Wow, thank you so much for that warm welcome. It's a little nerve-wracking coming out here with all the lights, but uh it sure makes it feel a lot easier knowing that there are some wonderful faces out there, and I'm so glad that you're here. I have been incredibly prayerful over our time together today and um overjoyed, overjoyed and thankful for this opportunity. So thank you so much for having me. Um let me just tell you a little bit about myself. So I've been here in Atlanta since 1998. I love Atlanta, it is my home. I'm so happy to be here. I am married to my best friend, Tab, and we are both in education. We've been we're teachers, and my husband also coaches pretty much year-round. He's gone a lot. And I'm actually coming to realize that maybe him being gone all the time is why we get along so well. And you know what? I said in that in the nine o'clock service, and I told them I wasn't gonna say it now because he's here. I love you, I'm so sorry. Oh my goodness gracious. Okay, we have two girls. Rachel is six years old, and Lila just turned two on Christmas. It's such a joy and a pleasure to be their parents. Um I um did I tell you I was excited to be here? I am. In fact, the last time that I can remember being this excited was last summer when I went on a water slide. And I I know, right? You're like, did she mean to say that? Is she insulting us right now? If you only knew what a defining moment that was for me. I let me just tell you about it, okay? So I have had this fear pretty much my whole life of water. And I it's been a real fear, I mean, for real. And I don't understand where it came from. It's not like I had some horrific event happen in my life that just scarred me forever. But it's just always kind of been there. And it's weird because I love adventure. I love thrill rides. I mean, I go down any roller coaster or fear factor ride. I mean, sign me up. I'm all about it. Uh but water, it just does something physically to me. When Tab and I first started dating, I told him that if he was gonna do any of the things that I saw guys doing when they were flirting with their girlfriends, of like running up behind them when they weren't expecting in the pool and just putting their arms around them and diving into the water and then pushing their head down, it was gonna be over. His life, his life was gonna be over. And we'd been on a couple of vacations together where we were around water, and he Tab is a fish. He loves the water. And so we'd be on a trip and it'd be like talking about what do you want to do today? And he's like, let's go snorkeling. Woohoo! And so every time the story played out exactly the same, we would get into the boat and everybody would file in, and everybody's like all high energy, excited to go jump in the deep end. And I am looking for the snorkeling guide. And as soon as I spot him, every single time, I just start making my way. And sit next to him, like almost laying my head on his shoulder the whole time. And then the boat would stop, and everybody would jump out, and I'd be standing there like this. I'm not kidding. And and the snorkeling guy would say, You know, you can jump in now. And I'd say, Well, you know what? Can you um would you mind just lifting me down with my life vest over the side? And they did, they would do that and not laugh. And and and I would look around, look back up at them and say, Could you please come and swim in here with me? And and they would, and I'd be like wrapping my body around them. Meanwhile, Tab is over here petting the sharks and naming them one by one. And I'm like sucking my thumb, hoping for this to be over already. It was just a real fear. So you can imagine the story that unfolded last summer when we went to the pool with some friends, and my girlfriend Alyssa points at this monstrosity of a water slide over in the corner. And she's like, Hey, Elan, let's get on the slide. And I literally, at that point, nobody knew about my fear except for Tab. And it's kind of embarrassing. I don't even know why I just told you about my fear, but there you go. I guess if you can't say it in a church where you you have no hope, right? So I was sitting there coming up with some kind of lie to tell Alyssa, so I didn't have to tell her that I was afraid, and sitting here thinking, I just ate. And I have to wait for 30 minutes? I mean, is that even true anymore, by the way? And then I'm like, okay, that didn't work. So I look at my daughter and I'm like, she's tired. What kid is tired at the pool? So Alyssa finally calls me on, she's like, What gives, Deland? Why don't you want to go down the slide? Are you scared? And I was like, Okay. Yes, I am. And it's real. And so, like any good friend, she looked me in the eyes and she said, You're going down that slide. You're gonna do it, and I'm gonna be there with you. And I said, Alyssa, no, I I can't. You don't understand. This is a real fear. I can't do it. Alyssa, I am not. I'm not going down the slide. And in that moment, I looked over to the