Deep Happiness

Amen.

That is one of my absolute favorite songs right now, and I can sing it on and on.

I am so thankful to get to be a part of this series.

And Justin had asked me to speak on a specific part of life and joy.

And I love where he's gone with this and focus.

There is a level of happiness and joy that is deeper than we can ever achieve on our own.

And that's kind of what we're going to look at.

And we catch glimpses of bigger than me joy and happiness at this time of year.

And I just, this is totally unofficial, but how many of you are just really glad that football is around the corner?

Okay, that's awesome.

Now just show of hands.

How many of you are in the camp of either I could not possibly care any less or I wish football would never happen again?

Anybody in the Okay.

Wow, that was more than the political feelings there.

That was that was intense.

But I mean, there is something to it of just getting to pour in there's something bigger than me, and I love that.

And I what I I do love this about this time of year with regard to football.

I've met several football players and they're great guys, but I love the way that right now is really determining who's going to be successful because it's in the uh spring practice and it's in the training camps and it's in the preseason where it doesn't matter that it all matters.

Because it's this time where there's no glory and there's no uh there's no score.

It's just out of gut will.

I love the way, and if you're a football fan in the NFL, uh you'll remember the name Tom Landry, the legendary Hall of Fame coach.

Yo, some Dallas fans.

That's awesome.

Um I loved a statement he made.

They said, Coach, what is what is your biggest challenge?

What is your biggest job?

This guy was involved in as many Super Bowls as any other coach ever.

And I loved what he said.

He said, I have to, my job is to get men to do not, to do what they do not want to do in order to achieve what they want to achieve.

And I'm like, wow, that's pretty impressive.

That I've got to get them to do what they don't feel like doing so that they can accomplish what they want to do, win a Super Bowl.

And that's really the heart of kind of finding happiness and joy at a whole new level that I want to dive into this morning.

If I could put it this way, I believe that happiness and joy opportunities are all around us.

But until we connect with God and letting His Holy Spirit work through us, we don't see them the way we could and should.

And probably one of the best examples of that in in today's time is Pokemon Go.

Um have you guys seen this?

It's the random people walking around like this everywhere, walking into traffic, and and just it's amazing this phenomenon, but basically you can't see it unless you have a smartphone.

Like, dude, right now, uh a Dragonite's like right on your shoulder, just so you know that.

Several Pokemon are like, seriously, I need that one.

It's not there, it's not even on, all right?

So nobody jump over any chairs.

But how do we find these?

We really do have to connect and be able to focus on something way bigger than ourselves.

And when we accept Christ into our lives, I've discovered through experiences in areas where I really falter.

And I'll give you an example of this to lead into what we're really gonna dive into.

But what I've discovered is there are two words that literally unlock happiness at a level beyond what is normal.

Literally, what I would call a mind-blowing level.

And I'm gonna share those two words with you, but to do that, I have to lay a foundation of what I stink, and you can you can talk to my wife about this.

I am getting better, but I still stink emotionally.

And I know this is harsh, but it's the only way I can really describe accurately the way I am emotionally.

I am emotionally retarded.

Okay?

And I know that's harsh, and I don't mean it to be offensive, but I am.

It's I stuff emotions and I run away from emotions to deal with them later when I'm by myself or away from so that I don't get embarrassed because I don't know what to do with them.

And I'll give you the perfect example.

A week ago Friday, my wife and I took our oldest son to college to drop him off.

And there's just something emotionally wrong with that whole encounter.

That you have a child, and from the moment they're born, you are responsible for that child.

Every part of their world, where are they?

What are they doing?

Are they fed?

Are they clothed?

Are they housed and all that?

And then this one day you're supposed to just kind of go, hey, you're in college.

Good luck.

That that's I don't know what to do with that.

And we were doing okay.

We got up there, we packed up, we're at lunch, that went well, and we unpacked and we set up his room and went to Walmart and we did the whole run, but the time was coming.

He had to get to a dinner and we had to wrap it up.

And he parked his car up on the top parking lot, and we parked next to him.

And as Heather got out of the car and he got out of his car, I'm getting out of the driver's side.

