Presentation Women Building Destinies February 20, 2010: Do You Understand Where God Is Leading You?

I feel very happy to be here, to see sisters that I love, that I learned to live with, that were in my life. It is a very, very difficult moment. When I arrived in this country almost 11 years ago, I arrived alone and later When I was one year old, the Lord brought me my 3 children who at the time were very small but now they are very big. My oldest son is 19 years old, he came here at the age of 9, Hudson, he's in college in New York, he lives in New Jersey but he's studying at college in New York, and he's a football puncher. He's pretty big, 6 foot 4, a pretty big guy. I have my daughter, who is 18 years old, who is getting married in August, and my youngest son, Felipe, who is 16. And they all arrived here very young. And we had very, very nice moments in this congregation. I always say where I go that this is still my church. Pastor Roberto and Meche are still my pastors. I can be anywhere in the world, I will never forget the brothers of this church, the brothers that when I was remembering those days talking with a friend, a sister who also congregated here and I was remembering that when the sisters of this church, Marta and Janet, all, all, all, Mayra, all, Diana, Ana, all, all, Marlene, and we were here selling cakes to bring my children. It's true. That was the greatest, greatest demonstration of love that I could have in this congregation, in addition to the support that Pastor Roberto and Meche gave me during such a difficult time that I was going through, to support me and help me in everything, spiritually, financially, in Everything, I owe a lot, a lot to this congregation and for me today to be here before you is a great privilege.

First, because when Meche called me and invited me to be here, I said, Meche, are you sure you want me to talk? But she says, yes, yes, I'm sure, you are a woman of faith, you are courageous because my God, (…..) it's still not that good. But now I have a great challenge, even more a great challenge, to learn Spanish well because my future husband's church is all Hispanic brothers, there are no Brazilians. So I have to learn to speak Spanish well. I am very happy, very happy to be here. And I wanted to invite you to open your Bibles to the Book of Esther, a book by a woman who has a very beautiful story and I'm sure that Esther's story is very similar, perhaps, to our stories. I think that each of us who may not have formally become a queen but have a very similar story, very similar to what this woman went through, a story of challenges, a story of so many conquests, a story of courage, a story of great determination, a story of being chosen by God to do something very big. I don't know if we're going to continue talking with that here because I move, I can't stand still. But it is a story that surely speaks volumes in our hearts.

I come from as Meche says, I am Brazilian, I was born in a very hot region of Brazil which is the northeast region, a region with many beaches, very beautiful beaches, I come from a Christian family, I come from my grandfather's family who already sleeps in The Lord was a pastor, my pastor, my grandmother, a woman of God who taught me many biblical principles, moral principles. I come from a family where my parents are Christians, cousins, uncles, cousins, they are pastors and they come from a family that, thank God, I had the opportunity to understand, to learn about the word of God. I was born in a Baptist church in Brazil, my whole family is Baptist and we learned a lot and I glorify the Lord because God in all things, he has a purpose in our lives, even for this fight that you may be here today, very beautiful, very well-groomed, very perfumed, and perhaps people will look at you and say, but your sister is so pretty, your sister is so pretty, she smells so good, but only God knows how her heart is. Because only God can fathom our heart, only God can fathom our soul, only God has the power to look inside oneself and say like this..., look, no, I can't Marlene, sorry, it doesn't work, it doesn't work with me. Sorry. I feel very stopped. And only God has the power to look inside one, that place that no one can look, someone can see his appearance, his way of being, his way of speaking, but only God can probe what is in his heart. Only God can know what is inside a well-hidden recess of your heart. Perhaps you have already shared, you had the opportunity to share many things like many people, but there is something inside of you that will be very hidden, that no one knows, but I want to tell you that the Lord knows.

And the theme that we use to be ministering this morning is do you understand where God is leading you? There are paths that the Lord has outlined for us, that we have no way of understanding, we do not have and no matter how hard we try to understand, we will not reach a conclusion until God leads us to the path that he has for us, to the place that he has for us. determined to arrive. Perhaps you, like me, have a story, you have an experience that is perhaps somewhat painful, bitter, somewhat sad, but I am sure of what I am telling you on this day, this morning, that the Lord is in control. God has never lost control of the path he is leading you on, nor will he ever lose it. Never, never, never will the Lord always be in control.

And this story that I wanted to share a little with you today is in Esther, chapter 4, verse 13 and 14. Do you understand me correctly? Yeah? Good, the Lord is good. Esther 4, 13:14 says so;

“…. Then said Mordecai to answer Esther, do not think that you will escape in the king's house more than any other Jew because if you are absolutely silent at this time respite and deliverance will come from somewhere else for the Jews, but you and your father's house will perish . And who knows if by this time he has reached the river..."

