WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.660 Welcome back to Pomoja Podcast, a ministry of 00:00:04.660 --> 00:00:08.539 Life of Christ International Ministries. Pomoja 00:00:08.539 --> 00:00:11.500 means together, and that's exactly what this 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:14.919 space is about. The place where stronger lives 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:18.660 are built, faith is strengthened, hearts are 00:00:18.660 --> 00:00:22.239 encouraged, and Christ -centered homes are shaped 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:26.359 through ordinary conversations. They become extraordinary 00:00:26.359 --> 00:00:30.269 encounters with God's truth. One conversation, 00:00:31.050 --> 00:00:36.590 one story, one revelation at a time. Thank you 00:00:36.590 --> 00:00:39.850 for joining me for another powerful conversation. 00:00:42.570 --> 00:00:45.890 During our first conversation, I shared a story 00:00:45.890 --> 00:00:49.189 my father told me before I got married. At the 00:00:49.189 --> 00:00:53.030 time, I thought it was simply a beautiful story. 00:00:53.570 --> 00:00:57.210 A father sharing his wisdom with his son. I listened 00:00:57.210 --> 00:01:01.960 carefully. I respected every word. But if I'm 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:05.599 completely honest with you, I didn't truly understand 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:09.700 it. Not because I wasn't listening. Not because 00:01:09.700 --> 00:01:13.359 my father wasn't clear. But because some truths 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:16.540 cannot be understood simply by hearing them. 00:01:17.459 --> 00:01:22.159 They must be lived. Some lessons aren't learned 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:25.540 in a classroom. They're learned in the ordinary 00:01:25.540 --> 00:01:29.709 moments of life. They are learned through victories, 00:01:30.250 --> 00:01:33.069 through disappointments, through forgiveness, 00:01:33.969 --> 00:01:38.250 through patience, through tears, through prayers, 00:01:39.030 --> 00:01:41.530 and through the quiet faithfulness that only 00:01:41.530 --> 00:01:46.489 time can produce. Today, almost 20 years later, 00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:51.000 I can finally say, I understand what my father 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.799 was trying to teach me, not because I'm a marriage 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:57.239 expert, far from it, but because nearly 20 years 00:01:57.239 --> 00:01:59.879 of marriage have slowly revealed the meaning 00:01:59.879 --> 00:02:03.340 of a story that, at first, seemed so simple. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:07.079 Life became my teacher, marriage became my classroom, 00:02:07.379 --> 00:02:10.819 and time became the interpreter of my father's 00:02:10.819 --> 00:02:15.240 story. Looking back, I smile, because now I realize 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:18.780 he wasn't merely giving me advice. He was giving 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:22.159 me a picture, a picture that would unfold one 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:25.979 year at a time. So today, I'd like to continue 00:02:25.979 --> 00:02:29.080 that story. Because my father wasn't finished, 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:33.159 he said, imagine a man walking through a forest. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:37.180 As he walks, something catches his attention. 00:02:37.580 --> 00:02:40.780 In the distance, he sees a magnificent house, 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:45.020 beautiful, peaceful, almost hidden among the 00:02:45.020 --> 00:02:48.469 trees. the kind of house that immediately captures 00:02:48.469 --> 00:02:52.750 your attention. As he gets closer, he notices 00:02:52.750 --> 00:02:56.349 something even more beautiful. Through the windows, 00:02:57.009 --> 00:02:59.969 he sees a husband and wife. They're talking, 00:03:00.430 --> 00:03:03.849 laughing together, enjoying each other's company. 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:07.849 There is peace in that house. There is joy. There 00:03:07.849 --> 00:03:13.069 is love. Naturally, he becomes curious. What 00:03:13.069 --> 00:03:16.300 makes this place so different? The couple notices 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:20.340 him. They smile. They welcome him inside, without 00:03:20.340 --> 00:03:24.620 hesitation. He steps through the door. The house 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:29.020 is beautiful, peaceful, carefully arranged. Everything 00:03:29.020 --> 00:03:33.340 feels inviting. Then, the door quietly closes 00:03:33.340 --> 00:03:37.620 behind him. Almost immediately, he notices something 00:03:37.620 --> 00:03:42.259 unusual. Actually, three things. The first thing 00:03:42.259 --> 00:03:46.750 he notices is the heat. Not ordinary warmth. 00:03:47.250 --> 00:03:51.110 Real heat. The kind of heat that makes you instinctively 00:03:51.110 --> 00:03:54.509 look for fresh air. He begins feeling uncomfortable. 00:03:55.449 --> 00:03:58.370 His first thought is simple. I'll step outside 00:03:58.370 --> 00:04:01.750 for a moment. So he turns around, walks back 00:04:01.750 --> 00:04:06.129 to the door, grabs the handle, turns it. Nothing. 00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:10.050 He tries again. Still nothing. That's when he 00:04:10.050 --> 00:04:14.250 realizes the door only opens. from the outside. 