in my house growing up, and there's no ref. And then so we're all trying to figure out, you know, ball don't lie. And I think that with our lives, I think the Lord brings peace, or I want to talk today about unrest or unease, as the polar opposite um emotion or gift from God, which is peace, a void of peace is unrest or unease, is that is that umpire that God brings. So that when we're going about our life and our actions, when we feel as peace, we can go, oh okay, um, that's an indication that you could be here, Lord. So I actually pause and reflect, is that peace I'm feeling? Is this your Lord? Not sure, but I've got peace, and and that's a good indication. The same process where there's no peace. And where there's no peace, I don't know about you, but I feel unrest. I'm restless. You know, when you when we have a sense of insomnia sometimes at night, you go, okay, Lord, there's no that I'm devoid of peace. I'm devoid of stillness, I'm devoid of calm. We we understand, you know, if there's a story, uh I say we understand, sorry, there's a story in the Bible about Jesus in a storm in a boat and he's asleep. It's one of my favorites, because I really like sleep. And it's I get the sense like it was at night time because everyone else is awake, so I think it was more of a nap, hey, so which I love naps probably even more than sleep. And he was sleeping and there was this storm. And I think that's a great picture of inner stillness amidst external chaos. That for me is such a great picture of peace. And they couldn't believe he was asleep because they were focused on the chaos, the external. But Jesus had it, Jesus was in the chaos with them, but he had internal stillness, he was calm. Um but beyond stillness or calm or meditation or anything that might not be necessarily um something that we would equate to the Lord, the peace of God is from him and given to his people. So I want to talk today about peace. But before I do that, um, there's a couple of things I wanted to say because we've got some birthdays. I wish I had um some mini crunchy bars, but it's Corey's birthday today. And so happy birthday, Corey. Quite a polite golf clap, that was, eh? It's like, yeah, good well done, sir. You know, you've made it. And is it Jess's birthday tomorrow? And so Jess, is Corey's Corey's wife, Jess, is her birthday tomorrow. Yeah. And before we dive in, in fact, Philippians 4, 6 and 7, but before we dive in, I just wanted to say one other thing. Our church is governed by a board. On our board, there are eight people, including Nards and I, who govern um the decisions that our church makes. And primarily the board at this point in the church's journey, because we're still very young, is just making sure that we are doing the things, doing things right legally, doing things right financially, and doing things right with our contracts, employing staff, and you know, like we've signed a 12-month and then a 24-month lease agreement with this building. And so, you know, there's got to be people that are saying, I'm reading those documents to make sure that we are paying the right price, looking after the building. Um, you know, we have health and safety QR codes around the building, which I think we should use more. I'd be happy with you using those more. Like the other week, well, today actually, uh, a car, lovely older woman, reversed into Nikki's car. Does Nikki know this? Yeah, so Nikki knows this. And uh, you know, she does now. And um, little dent at the back. That's a great opportunity for a QR code health and safety that will be that the board will be notified by, and then I have to figure out. And so the board um uh is the key decision-making um body. The board um writes the contracts, employs Nards and I, employs Anna, employs Anna Dixon, um, who Anna Dixon consistently employee of the month. We don't have one of those, but we we kind of do, you know. And what do you mean? Wow. Oh, I think you got it one time, and uh, and uh I've never got it. Um, and so I noticed my timer started again. That's amazing, bro. I appreciate your generosity, man. Josiah, that's it. Just keep feeding me minutes, bro. Um, but I wanted to say today that we have had recently, so on our board has been Jake and Stacy Pine, Aaron and Tammy Bennett, Nards and myself, Ants Arts, who's here today, I think he's in kids, um, and Tim Marshall, who's uh an elder of a church in Auckland. Am I missing anybody? I think that's it. And recently, Jake and Stace have decided to step down from the board. And so I wanted to um today to give you kind of a little snapshot about what that what the board is. And usually board members will stay on a board like ours for about two years. And that two-year window came up, and Jake and Stace were like, hey, it's been great, but we're over it. And I was like, Do you want to come to the next board meeting and we can, you know, celebrate together? And they're like, nah. But I wanted to say I wanted to do a couple of things. I wanted to say a very public, very public thank you to Jake and Stace. Um, Stacy was our very first, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Um