But the question that Mordecai his uncle, his cousin uncle was asking, he had an order, someone to ask Esther and Esther, her name means star in Persian culture, her name in Hebrew was Jadasa, it means a little murta, a small shrub with scented flowers, symbols of very pleasant things. And Esther was a girl like us, I think that all of you already know that story of Esther, a girl who had no parents, who was an orphan of father and mother and that her cousin uncle Mordecai sent her away to raise, educate and The word of the Lord says that Mordecai when he took Esther to educate her, to raise her, I believe that Mordecai as a man of God, as a man who knew the Lord, as a man who feared the Lord, in the depths of his heart, in his soul he I understood, I believed that God had a great purpose for Esther, for Jadasa.

And that proves to us so much in the word of God that when Mordecai, when the problem occurred with Queen Vashti, who was the wife of King Ahasuerus, that king in that province, a very, very rich, very large province, Ahasuerus He was a king who had great power over large provinces, over large cities, and the word of the Lord says that Vashti, as the wife of King Ahasuerus, was invited to appear, to appear before the king. The king who was her husband, Ahasuerus. At that time, when a king invited someone to appear before him, no one could deny a king's request. A request from the king was not like a request, it was more like a mandate, you have to present yourself and Vashti as his wife could not get out of those rules because as a wife she still had to obey, she had to be pleasing her husband. And she was called to appear before King Ahasuerus and the princes of that city, of that province, and she refused to go. And that bad example of Queen Vashtí for that town, for the king and for his subjects sounded like a great bad example. Because? Because Vashtí as queen, she could not afford to disobey her husband's command, because before becoming a husband he was a king. Then she could not refuse to appear in front of him. And how bad example? The king's subjects began to vindicate the king, that she had to be punished and the greatest punishment for her would be to lose her crown. She would no longer be queen in the province, she would no longer be the wife of King Ahasuerus.

And that brought great consequences for the life of Queen Vashtí because first she entered a path that we know very well, that when we disobey, disobedience brings great consequences. Disobedience in any area of our life brings great consequences, brings great results that are often not so good, they are marks in our lives and Queen Vashti losing her crown, losing her reign, the king issued a decree for girls to be invited young, pretty, precious to present themselves to King Ahasuerus, and one would be chosen, one who would be the future queen, who would replace the place of Queen Vashti, who had already lost her crown.

And the word of the Lord says that when Esther, despite being an orphan girl, despite not having parents, having been raised by her uncle Mordecai, Esther, what catches her attention in that story of Esther, many things They draw attention, but what strikes me in this example of Ester is that Ester didn't make excuses, she didn't make excuses to say, no, I'm a poor girl, I'm an orphan, I don't have a father, I don't I have a mother, I was raised by my uncle, maybe I don't have a good academic background for university, I don't have much knowledge, but one thing that strikes me in Ester, you know what it is, is obedience. She heard from her uncle Mordecai that he was a man of God and I'm sure he was led by the spirit of God, and not once in the book of Esther is God's name mentioned. But we can see the action of God, the hand of God there in the life of Esther, in a powerful way.

And many times we worry many times with the name and we forget that God is there. It was spoken here by Ana and I identify a lot with Ana because we went through stories in our lives of raising our children alone and we spent a very close time with Ana when we lived here in (...) when I congregated in that church, and we can see that When God is silent it is not because he is oblivious to our pain, it is not because he is oblivious to what we are going through or feeling. No, I can say that for you with great particularity, with great priority, because I have a past and I have gone through roads, I have crossed many valleys, because I know that before reaching a mountain the Lord will always lead us to pass through a valley, always sisters, always. Never forget about that. Always before reaching a mountain, there is a valley that we have to cross. And this valley many times, the valley is a place that nobody wants to be, nobody wants to be down, nobody wants to be alone, nobody wants to be sad, nobody wants to be in need, nobody wants to feel rejected but many times we all go through that valley, we passed through the valley of solitude. How long have I been through the valley of loneliness: 18 years now in August they will make me divorced, 18 years alone, alone, alone. But alone, alone, 18 years that not even a man looked at me.

When my mother came here every year she would say like this: my daughter, I can't understand why, I don't know how to say the word in Spanish (...) that bird that has very big eyes that is at night. Owl. Wow! What a difference. In Brazil we have a saying that the owl does not believe that its children are ugly. She thinks they are the prettiest and in Brazil there is that saying. And my mom used to say that, but I can't understand how it is that you, such a pretty woman, are my mom…..so pretty, so intelligent, being alone all that time. It will be possible that in this country you do not have a man who looks at you. And I told her, mommy, don't worry because everything has its time. Everything has its time. As it was said here by Esther, as it was read here in the word in Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, there is a time for everything. There is a time to cry, but there is a time to laugh, there is a time to raise, but there is a time to rejoice in the Lord. There is a time, sisters, there is a time for all purposes under heaven. The word of the Lord is very emphatic, it is very firm in that, there is a time for everything.