You can imagine if you're if you're a mom, you can imagine that moment and just the waterfall began.

And as she is just losing it, this big strap and 18-year-old kid just puts his arms around her and he starts to tear up, and he's like, It's okay, mom.

I love you, mom.

And and and and everything in my emotional being is going, run, run away.

There are emotions, run away.

And I'm standing there, and I he's weeping, she's crying unconsolably, and I'm starting to tear up.

And then it just it just happened.

I'm standing there two or three feet away, thinking, you know, what an incredible moment, but I don't know what to do with this.

And my son just kind of reached his arm out, hugging his mom.

He said, Dad, come here.

Can I pray for you?

And I'm just, I've lost it at that point.

And then my wife, through her total flood of emotions, is going, I think we're supposed to pray for you.

And I'm just like, and I'm like, Yes.

And it was it was a joy at a level that goes beyond words, and it didn't take the tears away, and I still don't fully understand it, but it is a happiness and a joy that's beyond what I can manufacture.

And I believe that that happiness exists, and I've experienced it in a lot of different ways.

But this morning I want to share with you two words that if you're thinking, well, how can I engage that?

How can I experience that joy because I'm not good with emotions either, or maybe I am, but how do I identify it?

How can I see that?

And it really comes through two words, and one of these words I learned several years ago, and uh it really came through a situation that would be classified as something opposite of happiness and joy, but I learned this word and I found just an incredible level of joy that I can't explain.

April 27th of 2007.

Does anybody remember where you were that day?

Because it wasn't a famous day, it wasn't a holiday.

I'll never forget where I was.

I was in Colorado Springs, and Heather had called me.

She said, Hey, Kennedy's still not feeling good.

I'm gonna take her to the doctor before the weekend so we don't have to go through the weekend.

I'm like, that's a good idea.

And so she called me with updates.

Hey, she's saying her legs hurt.

I'm gonna take her, they're telling us to go get some x-rays, so we're gonna go do that.

I'm like, that sounds normal.

And just all the day I'm getting these updates.

That night I walk off stage and my wife is unconsolable on the phone.

She's crying.

I'm like, whoa, what's wrong?

What's wrong?

And I heard three words that no parent should ever have to hear.

She said, Kennedy has cancer.

And my whole world turned upside down.

And there were no flights out that night in Colorado Springs, so I got a rental car.

I drove to Denver and I caught the red eye.

I got on a flight at 12 something, landed at five something, drove to the hospital, and I walk into a room where we would live for the next couple weeks.

I think they have a picture of that.

And this is what I walk into.

My little girl is strapped to machines, and my whole world turned upside down.

And it didn't get easier.

Uh, I remember very vividly the day two or three, I don't remember the day, but I remember the conversation.

The doctor sat down with Heather and I, and he sat across from us and he said, She has what was called acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

And if you have to have cancer, this is the kind you want.

And Heather and I both looked at each other and looked at him, and we literally went, Yeah, we don't want it.

You can have it back.

And he says, You'll understand later.

And it was just this unbelievable chaos that our world, the whole world kept going, but ours just came to a screeching halt.

And I'll never forget, kind of unpacking it and looking back, these pieces of happiness in the midst of it, more than silver lining, but it's this one word that I learned from the actions of others.

Our friend Royce, who we go to church with, came by in one of his landscaping trucks.

I was getting the mail.

It was the second week, and we had just gotten home, and my yard looked like it had not been cared for in a couple weeks, and he just stopped and he says, Hey man, I'm really sorry about Kennedy.

We're praying for you.

I'm like, Thank you so much.

He says, I just want you to know we got crews in this area once a week, and for the rest of the summer, I'm gonna, we're gonna take care of your yard.

And I'm like, dude, I so appreciate that.

If you could just like do it one time because I know it looks terrible, I'm trying to figure out what this is gonna look like.

And he goes, Yeah, well, we're gonna do it like every week.

And I said, you know what?

If you know it, maybe I'll do it twice, just this week and another week.

That way it'll give me time to figure this out.

And he's like, Yeah, you're really not listening.

Um, we're doing your yard this whole summer, and not only did my yard look amazing, but he gave me what I did not realize I needed so incredibly, and that was time.