Stacy was our very first board member, and Jake then reluctantly came on on the board. He was happy to be a sounding board for me personally, but then after a while he was like, you know what, I think I could add value. And so came on, and I think together with him, Ants, um, Aaron, uh Aaron Bennett in particular, have put together two or three years of really strong budgeting for our church, a really strong financial processes, profit and loss, and some stuff that I think people roll their eyes at. But I'm always so glad that there are people behind closed doors making, you know, stable, good financial decisions. Um, I mentioned this a few times, but we've got a bank account with 10% of our church's donations, which at the moment is between 20 and 30,000, I think, in an account ready for us as a church to decide, which will then be the board's decision once they hear from the church about what to do with that money, and we want to basically give it away to our community. And the board is the people that are saying, yeah, let's make sure we in fact our first meeting that Jake and I had, I was like, here's our budget proposal. What do you think? He's like, it looks good, man. I was like, we want to give 10% of our of our church's donations back to the community. He goes, bro, I love it. I said, but this year I'm forecasting we can't afford it. We can afford 6%. And he said to me, Well, if we're gonna make a decision and be committed to a number, we should do that with our very first budget. And that was like in 2024. And I was like, Yeah, though, that definitely makes sense to me, but it's gonna be really hard. And he looks at me, he goes, Well, we've got to squeeze the other lines to make sure that we're living living principled. And um, and that's the kind of board member Jake and Stacy have been, board members they've been. And so I wanted to um publicly thank you, um, really honour you, um, and then say that the process for moving forward will be that what we will do as a board is we will probably shoulder tap a few people who we think would be great board members, and once they've prayerfully considered that process, we will then present them to you. Well, at least two people to replace these two, or who are irreplaceable, by the way. And we will give the church three weeks to like we'll present that person to you, probably in like a really cool photo of them, you know, from LinkedIn or something, you know? And that will give you a chance to offer any feedback to the existing board about that person. You might have no issues, but if you're like, man, they really selected this guy, crazy. It was his birthday Matadiki weekend, he'd be the worst, you know. And you'd actually be great. He'd actually be great. And then you'll have three weeks as a church to pray and discern that, talk with the existing board. If there are no issues, then we will then formally bring that person on or those two people on. Yeah, it's kind of bro. Kind of board chatter, you know. Um, how did I go from 20 to 8 minutes? That's what I want to know. Did that just take 12 minutes? Did it really? Jake and stay. Is there anything? I know you don't want to say anything, but is there anything you want to say? Or anything you'd anything you'd like to now that you've got a chance? Yeah, everywhere. Yeah, thanks, bro. Yeah, I love and appreciate you, bro. One more time. Yeah, please for these guys. Yeah, thank you. Philippians 4, 6 and 7 say this do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And note this the peace of God, which I love this, which transcends understanding. I think that's a wonderful little throwaway from the writer of Philippines like that. Sometimes your brain won't understand what the Lord drops in your heart. Amen. And the peace of God that transcends understanding will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus. Present your requests to God, and when we present them to God, the peace of God which transcends understandings, it will guide your heart. Don't be anxious about anything. But in everything, prayer and petition, we offer up the request to the Lord, and the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. And Phil Taylor had a verse for us before the service, and it was just right on the money. This is Jesus, this is John 14, 27. Sorry, late addition to our sermon today. Peace I leave with you, Jesus says. Peace, I love this, I give to you. Sorry, he says, My peace I give to you. I do not give it to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. Peace I leave with you, and he says, My peace I give to you. I do not give it to you as the world gives. I think that's great. And his point to me said, Levi, it's just so great that the peace that the world gives can sometimes be a counterfeit peace. You know, it can be just like if it feels like peace. You could be on the beach and feel a sense of peace, but in your heart you might be turbulent. Or if we place our our peace in politicians, leaders, or uh, or whomever, um, we think that that peace is then dictated to by their decisions. But regardless of what's happening out there, if