side, and my six-year-old Rachel had been watching and listening to everything that we were saying. And see, at that point in her development, she was feeling kind of timid about things. And so Tab and I were working really diligently to kind of just encourage her along, to try new experiences, but but not pressure her. And in that moment, I knew my daughter is way more important than my fear of water. So I reached my hand out to Alyssa, and she grabbed hold, and we started walking arm in arm to the other side of the pool. And I'll tell you what, I mean, this slide, it was like 50 feet tall. And I don't know if that's tall, but it's tall. And they were like staircase, like a staircase that went like this, all the way to the top. And it was a tunnel slide. So then it's all dark. Great. And twisting and turving, I mean, I it just it was terrible. And I'm telling you, a physical reaction started happening to me as we were walking up. My breath got shallow. I started feeling lightheaded, like I might be sick. And we're walking towards the stairs, and I'm like, hold on just a second, Alyssa, I gotta watch some people come out of this thing alive. And so I'm standing there and I'm watching, and these people were coming out, but they weren't just like kerplunking right there into the water. No, no. They were like skimming the surface, flying out. So I'm standing there watching and waiting for the most vulnerable looking person to come out. And I spot a six or seven-year-old little boy, and he comes bolting out of this thing. He swims up, and I kneel down. The little fella's climbing up the ladder, and I'm like, hey kid, is that thing scary? He kind of stops for a minute, he looks down, looks back up. Yeah, and I'm going to do it again. Woohoo! And he just runs right back and gets in line. And so I turn around and start heading back to my chair on the other side of the pool. But I look, and in the middle of the pool, my daughter, Rachel, had made her way, and she was watching to see what I was gonna do next. So I turn back around and we climbed the stairs. And as we got to the top, I looked at it, listen, I was like, I'm about to have an anxiety attack. You know, that feeling? Everything starts to close in, and there's like all these spots, and you can't breathe, and you just want it to end. And it was my turn to sit down on the slide, and I was like looking for any hope, any way out. And I turn behind me, and and and I was hoping that maybe somebody had been watching this whole thing happen, and they would be like, You can do it, you can do it. No, they were like, hurry up and go. And then I look over at Alyssa and she's like, Oh, you're going. And I look out, and there's there's Rachel, she's waiting. So, in a last ditch effort, I look over at the lifeguard. He's a teenage guy, and I remember it. My brow was all furrowed up, I could feel my face was red, and I was just sweating and nervous, and I wanted a way out. And I just looked at him and I'm like, I'm scared. To which he replied, Oh, it's only super dangerous, you might die, but I mean, no big deal. I am a Christian woman, but I about dropped the hammer on him. Mm-hmm. I knew in that moment it was do or die. Or maybe it was do and die, but I had to do it. So I did what I thought I was supposed to do. I sit on the slide and I cross my arms, I take a breath, I plug my nose. Clearly, it had been my first time because who holds their nose before they've even gone down the slide? I held my breath the whole way down. And by the time I got to the bottom, I needed more air. And so I'm coming out literally of the slide and sucking in more air, and I go down under the water, all this water goes up my nose, but I shoot up and my arms go up. Woo! I had done it, and you know what? Everybody stopped. Because this woman had just screamed like she had done some big thing. But you know what? I had. I had done some big thing. And I look up at my friend Alyssa, and she's looking down from the top of the slide. Way to go, E! And there in the middle of the pool, there's my girl, and she's got her arms up. Way to go, mommy! And I had done it. This fear that had followed me around my whole life, I had overcome it and it was empowering. I don't know what your water slide is, but I'm willing to bet you have one. And God knows what it is. And today we're gonna be talking about anxiety, not just what it looks like and feels like, but what we can do about it. And so before we get started, if you would just join me as we welcome God into this place. Precious Heavenly Father, God, thank you so much. Thank you for being here when we call on you, that your Holy Spirit would just be here. And that's what I ask right now, Lord. I just pray, God, that your Holy Spirit would dwell here in among every single one of us. God, that you would just speak specifically to the situations represented in this room today, God, and that you would let us all be reminded that you are here, that you have gone before us, that you will be with us at all times