Because I didn't realize what was ahead.

The doctor's appointments, the clinics, the emergency room visits.

Every Monday we went to clinic.

Every Monday I scooped Kennedy out of bed at five something in the morning, and I put it in the back seat, and I put a cream on her port, which is a device they implant surgically in their chest, and so they could access that.

And we'd get to the hospital and we'd dress, and it just amazingly for like two years.

Every Monday night we had dinner, it was just there because people took this word and they were like, We're gonna do this for you.

And I'm like, This is amazing to me.

It's it's an an unbelievable.

I wish I had the picture for it, but the Kennedy was going through what they call intensive.

Her hair is gone at that point.

They're literally killing every cell in her body and rejuvenating it through steroids.

She doesn't know if she's coming or going, she's starving all the time.

She's just miserable, she's lethargic, but miserable.

And and in the midst of that, I remember going over to the tennis courts one day, and and she's just sitting there.

Heather's playing tennis, and there's Kennedy with this little bitty pug puppy, Bella.

And it was the first time I had seen Kennedy smile in weeks.

And she was just so happy with this little dog.

And one of the other ladies playing tennis said, Oh my goodness, that's Bella.

And and and we're like, Is it okay she plays with her?

Because she just wants she's just holding the leash, and here's this little dog sitting next to her and going around her.

And she goes, Absolutely, absolutely.

But then Mary, the owner of Bella, took this word.

She went home and she called the gentleman that she bought the dog from, and she said, I don't, I don't know what to ask, I don't know what to do, but I have a friend and her daughter has cancer, and she just played with this dog for two hours, and it just made her happy.

And this guy just cries.

He said, I have prayed for years.

He says, I'm so thankful that my kids are not sick, that they've grown up healthy.

And I've literally said, God, if there's ever anything I can do, please show me.

And he says, This is obvious.

I want to give this little girl a pug.

And he says, We've just weaned a litter, and and all I can tell you is that that dog in the midst of that chaos just brought happiness.

And because she took this word and called the breeder and ended up right near her birthday, she gets this pug puppy, and it just makes everything better.

And we didn't even know what to name it because everybody had given her stuffed animals.

She had hundreds of stuffed animals, and people are like, What do you want to name it?

And she's like, uh, I'm out of yeah.

Four-year-old, she's like, I don't know.

I I got no names left.

People would hand her a bunny and she'd be like, uh, bunny, you know, just and so she gets this puppy, and she's like, Oh my goodness, it's so cute.

And we're like, What's your favorite candy?

She's like, Skittles.

Let's name him Skittles.

So we have Skittles the Wonder Pug, and he's just, they just, he would follow her around, and there's this precious picture of her just sleeping with Skittles right next to her with a smile, and it's like, he just makes everything better.

That level of happiness in the midst of total tragedy is possible only because people take this word.

And I found that every time I take this word, I realize how godly it is.

It doesn't show up in these verses, but yet it's all about these verses.

In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24, it says this let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10:24

It's the concept, it's the word.

In Acts 20, 35, Paul is writing, he said, In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak.

And I would put on a quick aside, every one of us will be weak in some way at some point in our life.

Remembering the words of our Lord Jesus Himself, who said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

This word takes those two, and the word is simple, it's just initiative.

If you want to find happiness at a whole new level, take initiative.

Look for those everyday life situations of something that's happening.

And I had several people after the first service go, this is one of the ways I look for it.

It really is like the Pokemon go.

I'm looking for this situation.

And I just do something, I take the initiative.

Those who take initiative, those who brought meals, those who cut grass, those who got a pug, they weren't asking permission.

They weren't asking for a thank you.

All they did was see a need and do something.

That is where happiness happens at a whole new depth and breadth.

In a way that we can't manufacture.

If we'll ask God to show us, because here's a fundamental lesson I learned years ago.

Every one of us wake up in the morning and we are functioning, our focus unconsciously is one of twofold.

It is either I'm living to get or living to give.

One of the two.

And whatever our mindset is, circumstances can be the exact same.

But depending on where I am, what I'm doing, I'm either living to get or living to give.