And Esther had to go through that time, a time of preparation. The word of the Lord says that when Esther got ready to be there with the other girls who were chosen by King Ahasuerus to be the future queen, Esther had a time of 12 months of preparation, 12 months of preparation. He had to prepare his body, with aromas, with so many things so that when the time came to appear before the king. But Ester was not certain, the conviction that she would be the chosen one. She did not know. But Esther at the time that was determined, the 12 months, one year, she did her part, she prepared herself, she prepared herself to appear before the king. And when he went to appear before the king, that person, that girl that the king extended the scepter would be the chosen one, and she had to be presented before him. And Ester was in front of that girl, it was a great challenge.

And what strikes me here is that Ester did not use the excuse of rejection, she did not use the excuse of loneliness, she did not use the excuse of complexes that she had, she did not use the excuse of frustrations, of traumas that she carried on herself. she, that perhaps some of us carry in our lives, carry the frustration that we wanted to reach a higher professional level and we could not reach it due to lack of financial resources, due to lack of opportunity, but Ester did not make excuses in front of the great challenge that was in front of her. And what strikes me is that even without making excuses, Esther knew that the Lord was giving her a great opportunity, a great challenge was before her.

How many of us do not face challenges in our lives. The challenge of coming to this country, getting here, breaking the language barrier, English, which I am trying to learn to this day. But before I reach 90 years of age I am going to learn perfectly. I am sure that before the 90s I will arrive, Marta, to speak English like that, without barriers, without barriers, without barriers.

But there are so many challenges ahead of us. There is the challenge of the language, the challenge of the bills that we have to pay every month and often the money falls short to pay. The responsibilities, the family that we leave in our countries to help them. There are so many challenges. And many times the challenge that all of us go through when we arrive in this country is the challenge of loneliness. Many times we feel alone, I remember that before my children arrived, Meche, I would come to church, I would sing praise and I would come for both services, because I would say, no, I have to stay, if there was a third service I would stay, because I did not want to be alone. I didn't want to be alone and I would stay here for the first service, I would arrive early at 8:30 and we would be here praying, preparing ourselves, we would come for rehearsals and we would be here. When we finished the services, he always had something for lunch, to eat. Wanda cooked rice with (…) which fascinates me, rice with black beans. I learned to eat Hispanic food and I assure you that I love it. And we always had something to do and then when I returned to the place where I was living, to my room, I sometimes felt very alone, because I felt part of my children. But there was a promise from God, but there was also a challenge before me to overcome loneliness, to fight to bring my children to this country because there was a promise.

You know one thing that we sisters can never forget is that even though we have many challenges before us, we have many giants that rise up before us, as the giant Goliath rose up before David. David was not afraid, he was not afraid, David faced, but David faced him, do you know why? Because David knew that before David was the Lord, before him he had the Lord, there was the challenge of the giant but there was also the presence of God that was on the life of David, that this presence, this anointing is what gave him strength and courage so that David could face that giant in the name of the Lord. So there are many challenges ahead of us, there are so many things that we go through. How many of us were rejected. I saw a story of a marriage, I was married to a pastor, my husband was a pastor, the father of my children in Brazil, and I had 3 children.

But before I got to that wedding, I went through a lot. I went through experiences that some of the sisters here know a little about my testimony. I, with two years of age, I was affected by autism and epilepsy. I was autistic. I did not speak, sisters. My mom says that today I talk too much. Today you have to tell me to shut up. But until I was 15, Diana, I didn't speak, I had beginnings of autism. I took medications controlled by a psychiatrist, by a neurologist. I had an accompaniment of psychologists from my country. I did not speak.

But sisters, what I want to bring to you today, and I want you to have that very clear in your minds and in your hearts, there is a promise from God about us. There is a promise from God about our children. There is a promise from God about your family. There is a promise from God about your marriage. Hallelujah! And the Lord did not forget any of the promises he made to him, none. I, you, can forget the promises we heard 20 years ago, or 15 years ago, but the Lord does not forget a single word. Not a single word the Lord forgets. He is going to do what he has promised to do, and sister, you believe that he is going to do it.