forever and ever. And God, I just pray that you would just move past this humble speaker and use me as you need to, God. That you would just make me a vessel for your Holy Spirit to just dwell. Just give us encouragement. And I pray, Lord, that everything that I say would be glorifying to you. It's in Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Thank you. So I told you I was a school teacher. Uh, one of the things that I do before I teach a lesson is I make sure we're all on the same page. Um, so if we're talking about anxiety, I just want to make sure that we all have the same understanding of exactly what it is. So I looked at the definition of anxiety, and this is what it says Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent, so impending or near event or something with an uncertain outcome. And so I'd ask right now if you would be so bold. If you've ever struggled with any kind of anxiety in your life, or you do currently, can you just raise your hand for me? All right, thank you. Thank you. Okay, so if you were one of the people who didn't raise your hand, some people are like, Me, I'm over here. Um, if you aren't sure if that's something that resonates with you, then I looked up some synonyms. Because I think a lot of times we we don't call it, we call it anxiety and we think that that's not what we have. Um so I looked up synonyms. Tell me if you think any of these things resonate with you. Worry, concern, apprehension, unease, fear, agitation, angst, nervousness, tension, stress, jitters, butterflies, and in case none of those resonate, the heebie-jeebies. It really is in the dictionary, I'm not kidding. Um, so if any of those things are anything, or any of those words are anything that resonate with you, can you raise your hand again? Can you keep up your hand for just a second? Okay, and just take a look around. I just want you to look around and I want you to see that you are not alone, that we are not alone. So often we walk around in our lives thinking that we have to pretend everything is okay all the time. Yeah, everything's great. Marriage is great, my kids obey, I love my job, I feel fulfilled. In reality, we're just twisted up in knots. We don't have to pretend everything's okay all the time. In fact, it only hurts us. If I had not been transparent with Alyssa and even my daughter, they wouldn't have had the opportunity to lift me up and encourage and support me to overcome my fear. So be encouraged today that what you're facing, you're not alone. I don't know what it is that has you worried. I don't know what keeps you up at night. Think about what is it that keeps you up at night? What is the thing that's causing you anxiety? You know, maybe, maybe your marriage is really struggling right now. Maybe you're like, I don't even know if I love her. I don't even know if I love him anymore. Or kids, maybe you are witnessing some really sick tension going on in your home, and you have to pretend everything's okay and it's not. Or maybe you are facing some real temptation in your life, but you have to walk around, you feel like you have to walk around, everything's okay, and it's keeping you up at night. Or maybe you just had the worst doctor's appointment of your life, and you are fearful about the future. Whatever it is, we can have hope today. The Bible gives us hope. Do you know that over 350 times in the Bible we are told to fear not? And in the New Testament alone, 25 times specifically, we are told about worry and anxiety and to avoid it. The scripture is rich in this thing that so many of us suffer with. And today we're gonna look at one piece of scripture. We're really gonna, we're gonna dissect it. And it's gonna be in Philippians 4, verses 6 through 9. So if you have your Bibles with you, please go ahead and turn there. And as you do, let me just set this, let me just give you the setting here, okay? Paul is writing this letter to the Philippians, okay, and he's writing a letter to the Philippians about contentment and how to be content in any circumstance. And I want you to understand that that Paul is not sitting here just saying about you and what you should do and oh, it's gonna be okay. No, he's not sitting on a couch eating grapes and drinking wine. He is in the middle of a storm. He is in prison. He is chained to a Roman soldier, going through all sorts of unspeakable torment and torture and isolation and pain and every single thing that would bring us to our knees. And so he understands how we feel. And I want you to think of today's reading, what we're gonna learn today, as like a prescription. You know, you go to the doctor because you have certain symptoms, and you go to the doctor and you're like, hey, you know, I don't feel well, I got this, this, this going on. And the doctor's like, no problem, here's your prescription, go ahead and get it filled. Pharmacist gives you a bottle. And on the bottle, it has everything you need to feel better. It tells you when to take the medicine, how many to take, should