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By Nasuuna Mary

Sermon: Joy in the journey| Joel Osteen Lakewood church

To explain why I chose this as my favorite sermon, I will start by sharing my testimony!

A few years back, I lost my baby boy after birth and his father not only abandoned him but also denied me the opportunity to give him a proper burial. After this, I messed up with some guy because I was hurting and I was desperate. This man picked me up from the streets. He found me talking to myself (I had a mental breakdown after I lost my baby) while I walked on the streets and he took me in. He tried counseling me and later because I was vulnerable, he was able to manipulate me, into sleeping with him and i got pregnant again!

Thereafter, I went back home to my family and because they had a standard they expected me to be in, they mocked me because a low life had gotten me pregnant. After having his kid, they would laugh and treat me like an outcast. Imagine my own family members! They threw away the basins I had shared with them on a rubbish pit saying that I was not worthy of sharing a plate or a basin with them.

They mistreated me to the core, I went crazy! My brother came home one day and said that if I didn’t leave home, he would kill me! This is how I ended up being homeless. I went to an incomplete flat and started to live there with destitutes. I would cry and sometimes get speechless. I was depressed!

Given my high level of education, I couldn’t understand how my life had taken a complete u-turn. An MBA graduate who had become homeless and resorted to begging! But the God of Israel helped me out because much as I couldn’t fast, at least I had time to talk to God and asked him to change my life.

By God’s grace, I got a my old job back this year (a good job). We serve a God of restoration! Life went on and I started renting a house of 50k, while sleeping on the floor and eating once a day at work. I fetched my water from the well and the people in the neighborhood wondered why I, who looked like I was from a well-off family was struggling to survive. Fast forward, I now rent a double bedroomed house with a maid, my kid is at school and am truly grateful to God for how far he has brought me. It’s been tough and that is why I am grateful every day of my life. I have decided to enjoy the little things that come in our lives. God is aware of what I need and I truly believe I will get there.

I chose this as my favorite sermon because it is teaching me the right way to live in this season of my life.

Joel Osteen preaches that we should change what we say and how we look at things. He encourages us to change negative words to positive words. And that instead of complaining about how children are stressful, we should change the mindset and say, “my children give me a good vibration.”

He stresses that there are things in your journey that you can enjoy. “Enjoy the little things in your life,” he says.

In Luke 24, Jesus came in a different form after his resurrection but his disciples were so stuck in the past, to realize the miracle in the moment. They were talking about what didn’t happen, how the Jesus they depended on had been crucified. In Luke 27: Jesus took a moment to explain the scriptures and he emphasized that it was all God’s plan.

The moral of the story is that we shouldn’t focus on what isn’t working out on the journey. We need to see even the simplest of things, like the right person showing up when you least expect it, or even the health of your child. This sermon resonates with me because I haven’t been enjoying my journey, I am always looking at what I should have that I forget to take time to appreciate what there is.

For instance throughout the lockdown I worried about how I was going to take Gabriella (my daughter) to school, but then God helped me get school fees to take my kid to the near by kindergarten. Instead of appreciating that, I recently called on my friend Restie and I asked her to find me sponsors because I wanted my kid to go to the best school. My Spiritual friend (who knew my history) calmed me down and told me to at least be appreciative and trust that God knew what he was doing. She emphasized saying, “Mary, you are not where you were two years ago” and indeed two years ago, I was homeless with nothing to my name and therefore, I needed to take time to appreciate how far I had come.

Lastly, Osteen emphasizes that the people in your lives are not always going to be there and that we need to enjoy those memories. We need to enjoy the small things in life that give real meaning. He says “as you are waiting on the most big thing, enjoy the little things.”

Despite my traumatic experience, I am choosing to enjoy the little things that are coming my way and the people in my life.

Here is the link to the sermon