we have the peace of God in our hearts, we can truly be at peace because Jesus has given us his peace. A few weeks ago, just to circle back, we um we talked about a few things. We said that God wants to and always is speaking to us. That God, God is constantly talking and offering us an opportunity to hear his voice, but we are the people that need to be listening. That relationship, I certainly believe, is the foundation, and the our relationship with God is certainly, I believe, a long process. Um, although, in saying that, the scriptures do teach us often about having a childlike faith. I don't know if you've ever been in an environment where kids are allowed to express hearing and discerning things from God and how precious it truly is. Like when you get a um and addiction's like this, she'll like just get a group of kids and be like, okay, we can hear from God. And I love kids, the childlike faith. They go, Woo-hoo! And then they ask some tough questions, and then you kind of navigate those, and then they just kind of go, Well, let's do it. You know, let's see what he says. And then someone's like, I think he's saying, he loves me, and it's just like, woo-hoo, you know. And then I think unicorns are amazing, you know. Yes, then that one doesn't make the board, you know what I mean? Like, but it's amazing when and when kids are like, you know, you can, someone's sick here, we can pray and they can be healed, and kids do not hesitate. So whilst I think relationship is a long process, I say I think faith, faith is given. There's eternity, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 5, set in the hearts of every man. God's voice, I believe, is an impression rather than an audible sound. It's an awareness, I think, of the will of God. It's an inner witness, a breezed idea, a penny drop, a spark of knowledge. Um, Nads um will will, as my wife, wink, nod, nudge, you know, micro body language that communicates so much in such a small moment. Mark Ewen, who preached a few weeks ago, said this. He said, He's a God of few words, and I found that to be true. That he tends to just show us to the next corner. That he's in our head, he reveals himself in our thoughts, that we're interested in signs and knowing things from Nostradamus, see his oracles, crystal balls, clairvoyance, palm reading, tarot cards. Um, we wanna we wanna find things out that we can't see in our natural world, and so we've created ways and avenues where we can try and appease that desire. Gideon last week we talked about him laying out a fleece. He laid out a sheepskin fleece before the Lord and said, Lord, I think I've heard from you, but I just want to just double check that was you. If I wake up and the fleece is wet and the ground is dry, I'll believe that's you. And then that happened. And then he said, Okay, just to just double check, Lord, that that's you, I'm gonna do the same thing again. And if I wake up in the morning and and the and the fleece is dry, but the ground is wet, then I'll know that's you. It's just so backwards, isn't it? And I love that this this what man of God in the scriptures, maybe the prime minister of God's people at that time, a judge, was certainly heard from God and then double-checked twice. I that's really important for us because it uh I I think it's important that we understand that hearing from God is not a science that people have um proven and synthesized and we can buy online. Some televangelists might disagree with that, you know. But I do have some of some oil from Israel which you can buy for a thousand dollars for a prophecy if you'd like, you know. Sorry. Um the inner cynic comes out every now and then. I try to hold him down, but he's there, you know. He double checked twice to be sure that God had spoken to him. Um I spoke uh last week about the house, the house that we just bought, and there was this vacuum cleaner in the house, and the vacuum cleaner was the same vacuum cleaner that Nadia had prayed for and bought and then broke when we bought it over because of the conversion of the voltage 120 to 240, and she was really sad. And then that same vacuum cleaner was at the house, the house that we just bought. There was another thing that happened that I didn't tell you about. I I actually wish I brought it with me. I might I might I'll do that another time. But we were at the house, we had bought the house, and we were renovating the house. This is about three weeks ago, and I opened the letterbox for the first time. I really like a good letterbox, a good sizable, hearty letterbox, and we have one. It's not too big, not too small, but solid. Plastic's probably the only thing I don't like about it, but it's waterproof, it's good, you know, it's got a little red flag on the side, like it's solid. And good, solid, clear numbers, I think those are key. Because you don't want Uber drivers and all of those people, courage deliveries, like, oh, we didn't know it was, and then it goes to your neighbor's house. You don't want that stuff, you want clear numbers. So we've got good clear numbers. And I open up that letterbox for the first