you take it with food, should you operate machinery? It tells you everything that you need to know. And if you'll just follow those instructions, well then you'll be good as new in no time. And this scripture we're gonna be looking at is the same thing. It's a prescription for us, and all we gotta do is follow its instructions. And so let's look, starting in chapter uh verse six, chapter four, Philippians here, and Paul is talking. He says, Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice, and the God of peace will be with you. So many times in my own walk with anxiety, I would turn to the scripture and I would read, Do not be anxious about anything. And then I would turn the page and I would go to some other scripture about anxiety. And it wasn't until recently that I realized how ridiculous that was. I mean, when you are having an anxiety attack practically, and you look and read, do not be anxious about anything. That's about as helpful as telling someone, don't catch the flu. You know? You can't just will yourself not to be sick, but we can take steps to avoid it, right? We can wash our hands, we can cough in our elbow, we can get a flu shot, we can take a vitamin. There are steps that we can take in order to avoid being sick. And you know what? Paul gives us steps. He gives us four of them. Four steps in this prescription that if we follow them, then we too can be free of that anxiety. And so he starts off with do not be anxious about anything. And I want to give you a mini English lesson because that's the subject I teach. And um, here's the thing: every sentence in the English language that is a complete thought always has a subject. And the subject of the sentence is what the sentence is about. So if I said the dog chased the bone, the subject of the sentence is the dog. Well, if you have a sentence that doesn't outright show you the subject, like do not be anxious about anything, it has what is called as an understood you. And and so this sentence would read, you do not be anxious about anything. And whenever we have an understood you as the subject of a sentence, it is an imperative sentence. And an imperative sentence means it is a command. So Paul is not sitting here saying, Do your best not to be anxious. Give it your best shot, try, think about it. No, no, uh uh. He is saying, you do not be anxious about anything. And Justin started our series off first things first by sharing from Matthew 6. And this is this is so great because Jesus Himself is commanding us about worrying and about not to worry. And I'm just, I want to illustrate something to you, so I'm just gonna kind of pick around here for just a minute. Bear with me. So starting in uh Matthew 6, verse 25, okay, he says, Jesus is talking. Therefore, therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? He says again, verse 31. So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? Therefore, I'm sorry, in verse 34, therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. I want to point something out here. In the Bible, whenever we have words or phrases repeated in close proximity to one another, it means pay attention. It means there's something we're trying to get across to you here. This is important. Jesus doesn't tell us once or twice, he tells us three times. Three times in just a few sentences, do not worry, because worry is not of him. We have four steps. Okay? And the first step is that we pray. Paul tells us to pray. When we pray, we become in relationship and communication with God. We're sharing with him, and then we become open and receptive to hearing what he has to say to us about our situations. The wonderful thing about prayer is we can do it anytime, any place, about anything that's on our heart. I mean, we could be driving in the car and we're praying to God. We can be sitting on our desk at work and we can pray to God. We can be cooking dinner for our family and we're praying to God. We could be in a conversation with someone and we're the ones talking, and at that moment we can be praying to God. It's amazing. But we are wise if we make sure that our prayers also include a protected, quiet time. See, we get so distracted when we pray in the car or in the middle of our day, and we're supposed to do that. But we also need to have quiet time where we can just hear from God and what he wants to say to us. God communicates to us, not just through our spirits and other people in our lives, he communicates to us through the Bible and his word. And in our quiet time, we need to open up the Bible and dig in. And I know that if you're anything like me, that has been overwhelming for you because you don't know what to do or how to interpret it or where I'm supposed to go, or what does this mean? But when we have a willing heart, God arrives and he opens our eyes and he tells us what we need to hear. A couple of months ago, I was I was feeling really overwhelmed. And um, and I was having a breakdown, and I called my friend Alyssa. Poor Alyssa. Everybody needs an