But there is one thing that I have learned with the Lord, that between the fulfillment of the promise there is a time of God's preparation. God is not going to give us anything if we do not first prepare ourselves to be ready to receive ourselves. God is going to us, God is going to allow us. It is not because he is bad, it is not because he is a Father who forgets us, he is not a Father who likes to see his children suffer. No, the Lord is a good Father. He is a wonderful Father and the Lord's own word tells us, your father and mother may abandon you, reject you, but the Lord will never forget you. The Lord will never forget us, sisters. We have to have that very clear in our mind, in our soul, in our spirit, in our heart. You may be going through a very difficult valley moment right now. She is going through a tough test in her marriage, maybe like me, she was rejected once. When my husband left I was 24 years old, I am 41, this year in October I will be 42 years old and I have been alone for 18 years. But the Lord takes care of me. The Lord has not forgotten me. And sisters, I can say that I was rejected by my husband, but I never was, I will never be rejected by the Lord. Hallelujah!

Do you know why? There is a promise from God, there is a word from God, there is a word from a man who is almighty, who takes care of us, in the smallest details, the smallest things, the Lord takes care of us. In everything, what we like to wear, what we like to eat, the Lord takes care of us.

And there was a word when my mother was pregnant, waiting because I am the first of 6 children that my mother has. And I am the first daughter and when my mother says that when she was pregnant the Lord (she used a pastor that she sleeps in the Lord) and told her, the girl that is in your womb will be a missionary, she will preach my word and where she could not reach, her voice will reach. There was a word of God pledged over my life. Psalm 139 tells us that the Lord probes us and knows us and he knows us, not now that we are grown up, or great. He knows us before we are formed, in our mother's womb. He already knew us. He knew what each one of us would be like, our characteristics, our personality, our temperament, our name, the color of our eyes, what our physical demeanor would be like, perhaps because I am strongly elegant, because I am not fat, I am strongly elegant. (….) strongly elegant, where are they? Where are they? Because I don't accept being called fat, I'm not fat, I'm strongly elegant. A little belly but (…)

But the Lord did a great honor in me, do you know why? Because I got a size 22 W. and now I'm at 16 and 14 W. But there was a path that I had to go through. There was a way, there was a way. And I want to go back to what I was talking about before, that when I was born, when I was two years old, I was attacked by this disease and my mother said, yes, Lord, where are the promises that you made me when my daughter was in my womb? ? You said my daughter would be a preacher of your word and she would preach your word, and she doesn't speak. She does not speak. See how things are, brothers. God many times will allow situations in our lives that will contradict the word he told us. Are you understanding? God is going to speak to you in some way, he is going to make you a promise, but the circumstances that surround us are going to try to lead us to believe that this is not going to happen. Hallelujah!

I feel the spirit of God that he's talking to someone here this morning. Look, sister, you may be going through circumstances, situations that are trying to endorse your faith, endorse your confidence, your conviction in the Lord, but I want to tell you today with the authority of the Lord, there is a word from God about your life There is a word from God about your marriage, there is a word from God about your children, there is a word from God about the ministry that he has to deliver to you.

There is a word of God, it is not the word of any person, it is the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord says that the Lord has his time, there is a time for restoration, but I want to tell you, before God does any work through your life, he knows what is the first work that he wants to do in your life, before that you can be used by the Lord, he wants to heal your life, he wants to heal your wounds, he wants you to forgive.

I remember when I arrived at this church, I had within me, despite being a Christian since I was born, I never knew anything of the world, I never drank, I never smoked, I never did anything that the world offers, because I come I came from a Christian family and I had a very big magua inside me: I loved my husband, the father of my children, he had left me for the treasurer of the church, he had gone with the treasurer and had left me with 2 children and one in my belly. I was waiting for my little son, Felipe, who to this day hasn't met his father. He is 16 years old and you can believe that I have had such a difficult task, so arduous, but the Lord has been there with me, to work in my son's life, to minister to my son's life, that my son is not going to burden him a magua of his father. He is not going to charge any rejection against his dad, but he is going to love him the same even though he abandoned him. Because the Lord never abandoned him. Oh hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

And when I came to this congregation, I brought such great pain in my soul, because my father, when my husband left, I did not have a place to live, with my two children and I was pregnant, I went to my father's house and One day my father put all the clothes, my children's clothes, in the middle of the room, and said, I don't want you here anymore because I have no obligation to take care of you, to support you, I already raised you and I have no obligation to raise your children. And I remember that on that day, I was going to take my clothes, take my children and I went to the street. I didn't go to my family's house, I went to nobody's house, I went to the street. But I was sure that the Lord would go to open a door for me because the Lord, as you say, squeezes but does not drown. He allows the test to test us but he will never abandon us, never, never will the Lord abandon us.