time, and there was all of these. What had happened was it looked like confetti, but um snails, there were snails in the letterbox. Ten, ten snails in my letterbox, and they had eaten all of the mail. And so there was all this mail, it looked like it'd been um hole punched. And so there was all this, um, so then once the snail, I think, eats the paper or digests it in some way or slimes it, then it's like becomes slimy confetti. But then it was all dry, so it was like little popcorn, little paper popcorn, snaily pally popcorn, you know. And then I pulled out all these things, like IID, you know, the old people who used to live there, you know, I was like, you know. And then I found this little this letter. So the snail, I think, had eaten all of the envelope, the top, the bottom, and the sides of the letter, and all that was left. When you were in primary school, or did you ever make a pirate's like treasure map, you know, and you burn the sides and dunk it in tea so it was all faded and stuff, like yarr, the the X, you know, it's like that. And it was all so I could see, you could see hardly anything. And on all I could make out was, and I'm paraphrasing, but it said, Um, could you please call us? We would love to buy your house. Thanks so much, and then it had a phone number, but it was all munched. I could I could and I've shown and I have witnesses who are in the room. I showed them the paper, which I hand on the Bible didn't make myself, you know. I'm not some, you know, like creepy guy making, you know, paper snail paper. And so then I go, that's crazy. That's so strange. And why would you share that? But in my head, I was like, yo, how good's God that He used creation to destroy someone else's plan to buy this house. I want to hit him up one day and be like, yo, where are those snails, man? Well, I know where they are. I put them in the garden because they'll otherwise they're ruined my mouth. There's there's you get these little things that happen in your life, and then you go, cool, okay, I've got a reference point for that thing, and I feel I feel good about it, and then something else happens. And you can line them up, and I think as we do that in our life with decision making, we can see God at work. If I had just gone over it like found the thing, but with all these other little things, they kind of create a narrative. We're looking for a guide, though. I think that's what that's what we're here today. That's what I want to share with us. We're looking, we're looking for a guide. And it can't be the pastor of the church. I met with someone the other day, they're like, Levi, we're we're so stoked about Hearing From God series because we're watching this um religious cult um Netflix series, you know. There's how good are those? Terrible, but you know, amazing. And uh it's like mur it's like those murderer ones, so bad, eh? Oh, I love them. You know what I mean? Like, these are terrible. Why are we watching this? Don't know, I can't stop. You know what I mean? And and they were like, they're like in this cult, the whole cult believes that this one person is the only person that can hear from God, and everyone else has to report to that person, and then the whole thing is manipulative and horrible. And that's so cool that in our church and in our faith, we believe that every single one of us has the opportunity to hear from God in our own lives if we would just create some space and take the time to hear what he has to say to us. So we're looking for a guide, and I believe that peace, peace is our guide. I think it's our best guide. Philippians again says this, and the peace of God that transcends understanding will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Sometimes God, coming back to our analogy about Jesus in the storm, sometimes God will change the external circumstances that you're going through, but more often than not, he will first change us in that situation. We want God to change the circumstances though, don't we? I don't know about you, but I think I don't need changing. I'm solid. And then there are these external circumstances that I want him to change. And they're often other people. And so, you know, and so Lord, change them. They're the worst, you know. And then he's like, mmm, could do, you know. And you know, and so that's me there, and I'm God, you know. And this and but uh, you know, not me, no, but he's there, and I'm there. He's he's over there. I'm I'm the Lord. And then he'll be like, change that person, and then he'll go, mmm, crazy, and then and then he'll go like this. And then I'll be like, what are you looking at? And he'll keep looking, just gently, because God, God, I think, is in the process of changing us rather than our circumstance. The peace of God isn't simply peace with God. I'll come to that at the end. But it's the peace of God, it's his own peace. The peace that Jesus possessed while sleeping in the storm, the peace that belongs to God is shared with his children. Colossians 3.15 says, and let the peace of God, it says this, let it rule in your heart. Ownership, let it let it be the governor of your