Alyssa in their life. I'm sure she disagrees with that right now. Um, but I called her and I'm crying to her, and I'm like, Alyssa, I'm just so overwhelmed. I get up at 4:45 in the morning and I'm late to work. I get up and I go and I serve all day long, and then I serve my husband and I serve my children, and then I come home and I got all my things I gotta do as a mom and a parent and a wife, and then it's 10:30 at night and I gotta go to bed and do it again, and I just, I just need to spend time with God, and I don't know where to fit it in, and I'm desperate. And she says, Elon, why don't you just do it first thing in the morning? And I was like, I can't. I'm late for work every time. So how am I supposed to fit that in? And besides, if I was gonna move the time up, I can't get up at four o'clock. It's not gonna be good for anybody if I get up that early. And she said, Well, you know, you know how God works. You've got your first fruits, you give him your best, he always shows up. So I was like, you know what? Okay, fine. What do I have to lose? I mean, maybe my job, but at least I'll be at peace. So 4 45 the next morning, I get up and I have my quiet time. It changed my life. It changed my life. Not only do I now get up at 4:30 and I spend an hour of just focused time on the Lord, but I'm no later to work than I was before. That is a miracle. So we pray. The next instruction in our prescription is that we would petition. Some translations call it supplication. Both of them mean to make your request known to God. To make your request known to God means that we can be specific and very, very honest with him. And you know, he is the master of the universe. So he knows how we're feeling before we know how we're feeling. He knows why we're feeling the way that we are. But so much about petitioning to God, it's not about helping him, it's about helping ourselves. It's about being willing to hear from him and what he has to say in our situations. So we need to be open to being honest with God about what we're going through. During this same time that I was telling you about where I was feeling overwhelmed, I was on a walk and I was kind of going through this, and I was petitioning to the Lord about something that I had been praying for for years. For years, I had been praying for this thing. And on this walk, I realized that this thing, this thing that I had been begging for for years, it had all of my focus and all of my attention and all of my desire, and it became my God. It became my idol. And I took my eyes off of him and what he had to say about it. And I remember in that moment, I audibly, audibly spoke out to the Lord and I said, God, the reason I keep begging you for this thing is because I'm so afraid that if I stop, then you'll think that I don't care and that I don't want it and you won't give it to me. I had a revelation in that moment and I realized, here, this is not good in my hands. I cannot worship two gods. Here you go, and I trust you. I'm telling you, I did, I released it to him. And this thing, this prayer that I had for all those years, within days, days, I tell you, he started responding to that prayer specifically. It's a miracle. We petition. Tell him. Tell him what's up. Our third, our third step is to thank. To thank God. And I know most of us are probably good at that. We feel pretty good about that. We thank him. But I'd also be willing to bet that most of the things we thank him for are the things that are good. You know, thank you, God, that my marriage is repaired. Thank you, God, that I just got that promotion at work. Thank you, God, that the pregnancy test came up positive. Or maybe that it came up negative. Thank you, God, that the cancer is gone. We should thank him for the things that are good. But I want you to remember something. That most of the things that are good that we thank him for, like all the things I just listed, they all were a part of the fire that we went through. They were all things that caused us heartache and hopelessness and fear and anxiety. And yet he brought us through. And so we should be wise to thank him in the middle of it. Thank you, God, for this trial, because I know that's when you do your thing. I think so often we forget whose presence we come into when we pray. We forget and we treat God like He's a vending machine, and we just put in a quarter and say, Here's my prayer, and expect him to spit out whatever it is that we asked. It's not gonna work like that. God wants us to rely on him for everything. And I'd be willing to bet you, if Jesus Himself walked into this room right now, every single one of us would have no choice but to fall on our faces and worship because he is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He is the creator of all things. And we are wise to have reverence and humility for his awesomeness and thank him for the good and the painful. Paul tells us that when we pray and when we petition and when we thank, in verse 7, he tells us this