Ultimately, the greatest of all was Christ Himself.

It says this in Romans 5, 8, but God demonstrates his own love to us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The ultimate initiative.

He's like, I've got a plan.

You are part of it.

I want to forgive you.

I want to give you happiness, joy, fulfillment, and purpose.

And I'm gonna arrange that before you even know who I am, before you're born.

I saw this in a big way during our year of Job is what we called it.

Literally, everything that could go wrong did, not only does my daughter have cancer at this moment, at that time, I mean, but everything, both our cars broke down.

Transmission went on one of them, and another one broke down.

I'm like, great.

Both our computers crashed.

I got mine back, I went to turn it on, 12 years of files gone.

And I'm like, where are they?

And they're like, oh, did you want to keep those?

Yeah.

Here's the end to this is my favorite example of that.

My son Cody, who's here, he'll vouch for this.

I'm sitting in the living room, just chilling after a day, trying to just relax a little bit.

He's in the kitchen, which is straight in the basically the same room.

He's like, Dad, I think the refrigerator's on fire.

I'm like, I wasn't facing it.

I'm like, dude, refrigerators don't catch on fire.

That's fire.

Have you ever heard of a refrigerator burning?

I walked over there, I grab it, I pull it out because there's flames coming out from underneath, and I'm as I'm reaching for the cord, I literally for a second, I thought, well, I wonder if it's gonna electrocute me if I grab it, and then I thought, I don't really care.

And just I pull it out and we give the fire out.

The guys, we replaced the refrigerator, the guys came together, he's like, Man, what happened to this?

I'm like, have you ever, and I said, How long have you worked here?

And he's like, I think it was like 10 years.

I'm like, have you ever had a refrigerator burn down?

And he's like, I have never.

That's crazy.

That was our year.

In the midst of that, it was these points of initiative that made all the difference.

There was a company, and they still exist, and I love these guys.

I've actually met a couple of their executives, and I'm like, you you have no idea.

But Swafford Construction, they do, I don't know, they do a lot of big construction, and they decided to take initiative.

They were going to sponsor a make a wish trip.

They didn't even know who it was for, they just said, we want to sponsor one.

Well, we were in line for it, and and I just got to tell you how Kennedy was as a four-year-old.

You can imagine four-year-olds are kind of shy anyway, but imagine everybody, as you're four years old, everybody knows your name.

And everybody who says your name is gonna poke you or prod you or test you or do something to you.

She did not like big people.

And the make-a-wish people came over and they said, You know what, Kennedy, we're here, we're here to make your wish come true.

And she she did not want to talk to them.

And they're like, Well, we just um all you gotta do is tell us what is your wish.

And she wouldn't talk to them.

And finally we convinced her, Kennedy, they just they're not gonna do anything, they're not gonna do any test, they're not gonna do anything.

They just want to know what is your wish.

And we finally coached her, and she finally says to them, this loud, she's like, and they're like, I'm I'm so sorry, honey, we couldn't hear you.

And she just kind of backed away and we're like, honey, just say it a little louder.

She's like, honey, it's like, baby, okay.

They they they they said that you have to tell them we can't say it.

You have to ask them, it's your wish.

And they said, Why don't you just count to three and you yell it?

And they said, Okay, one, two, three.

And she goes, I gotta meet the princess.

Like, you want to meet the princesses?

And she goes, Okay.

I said, We will take care of that.

Even the week leading up to that trip, she had she had run a fever and she wasn't feeling well, and her numbers were down, and we're like, you know what?

Of course we're gonna miss the trip because that's just the year we're having.

She had a bounce back.

She had a couple good days in a row, and then the day came and she was feeling good, so we're like, let's go, let's do what we can do.

We get down to Disney.

And and and I I'm gonna spare a lot of the details.

They were stunning, but the day came, we get to go meet the princesses.

And we walk into Disney, and she's on my shoulders, and her hair had started to grow back, and we're walking to the castle, and you can tell she's kind of waving because as we're walking to the castle, off to the left, her favorite princess Belle was reading a story, and Belle just kind of, I think she looked up or something, and Kenny was like, Hey, it's like it's her.

She said, Daddy, can we stop?