heart. Let it be the thing that you look to can be proud of. Psalms 85, verse 8, in the New Living Translation says, I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for he, note this, he speaks peace. So he's the God of peace. He wants peace to rule in our hearts, but he speaks peace to his faithful people. Isaiah 9, verse 5 says his name will be and lists a number of names, and one of those is the Prince of Peace. That it's not necessarily peace, a state of quietness in the environment, but a state of quietness within. You could be in the middle of a complicated situation with really complex angles and things happening, whether it's whether you're a teenager in school going through challenges with others and having some trouble with grades, or there's some bullying going on, or friendship groups you're getting squeezed out of, or in your in your career or at work or at home in your family, whatever it might be. Um, but there's there can be in those times an inner sense of quietness, an inner sense of peace. And I believe that that's the peace of God. Or on the other hand, things might look good in your life, but you have a sense of unease deep in your heart. And that peace or a lack of peace, which I think is unease or unrest or restlessness, can be guides for us about our decision making in our life. You don't know what could be responsible for a sudden lack of peace. Sometimes you sort of feel like, where did that come from? But you can't deny that the lack of peace transpired immediately once you made a decision. That it could be, and I think this is where it's important that you hear my language today, this afternoon, it could be God telling you that you just made the wrong decision. It could be. I would not be instructive with you from the pulpit. Mark Ewan again said he's a God of few words. He tends to just show us the next corner. The peace of God is the best guide, but unease can be the absence of peace and is an exceptional guide as well. Have you ever experienced peace? Have you ever experienced what we what you believe to be the peace of God? If you've faced a difficult scenario, you're uncertain, it's messy, but there's an inner calm, a settled confidence, a quiet assurance. Nothing outside has changed, but something inside has changed. And that is often how the Lord leads his people. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will use peace as a prompt for you to pause, seek wisdom, and confirm and for him to confirm our path. If I was to use my snaily paper analogy, on the one hand, what a diabolical example. What in the heck kind of preaching is this? What kind of theology is this slimy snail garbage? But I already had peace and that peace was confirmation. And what I loved about it was that I don't know when they put the letter in the mailbox and when the snails, on behalf of me and the Lord, ate the paper and the invitation for the house to be bought by somebody else. I don't know. But all I know is that if you've seen a snail at work, it must have been some time ago. But if I made a decision based on the snaily paper, you would go to another church. But if it was decision after decision after decision and with peace, and then I think the snaily paper might just be confirmation of all the things that he's been doing, then maybe he's dad our church. He prompts us to pause, I think, though, when we have peace and seek wisdom. That if you're about to make a decision and you feel peace, let that peace be something that you go, cool, thank you, Lord. I've got peace. I'm not going to step out of this scenario and just make sure. I'm just going to just check in, Lord. It feels like I've got peace, or does it just feel like peace? You check in with the spouse, checking with your friend, checking with good counsel, checking with the scriptures, feels like peace. The exact same thing can happen as we pause and reflect if we don't have it. Perhaps you've experienced that unease. You make a decision. Something looks right on paper, but everything, everything says it's a great opportunity, but deep inside there's an unease, a lack of rest. You can't quite explain it. That doesn't automatically mean that you've made the wrong decision, but it's worth, note this, it's worth paying attention to. It's worth taking it back to God in prayer. Sometimes the Holy Spirit will use the lack of peace to prompt us to pause, seek wisdom, and reconsider our path. I think that peace might confirm our path, and I think unrest might cause us to reconsider our path. Here are some anecdotes in my life. I uh I've got a bunch that I think I've already shared before, but I'll jump to the uh recent example where I felt like as a family we went from unrest to peace, and I believe that the Lord guided us there. Um, one thing about I don't know if you watch uh movies or television, especially if you watch movies television from overseas, most of us are fed, you know, um propaganda from America, and so we get a lot of American and um Canadian television and movies. And I think that's fine, I think that's great, you know. And but if you've noticed, if you've noticed, a