and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. You might say, well, how does that work? Well, it surpasses our understanding. We can't understand it, we can't explain it. There's no definition, it's only for God to know. It's the majestic power of the Lord. But just because we don't see it, just because we can't explain it, doesn't mean it's not there. And I want to point out to you here the very important words. It says that we will be guarded in our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. It's available to all of us, this peace that Paul talks about. We have to recognize where it comes from. In order to receive it, we have to recognize where it is coming from. And it's only coming from one place, and that's Jesus. So Paul goes into verse 8, and he tells us this. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. So our fourth instruction here from Paul is that we just think. He's saying, just think. So think about your situation right now that's causing you angst or stress or fear or anxiety. Think about first what is true. What is true about the reality? What is the reality in your situation? Do you know that over 70% of the things we worry about are things that either happen in the past or have not happened yet? And the other 30% is like made up of something like what people say about us, what they think about us, and something about our health. And when we worry about our health, it just makes it worse. It's almost a hundred percent of the things we worry about, we can do nothing about. There's freedom when we realize that because we can just let it go. Paul says, think about what is noble. What is the most honorable, respectful, and dignified thing that you can do in your circumstances causing you this anxiety? You know, maybe your stress point is coming from something in your marriage or a close relationship in your life. You know, and I just challenge you to ask yourself, you know, am I being passive aggressive? You know, am I am I just pushing the buttons of this person? Do I give them the silent treatment? Am I out to win? That's not noble. What is the most honorable, respectful, and dignified way you could respond? Say you're sorry. Paul says, think about what is just. That means do what's right. Oftentimes doing what's right is not fun and it's not easy. But the thing about God is when we honor Him and we do what's right, He honors us. He blesses us in big ways. Paul says, think about what is pure. What are your motives? What are your motives? Are they pure of heart? Or are your motives ugly with intention? My favorite one is think about what is lovely. At the end of your life, what do you want people saying about you? For me, I know that I just hope when my time has come, that whoever stands up and talks about me will say, you know what? Elon loved. She was lovely. What is the loveliest way that you could respond in your circumstances? And finally he says, What is commendable? What is the decision that we could make that would cause others to say, Wow, that is excellent and worthy of praise? Not that long ago, I found out that someone who I thought was my friend was gossiping about me, um, really, really saying some very hurtful and very untrue things. And the thing is that made this so much worse is that I saw this person on a daily basis and um just was facing me all the time. And she continued to pretend she was my friend because um she didn't know that I knew. And the only reason I knew was because multiple sources could just kept coming and telling me. And um I was really hurt. I just kind of became obsessed about this because I wanted to defend myself. And anytime I'd see somebody who kind of looked at me different, I'm like, oh my gosh, she got to them. What are they thinking about me? And I mean, I literally would go home at night and I'd cry to my husband. I didn't want to get up in the morning. Anytime I saw her, I felt like I was being fake. I'm not a confrontational person. I don't do drama. I just I was trying to do what was right. And so I was like, okay, well, God, you tell us to pray for the people who hurt us. So okay. So I'm like, God. Lord, take her down. Teach her, Lord, who you are. I really did do that. You know, what had happened is I just I really started to hate her. I know it's not right, but that's true. I started to hate her. But God got a hold of my heart and he disciplined his child. And I finally woke up and I realized that he loves her just as much as he loves me. She is his child too. And he gives me grace for the things that I do not even deserve. Why should I not give her grace? And I just went back to the Lord and I was like, God, you know what? Be there for her. Let her know that you love her. Let her know that it's that it's okay. This is not about me. It's about you and her. God, heal her in the places that are broken. And God, give me the power and the courage to show her love. And I prayed heartfelt. I went through these things. What is lovely? What is commendable? What is noble? It's been a couple of years since that happened, and I still am faced with being around her almost every day. But I'm not angry anymore. I'm really not. I hope the best for her. I don't hurt anymore. And I know that that's because of God. He says that in verse 9, he closes with this. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. And I love this. I love how he closes because he says, practice, not perfection. Just put this into practice, what I've told you. And you know what happens? The God of peace will be with us. When we pray, when we petition, when we thank, and then when we think, and then we put those things together, we honor God, and He just washes His peace over us. I want to close with this story. Um, you may have seen the movie it just came out or read the book, Unbroken. It's about Louis Zamparini. And he was an Olympic athlete who went into World War II. And his plane went down and crashed into the Pacific of the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and he was stranded there for 47 days. Got down to 65 pounds. And just when he thought all hope was lost, ships show up and he thinks he's been saved. Turns out it's a Japanese, and they take him and he becomes a prisoner in their camps. And he goes through unspeakable torture and torment and isolation and physical abuse and humiliation. I can't even wrap my brain around how horrific his circumstances were. They did everything they could, his tormentors, to break him. And he never broke. So the war ended, and he comes back to the United States where he's safe and he's free. And he broke and shattered into a million pieces. He went through some of the worst PTSD imaginable. Every single night he had nightmares of all the things that happened to him in that camp. He got addicted to numb the pain. One night he woke up in the middle of the night. He had just had a terrible nightmare and he was strangling his wife. Another night, his wife wakes up and he is in the baby's room shaking the baby because he'd had this horrible nightmare, and she was like, I'm done, Louie. I can't do this anymore. This is dangerous. I want a divorce. And she left. Couple days later, some friends grabbed her aside and said, Listen, there's a tent revival in town, and we just really want you to come with us. And the young Billy Graham was preaching a service. She got saved that weekend. So she goes home. She says, Louie, my life has been changed, and I know who the Lord is, and He's put it on my heart that I'm supposed to give you another chance. So, okay, you know, I want to make this work. And he was grateful. She said, But there's only one condition. You need to come back to this tent revival with me. So he goes with her and he says in his own words that when he accepted the Lord as his savior, he can't explain it. But literally, he had forgiven his captors. All of the anger and the hate and the and the anxiety and the fear, they all just left. And he said that a peace that surpassed my understanding and washed over me. And he went to Japan and he sought out each one of his captors. He couldn't find the one who was the worst. But he found the others and he went face to face and he said, I forgive you. And the amazing thing about when God answers our prayers is so often he answers other people, other people's prayers and works in their life too. Because the people that he went to forgive, many of them came to know the Lord because of what they saw. How could he forgive such horrific treatment? It must be something divine. You bet God does. If you will just pray and petition, make your request known to him. Thank him for everything. And then just think about what is pure and lovely and just and commendable and honorable. And then put it into practice. And the peace of God surpasses all of our understanding. It will be ours. We don't have to walk around with our clenches, our hands clenched, closed, with our heads down. We can open our hands and receive the grace that God has available for each one of us. But it's up to you and me to receive it. God, I love you. You're so faithful. Lord, I just I just am so grateful for the opportunity to be among people who are hurting just like me. And I just am so thankful for your word, God, and your truth and what it does and how how you reveal it to us when we seek you. And God, I just pray over each person here today. Wherever they're hurting, Lord, just bring restoration and repair. I just pray that they would seek you. I pray, God, that they would just pray to you. That they would petition to you, that they would they would tell you what is hurting in their hearts, that they would thank you, God, for everything. And that they would think about what is pure and good and commendable. And that they would put that into practice, God. And then that they would receive that peace and grace that you just want to give all of us all the time. Lord, please be with each person as they go into their week. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Thank you so much for having me.