I'm like, Yes, we can stop.

And we listened to Belle read a story, and I'm like, This could not have been more perfect.

We just walk up on it.

Well, as she finishes and she says, I'm gonna take a break, I'm gonna go.

And and uh this gentleman saw her make a wish button, and he came up from Disney.

He goes, Hey, how do you want to meet the princesses?

And she's like, Yeah.

They says, Well, you go down the street here, and they told us how to go, where to go.

And he says, when you come in, make sure that they see your button.

We walk in the doors.

I did not see them do this.

We saw the entrance to where you get in line to meet the princesses.

And this guy came in.

Oh, are you here to meet the princess?

She goes, Yeah.

And so he takes us the opposite direction.

And he said, Where are you guys from?

And it's great to meet you.

And we talk, and we're just walking down this back hallway.

We walk out into a room and we can see the lines of people.

What look like probably a 45-minute to an hour line to meet the princesses.

We couldn't see them because there's a wall right here, but we see all the people.

They said, just stand here for a second.

Like, okay, and we're standing there.

And then they take this huge wall and they close the door to where all the people are standing.

Now the room is completely empty, and there's a wall.

And they said, Come over here to the middle.

And as we walk in, we see the thrones and the three princesses.

And they said, stand in the middle.

And remember, Kennedy does not like big people.

And we stood there.

And what was tragedy and a year of just crap in a moment turned to a level of joy and happiness.

I cannot explain.

We stood there, my wife and I, our boys, grandma and grandpa is standing there, and she's holding her hands, and these three precious ladies stand up in their princess outfits.

And they come together in the middle of the room and they said, Look who is with us today.

It's Princess Kennedy.

Please come talk to us about princess things.

And Kennedy drops my hand like, finally, somebody sees who I am.

And each of those precious ladies took about five minutes each with Kennedy and talked about princess.

I'm just a puddle in the middle of that room, and I'm like, this is joy.

This is happy.

And it's a level that I could have never manufactured.

But it's somebody took the initiative to say, you need this trip.

You need this.

And she got to meet the princesses, and other people would take initiative.

There were other times and other pieces where the initiative was just at the perfect time.

Somebody called and Heather said one, I want to say it was a Wednesday or Thursday.

She said, Hey, what are you doing Saturday?

Are you in town?

I'm like, Yeah, I'm not on the road.

I'm in town.

She goes, Well, I've got a tennis thing.

Is there any way that you can take Kennedy to this event Saturday morning?

I'm like, where is it?

She goes, Well, it's in Swanee.

They called and invited Kennedy.

She kind of liked cheerleaders at that time.

And somebody heard that and arranged.

They said, they said, the uh the Falcons cheerleaders have invited her to come sit in our practice.

Will you take her to that?

Um is this a trap of some kind?

I mean, seriously.

She goes, no, no, they want her to come.

Can you take her?

And I'm just like, yeah, I'll work it in, you know, just and I can tell you this those ladies aren't amazing dancers.

They are beautiful girls, but I'm telling you, their hearts are unbelievable.

I am a Falcons fan, but I'm a Falcons cheerleader fan.

They poured into these little girls, there was just a handful of them, and they just they made them feel like the world.

And I'm like, I'm a fan.

Because somebody took initiative.

When we see a need in life and we take the time and say, God, show me the need.

Is there anything I can do?

And just do it.

Don't ask permission.

Don't ask for thanks.

Don't ask for recognition.

Do it.

If you can do it anonymously, do it anonymously, because then there's only one person to thank, and it's the one who prompted it to begin with.

I found happiness every time that I take initiative.

It ends not always the way I think, doesn't always end immediately good, but it always ends in a level of happiness that I would not experience otherwise.

There's another word that I've learned, and I learned it through that process as well, in a couple ways.

One, one of the greatest joys is, and I'll tell you the word in a second, but one of my best friends, about two weeks into it, he goes, dude, I gotta do something.

I gotta do something.

And I'm like, I I don't even know what to do right now.

And he said, Well, if I can wave a magic wand and make something happen, what would you want?

And immediately God just kind of brought my mind, I said, dude, here's what I want.