lot of them have great teeth. Excellent teeth. And one of the reasons why these Americans, these North Americans, these Canadians have great teeth is because having lived in Canada, I found that they had great dental um systems. Dental was a part of is a part of health care. And so I had a job like um like very similar to the one that I have here, and my job, which I don't get in New Zealand, which I might talk with the board about, is you get a salary, and Dana can finish the sentence, and benefits. Your salary and benefits. And in those benefits, me and my family, including my kids, were able to have $500 per year based on the tear that I was at of um physio, massage therapy, um, man, stuff we didn't even use. There's like six categories of things. And one of the things that you got because of your benefits was 80% of your dental paid for. Salary and benefits. And so you would go to the dentist and get all kinds of whatever work done. But it wasn't just like so for us as New Zealanders, like, woohoo! You know, like basically free dental care was amazing. But if that was a part of your culture from the moment you're born, you end up having generations of great teeth. Because we don't have that in New Zealand, I think that's why we don't necessarily, you know, um have excellent teeth, you know. Um and I'm sorry. No, it's not I well, I'm not sorry, actually. You know, I didn't make the decisions. I just, you know, so that's not something you should talk to me about. Um talk to the the Lord or politicians or dentists, you know, whatever. Do your thing with that information. One challenge I found while we were there was that they didn't have great bedside manner like New Zealand dentists do and and dental hygienists, dental nurses. The New Zealand, they're elite. But I forgot about that because it'd been a long time since I was at school. And we would take Hugo as one of our kids to get you know dental, and he just he hated it. As a parent with kids, you understand, he hated it. Kicking and screaming. I remember one time they had a little scalpel thing that they oh, they know the little pokey thing, and they scratch his thing, he's bleeding, and it's just like, oh, this is the worst. And they were just like allergic to putting him under. I was kind of like, well, you put him to sleep, you know what I mean? Like, or I could bring him to sleep, you know, and like you do your thing. And they're like, oh, you know, not really kind of thing, not kosher. I was like, okay, well, whatever. And it went on visit after visit, year after year. We were there for five and a half years, and Hugo did not have one good dental experience. And and that's and that that's life, hey. That's just that just happens. We've all either had a bad one or had family, friends, had kids, and we understand what that's like. And so I'm like, oh, well, it's our lot in life. But the other three kids, no big dramas. We come to New Zealand, and now there's a deep unrest in our family about Hugo and his teeth journey. You know, it's like, Lord, we need a breakthrough. And I mentioned a few weeks ago about what school we send our kids to and we live, we actually zone for Omanu. And I was like talking with the Pines, I talked with Lex and Holly and a few other people, like, man, we've zoned for Omanu, and that is like, nah, bro, ATK all day. And the conviction with which they said that, I was like, okay, cool. Then I was like, hey, can we come, can we bring our kids to Autatuck? They're like, yeah, 100%. Go to Autatuki. Then Hugo gets a letter in the mail to go to the dentist. So I ring, I'm like, can I come? Can I be there? Like, is it possible that I could just hang around with him as that kosher? They're like, yes, we prefer that. I was like, yeah. Take a half a day off work, go and hang out with Hugo, and we walk in and at Aituke School, classic dental primary school scenario. Classic. You could picture it in your mind, even if you've never been to that school. You go up the little ramp, through the thing, sit down, talk with the lady, and they got three little rooms, you know? And we walk in and then I meet Pat. Yo. Pat? Pat, if you Pat, if you ever hear this, Pat, if you ever hear this podcast, Pat, just know that you might be an angel, Pat. Pat, she was a woman more mature in years than myself. And I walk in, and she was just the queen of the dental hygienists. And she made him feel like it was just a regular day. Hey, Hugo, come grab a seat. How are you going? Buddy, this is what we're gonna do. And she talked him through the whole thing. These are the tools I'm gonna use. These are the sounds that it might make. Well, that's your bed going up and down. Yep, grab a seat. Cool. This light, you get to wear these crazy glasses. And she's just immaculate. And she looks at me while she's doing the uh doing the little doing her little thing, doing the service of his teeth, little waff, and she's like looking at me like he needs work. While she, you know, but she's saying that with her eyes. And I'm like, and I'm with her eyes backed, like, I know. And he's hanging out. And then she says, cool, Hugo, oh, that