00:04:15.310 --> 00:04:18.589 Now confusion begins replacing curiosity. His 00:04:18.589 --> 00:04:21.470 heart beats a little faster, so he looks toward 00:04:21.470 --> 00:04:26.350 the windows. Surely, one of them must open. He 00:04:26.350 --> 00:04:29.670 walks from one window to another, one after another. 00:04:30.189 --> 00:04:33.610 Every window is sealed shut. No fresh air, no 00:04:33.610 --> 00:04:38.089 alternative exit, no escape. What moments earlier 00:04:38.089 --> 00:04:41.170 looked like a peaceful home, now feels almost 00:04:41.170 --> 00:04:45.100 like an escape room. Except, this isn't a game. 00:04:45.379 --> 00:04:48.699 He's trapped. He turns toward the couple again. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:52.699 They're smiling, talking, laughing together, 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:56.160 completely at peace, as though nothing is wrong. 00:04:56.959 --> 00:05:00.439 Meanwhile, his mind is filled with questions. 00:05:01.180 --> 00:05:04.660 How can they be so happy? Don't they feel the 00:05:04.660 --> 00:05:08.800 heat? Why don't they seem uncomfortable? If they 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:13.410 wanted to leave, how would they? I remember hearing 00:05:13.410 --> 00:05:16.889 this story from my father and asking myself those 00:05:16.889 --> 00:05:21.050 exact same questions. What kind of house is this? 00:05:21.569 --> 00:05:26.810 It didn't make sense. Not then. But today, after 00:05:26.810 --> 00:05:30.529 nearly 20 years of marriage, I understand why 00:05:30.529 --> 00:05:34.769 he told the story this way. And perhaps you've 00:05:34.769 --> 00:05:38.649 already begun asking the same questions. If you 00:05:38.649 --> 00:05:41.720 have, then you're exactly where my father wanted 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:46.199 me to be. Because every great lesson begins with 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:51.160 a question, and every lasting revelation begins 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:55.339 with a picture. As I look back today, I realize 00:05:55.339 --> 00:05:58.620 something. My father wasn't simply preparing 00:05:58.620 --> 00:06:01.959 me for marriage. He was preparing me for the 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:05.279 journey of becoming a husband. There is a difference. 00:06:05.939 --> 00:06:08.459 You can prepare for a wedding in a few months. 00:06:08.779 --> 00:06:13.160 But becoming a husband takes years, sometimes 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:18.319 a lifetime. I also realize he didn't choose a 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:22.399 lecture, he chose a story. Because stories have 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:25.779 a way of staying with us long after words are 00:06:25.779 --> 00:06:29.339 forgotten. I carried that story into my marriage. 00:06:30.199 --> 00:06:33.300 There were moments when I remembered it, moments 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:36.420 when I questioned it, and moments when I finally 00:06:36.420 --> 00:06:40.480 understood it. Not all at once. One season at 00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:44.500 a time. One challenge at a time. One lesson at 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:49.160 a time. Then one day, I realized something beautiful. 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:53.259 The house hadn't changed. The story hadn't changed. 00:06:53.579 --> 00:06:57.660 I had changed. Marriage had changed me. God had 00:06:57.660 --> 00:07:01.360 changed me. And suddenly, what once seemed like 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:06.600 a mystery began to make perfect sense. Perhaps 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:09.899 that's where some of you are today. Maybe there 00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:12.879 are things God has spoken over your life that 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:17.800 still don't make sense. Promises, prayers, scriptures, 00:07:18.540 --> 00:07:21.800 conversations, seeds that were planted years 00:07:21.800 --> 00:07:26.180 ago. Don't be discouraged. If you don't understand 00:07:26.180 --> 00:07:30.439 everything today, some revelations can only be 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:33.699 understood after you've walked with God for a 00:07:33.699 --> 00:07:37.310 while. God rarely reveals everything at once. 00:07:37.389 --> 00:07:41.370 He reveals enough for us to take the next step. 00:07:41.750 --> 00:07:45.870 Then He teaches us as we continue walking with 00:07:45.870 --> 00:07:49.370 Him. Time doesn't replace the Holy Spirit, but 00:07:49.370 --> 00:07:53.490 the Holy Spirit often uses time to reveal what 00:07:53.490 --> 00:07:57.009 He has already spoken. So don't rush the process. 00:07:57.149 --> 00:08:01.610 Walk with Him, trust Him, and allow Him to unfold 00:08:01.610 --> 00:08:06.569 His purpose. one season at a time. Next time, 00:08:07.089 --> 00:08:10.009 we'll walk back into that house, not simply to 00:08:10.009 --> 00:08:13.970 admire it, not even to escape it, but to discover 00:08:13.970 --> 00:08:17.569 why my father built every detail of that story 00:08:17.569 --> 00:08:22.230 the way he did. Because nothing inside that house 00:08:22.230 --> 00:08:26.949 was accidental. Every detail was pointing to 00:08:26.949 --> 00:08:29.990 something far greater than I could have imagined. 00:08:30.730 --> 00:08:34.340 Until then. May the Lord strengthen your faith, 00:08:34.679 --> 00:08:38.700 guide your home, and continue building your house 00:08:38.700 --> 00:08:44.940 one day, one lesson, and one revelation at a 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:49.600 time. Thank you for joining me. Grace and peace. 00:08:50.379 --> 00:08:53.600 I'll see you in our next conversation.