I know God is timeless, but here's what I want.

Every Monday I have to scoop my daughter out of bed and I have to take her to clinic.

That means that they're gonna take a needle and they're gonna stick it in her chest and to access her port.

That means they're gonna anesthetize her and they're gonna do a spinal tap, and I have to hold her down while this happens, and it breaks my heart.

The one person she trusts is putting her through this.

I said, I know God is timeless, but I want the people to pray then.

Every Monday at that time, between seven and nine.

I want to know that somebody's praying for.

That's my wish.

And he said, Done.

And he went and he got those little gel bracelets.

And I don't know if you've seen them, they just have things written on them.

This was just an indention.

All it did was say, I pray for KGK.

That's all it said.

He had several hundred of them made, and then he had to have some more made because he would just wear them.

He said, Ken, it's the weirdest thing.

He said, I'll just wear this, and total strangers will stop and go, hey, what is that?

He's like, Well, it's a friend of mine, his daughter's going through cancer, and this just reminds me to pray for him.

And he said, People would just say, I want one.

And he's like, Well, here's the deal.

You can't have it unless you on Monday mornings from 7 to 9 will stop and pray for them on Mondays at 7 to 9.

Deal.

And he would just give them away and give them away.

Over the next month and a half, over 3,000 people had those bracelets and were praying for my daughter.

I cannot tell you.

You can clap for that.

What that act meant to us, words cannot express.

It is a joy at a level that goes beyond any tragedy that we're going through.

I had a peace that does not, cannot be put into words because I knew people were doing that, and the word is simply this that we are going to do this with you.

With.

Couldn't get rid of it.

Go to the doctor, find out it's a form of bone cancer.

He comes back the next year, some 30, some 80 pounds lighter, bald head from chemo.

And he would say in the article, he said, I was very nervous about the first day.

I didn't know what kids were going to think.

Because here I am supposed to start on the football team.

Now I'm this just skeleton of a guy trying to get through life.

He said the first day was hard.

He says, the second day changed my life.

He said, 30 plus kids at my high school went home and shaved their heads.

Because they were like.

And they interviewed some of the kids, and they're like, why would you do that?

And they said, because Matt, we wanted him to walk down the halls of school every day, and every day, every turn, we wanted him to see a reminder that you are not alone.

And he says, they're with me.

Yes, you can clap for that.

That's amazing.

I was grappling for ways to connect with Kennedy.

If there was a day during the day, if she could not eat before procedure, I would not eat.

Afterwards, there were these precious moments.

I'm like, Kennedy, she's like, I'm hungry.

I'm like, I am too.

I said, where do you want to go to eat?

We'll go anywhere.

She goes, I want to go to Waffle's house.

I'm like, let's go to Waffle's house.

And we would share lunch and we'd blow straw paper at each other.

But Heather had called me and she said, Hey, I just want to prepare you.

I'd been on a trip and she goes, she lost the last little bit of her hair.

And I said, Okay.

And I came home and I said, Kennedy, I love your haircut.

And she said, Thanks.

And she's rubbing her little bald head.

I said, Kennedy, I want your haircut.

She said, Okay.

And I said, I want you to give it to me.

Now you haven't lived till you have a four-year-old give you a haircut.

We sat on the front porch and she had the real buzzer, and she's going through my hair, and she is just smiling ear to ear.

And it was joy and it was happiness at a level I can't explain.

Halfway through, Heather walked out and she went, Oh wow.

It was all different levels and bald spots.

And she said, You're gonna let me fix that, aren't you?

And she goes, You look like you have mage.

And I was like, I know, right?

And I said, No, baby, it's all coming off.

And I bicked my head, and I do not have a good-looking head.

It's got lumps and stuff, but it didn't matter because we went to read books that night and we're laying in bed, and she couldn't concentrate.

She's just rubbing her head against my head with this big ear-to-ear smile.

Daddy, we're bald buddies.

And she, yes, we are.

She said, Daddy, mommy said my hair might grow back curly.

Can I have curly hair?

And I said, You know what?

It might.

That's they call it chemo curls, and it did for a little while grow back curly.

I said, Yes, ma'am, I think it will.