was amazing. Well done. Hey, what we're gonna do, we're gonna refer you. And I'm like, no, don't refer him, because Pat, you're the answer to our prayers, Pat. Pat, do you have a private practice that you're referring him to? Because if that's the case, we're in. And she goes, No, I'm gonna refer him to Dental Associates Papa Moor. Yulia, if you ever hear this podcast, Yulia, you might be an angel, Yulia, because what happened was we went from unrest, then we had Pat. Then we had peace, then we were unrest again. Because we couldn't see Pat anymore because his teeth were so bad. Sorry, Hugo. Then we met Yulia from Dental Associates Papamuor. Holy, she must be Pat's daughter. Yulia, that's a Romanian name, and Nadia's name was also Romanian. Another, another slimy snail trail, isn't there, right? You know, you're like, oh Lord. Meet Yulia, immediate peace. She looks and with her eyes she says to me, his teeth are bad. And with my eyes I say, I know. And then with her eyes, and then she says, Hugo, this is well done. Amazing, buddy, cool. Hey, we're gonna refer you. No. Roller coaster, man. So Pat was already the answer, and my peace levels through the roof. And then she refer, then unease, unrest, and then Yulia, and then referral. Then we met Katie. Katie, if you ever hear this podcast, Katie, you're the best. Love you so much. You're an angel. Katie's in Hamilton. So he has to go to the Ycut or Bay of Plenty referral thing, and we we meet Katie and we're unease again. Thank you, bro. And I'm thinking, um I need help to wrap it up, bro. Let's land this plane together, my man. Then we're going to meet Katie. We're going to meet Katie. The best. She says, Levi, this is the plan. Hugo, this is what we're going to do. She says, I'm going to remove all of his baby teeth. 12 of them. They're going to give all of his adult teeth a chance to come through. He's going to have a great set of teeth. And this is what's happened. And this is what's gone on. And yada yada yada. And she says something. And I looked at her, I said, Katie, Nads and I sitting there, like, if it was your son, what would you do? And she's like, Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, no. You know, like when you talk with the professional who's really good at something, and that is like, yeah, another day's work. But for you, it's like your child's mouth. You know, and this horrific journey over many, many years. She goes, Yeah, no problem. We'll put them under, I'll remove them. And he's and Hugo's like, because he's met these great dentists, and I just feel like the Lord has just been guiding us. And we're feeling good about it. And we feel good about these people. And he's got something bubbling up, which for the first time when it comes to his dental care is not fear. And we go, okay, let's do it. So we come back from the refuel, then we I drive with Hugo. We go and we sit there. She takes him, and I'm like walking with him right till the last minute. And it's dental care, man. But like, hey, for a dad, a parent next to their kid who's going under with the with the gas, I'm just like, I'm trying to be strong, you know. And I am strong. I'm a strong man, you know. Just trying to be myself. He drifts off. She takes him. I go back to the room that we're in. I pull up my and I'm like kind of get myself together, get a glass of water, whatever, shake it off. It's because I'm going through, you know, like I'm getting teeth removed, you know. And I'm sitting there and I open my laptop to start working. And a member of the team comes in, hey Levi, she's all finished. Hugo's in another room. Why don't you come through so he you're there when he wakes up? I check my watch. Man, maybe 20 minutes to remove 14 teeth. I come through and she says, Levi, he did great. You know, it was so easy too, Levi. They were ready to come out like this. He's ready to, his, his whole mouth was ready to transition. Like this is just easy money. In fact, do you want them? I was like, you know I want those teeth. She goes, here they are, and these little these little things. I was like, Yes. Because I knew he would be keen ass to look at them later. Go in, and there he is, man. But like a drug-induced sleep, you know what I mean? Like, you know, it's a different one, eh? It's like, because he's quite a cute sleeper, but no, he wasn't that day. And I was like, and I'm there when he wakes up, and he's kind of groggy, and he knows everything's all different. And Katie's like, hey, thanks so much. And and uh, he was excellent and well done and cool. And it was like one of those moments where we these people come into your life. Man, I don't know if these people are believers, but that's not the point. Because the Lord will use any instrument, any tool that he can find to bring about his will in your life. And if we would stop trying so hard to find it, that if we would just allow, Lord, I humbly submit my prayers to you. I believe that you will give me peace and that you will guide me, and that let that unrest and that unease be for you a sign or a sense that maybe he's not that way, but that in any moment he can just bring his peace into your life. And so Hugo woke up and I was like, How you feeling? And he's like, Have you seen those YouTube videos of kids who've um come out of um you know dental comas? That was the bro, he was just not, you know. And then we get in the car after we've just like they gotta hang around for a bit, whatever. And we get in the car, and then he's in the back seat, and he's like, and I was like, the middle of Hamilton open the door, and then just like you know, delivered the goods, and then all his colour returned. You know, he's happy as, hungry as go bought him some Lego, and his life has genuinely been changed from that experience with Katie. His life will never be the same, and I like to say that as a parent, as parents, that we, you know, did our best to facilitate, but I know that the Lord had his hand. This is our third week of our Hearing from God series. And uh this is really nice that there are people at church because it's the middle week of the school holidays and it's a long weekend. I thought no one would be here, uh, which is fine, you know. And so you're here, that's great. I'm glad you're here because I want to let you know that next week and the week after, I would like to just give us a chance to try and implement some of this stuff together. Not just midweek, because I do believe people have been doing that because I've been hearing stories and it's been it's been moving me deeply. But I want to be able to, in our in a church gathering, like just give you a chance to hear from the Lord. And so if you'd be prayerful with me coming into next Sunday and the and the Sunday following, I'll preach shorter and I'll just want to give people a chance to just say, okay, I've been looking and find in and I think um partnership, friendship, I think is key. Um anytime I talk with the boys who go to the gym regularly on a daily basis, they often they'll every single time we'll talk about who they go with, every time, every single time. And I think hearing from the Lord and being a part of communities like that. And we and I want you to just get with, you know, not a stranger, although if that happens, man, that the Lord's at work, but get with people and say, I've been praying for this. And I really want to hear from God, or I'm really hoping that he'll speak to me and actually give him a chance to speak to us in a safe corporate space. And we might take 15, 20 minutes next week and the week after to actually implement. Because I think there's no point in talking about prayer. There's no point in talking about hearing his voice if we aren't being bold to just give him a chance to speak. So I guess this week, and saying all of that, I'll wrap up. Uh I think if I had a prayer for us, it would be that you might take my snail letter story and see if the Lord is not doing that with you. That there isn't some quirky doffy as just so crooked, just the weirdest thing, that's perfectly for you. Because he will speak in your language, and I believe that with all my heart. And then the second thing is that I wonder if this week you'll identify in your life where there's unrest, like what we had with Hugo, and just allow the Lord to just find peace for you. Allow the Lord to find an answer. That fear, unrest, confusion, anxiety, they are not tools that God will use in our life primarily. He'll use peace, but where there is no peace and you feel those things, those can be levers that he'll encourage us with to realize that we don't have what he wants for us, and that we might look for it. So let's pray for that. Thank you, Lord. Father, we we uh there's been a sense of you at work today and you're speaking to your people, and Father, I'm praying that as a as a people that we would have a posture where we would just be leaning in, Lord. What are you saying? Where are you at work? Um who are you bringing into our lives? For us with Hugo, it was Pat. It was Julia, it was Katie. And they were embodiments of your blessing and you moving our family forward. And our son has never been the same since that day where it was clearly causing him pain. There was there was discomfort in his mouth, and Lord, you brought him through that Red Sea. Father, I'm praying that in our church, as we lean in to hear you, that we would find you, and that peace would be that guide. I'm praying this week for business decisions. I'm praying for people at work with difficult conversations. I'm praying for our parents at home with young kids. I'm praying for our teenagers in high school, for our young adults at work, at university, for singles, for married, for all of us going through the just unique challenges in our own lives, that you would use the unrest to help us realize that we don't have peace. And that we would go to find it, Lord. We would, we would, we would sniff it out, we would believe that you would bring it. That you offer us freely, Lord, the the peace of God. And that we would be people that would be hungry for it. We pray that in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Love you all. Stay around for a cuppa. We'll see you next week.