And she goes, Daddy, how is yours going to grow back?

And I said, I just hope it does grow back.

And it was just one of the most precious times because I wanted her to know every day, you are not alone.

You're not alone.

Two of the most powerful opportunities in this life.

There's a wonderful verse in Romans.

I don't think I read this one.

It's one of my favorites.

Actually, there's two, but the Romans 12, 15, it's very simple.

Look for those who are rejoicing or who are mourning and going through it.

It says this rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.

And even before that, there's a great verse in 1 Peter chapter 5 that God is letting us know we're not alone, but it is our choice to embrace and engage Him.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

He says this humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

And then probably my favorite, and I've quoted it the last several times I've been here, is Isaiah 41, 10.

Look for the word.

So do not fear, this is God speaking, do not fear, for I am with you.

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I am convinced that these two words literally take happiness and joy to a whole new level.

I'm also convinced after going through what we have that we cannot imagine the level of happiness and joy until we experience on some level the depths and breadths of despair and hopelessness.

And when we see it, instead of running from it, avoiding it, embrace it.

Initiate something in it.

Be there with it.

And I guarantee you, happiness will come at a level we cannot imagine.

Because I have found that happiness is not found in anything, but it is found in every person.

We were meant to be here.

I see it over and over in my life.

Since that time, and I started to really grasp this concept, it's in the people around us.

I have a friend right now, he had a very hard accident in Italy.

Broken collarbone, broken leg, and he since home and just getting to be with him, taking the initiative to say, dude, we're going to lunch this week.

What day works?

I'm coming by to pick you up.

Where do you want to go?

Means all the world.

Last time I was here, I talked about Ukraine.

And Sasha, this man, that God just put me there, and I saw the despair of his feeling insignificant, and I was able to speak into him.

I'm like, dude, here's who you are.

Taking the initiative to do that.

An everyday life of what we're normally doing.

For those of you who don't know, I perform for a living, I do comedy, and I'll never forget, indelibly written on my heart, this woman came up after a show.

It was a big show.

I met hundreds of people afterwards, and this one woman just came up very meekly with this just beautiful small smile, just went, thank you.

And then just walked away.

Her friend would wait till everyone else was gone, and she came up and she described her.

She goes, You met my friend.

And I said, I I met a lot of people.

She goes, No.

She was, she described her.

I'm like, Yes, yes.

She was very quiet.

She just said thank you and walked away.

She said, You have no idea.

And I said, You're right.

And she said, I I I try to prod her to go to dinner.

She doesn't even like to go out.

She says, for two years.

Two years ago, her husband died of a massive heart attack.

A month later, her son was killed.

Her only son was killed in a car accident.

I haven't seen her smile in two years.

I finally got her to come tonight, and I just watched my friend laugh for two hours.

And she said, I can't put it into words.

And I'm like, that's happiness.

When we take initiative to do with for someone else to give, we're going to see happiness and joy at a level we cannot imagine.

I pray that we would do that.

I want to ask two questions after I pray that we would contemplate while we sing this last song.

Will you pray with me?

God thank you.

Thank you that your happiness and joy go way beyond circumstances, but you are in the circumstances, good and bad.

Your result is joy and happiness when we turn to you.

God, I pray that you would show us this week how we can take initiative, big or small.

Maybe even bring across our path someone we can walk with, rejoice with, or mourn with.

Whichever it is, Lord, it ends in happiness when we allow ourselves to be used.

So, Father, I pray that for us this week, as only you can do through your Holy Spirit, the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, empower us this week so that we can experience happiness at a level we cannot imagine.

And it is only through Christ we can pray.

Amen.

I want to just ask you one question to ask yourself tomorrow morning when you wake up before you're fully awake, when you can feel your breath still, you haven't brushed your teeth.

Ask yourself this question today, am I gonna live to get or am I gonna live to give?

And then ask God, will you show me some way today that I can see and need and take initiative?

Or God, is there somebody in my world that I need to need to do with today?

Whichever it is.

Ask those two questions.

I promise, happiness and joy at a level that is unimaginable will happen in our lives.

Go ahead and stand up, be asking that, and they're gonna lead us out.