And I remember that that day my mother said like this, where my daughter and my grandchildren do not fit, I do not fit, and my father reconsidered and there I stayed in his house for almost 5 years and 6 months, living in that house and God He was working on me, because at first I totally depended on the Lord and on my father to eat, to dress myself and my children. And I passed through that valley and I said, Lord, where are your promises? Lord, where are you? I carried inside me a magua from my children's father, from my father, because now when I needed it most my father wanted to abandon me.

And I arrived at this church, Meche, I remember the name of the pastor, a Puerto Rican pastor, something like Colón. Something like that, Ronda Colón, this woman, I will never forget her. God spoke to me so loudly in that retreat that the woman left the place where she was, on the platform preaching, and went to where I was. But sisters, there was a pain in my chest and I said, I hit my chest and said, Lord, tear out this hole that I have, Lord, tear out that magua, I need to forgive the father of my children and my father. I cannot carry this dead person inside of me. Because the lack of forgiveness, sisters, is a dead person that one carries, it is a weight that one carries that does not belong to one, that does not belong to one. And I charged and I beat my chest and said, Lord, Lord, I want to serve you. Lord, I want to function in your house. Lord, I want to bear fruit for you, but whenever I wanted to seek God, that memory was in my mind, you have to forgive your father, you have to forgive your husband.

On that day, God used Pastor Wanda and she went to where I was and said, today the Lord frees you from these chains, today the Lord frees you and you will bear fruit, you will grow because I have a work in your life. But I needed to look for that, what we need many times is that we carry within us traumas from the past, memories of the past, and that many times they are impediments, they are stones that are in front of us, preventing us from passing, from crossing borders, from passing things that the Lord has established for us. It's like it's that mark, that line here, there's a line, that line is saying there's a limit here.

But I need to cross that limit, I have to dare to cross that limit, I have to have faith, I have to have strength, I have to have determination to pass that. If I want to advance, I know that I can advance, I need to break the limits. The limits that are often placed on our life, not by the Lord, more often by the devil, by the devil who sets limits on us that say so, you are not going to go beyond here, you are going to stay here, living with that problem, living with that rejection, living this unforgiveness because he knows, you know what? That the potential of God that there is on your life, he knows that the call that the Lord has on your life and he does not want any of us to advance, plus the role of the devil is to kill, steal and destroy. Kill your dreams, kill your dreams, the dream of overcoming yourself, the dream of being a woman filled with the spirit of God, the dream of being a woman used by God.

Many times we think that women used by God are only those who preach, they are only those who sing. No, you are a woman used by God. Do you know why? The Lord wants to raise you up as an intercessor, as a woman who can have a word to help another sister. You can be a woman who is going to help your sister carry this load, which that sister is carrying and who often finds herself without the strength to carry it.

And when the Lord freed me, when I opened my heart I told the Lord, I forgive the father of my children. Lord, I forgive my father because they abandoned me. But the Lord never abandoned me. He knows what we need and we need to understand that we have to have a father and son relationship with the Lord. We must be able to overcome those things, those limits that are imposed on us, you know when? When we understand and create a father-daughter relationship. Mainly we women have a very great affective lack, we were made by the Lord to be loved, to be cared for, to be protected, but we simply cannot expect that from men, from the husband, from the husband, from the son, we have to wait for that first from the Lord.

Because? I was abandoned, but I did not remain prostrate before them. The Lord gave me strength to break, the Lord gave me strength to go through that test and I can assure you, sisters, that it was not easy, it was very difficult. 3 children, alone, coming to this country, I raised my children practically alone, because I only have one sister here and I was often going through illness problems, but the Lord gave me grace, the Lord enabled me to be able to overcome.

How he enabled Esther to get to where God wanted to take her. Where did God want to take Esther? Esther would be the woman, the girl used by God to save an entire people, the Jewish people. The Jewish people, the destiny of that people, the Lord had placed before Esther. And Esther was sure that she could not understand which path the Lord was taking her, but one thing, sisters, God leads us to a path and this path will lead us to victory, this path will lead us to blessings, this path will lead us to to lead to a path of God's anointing, of God's presence in our lives. We can be tested, yes, while we are in this world, we are going to be tested. The Lord tells us that the Lord tests us in the day of affliction. We are tested like gold. Because? Because there is something sublime in us, something special given by God and that the Lord so that it can be unbuttoned, so that it can come out, we have to be tested by the Lord.

And I remember that when I released forgiveness for my father, for my husband, things in my ministerial life began to appear, to grow, to unfold in my life. I began to grow more in the Lord, I stopped being a bitter person, and became a happy person with the Lord, not looking at the circumstances that surrounded me, the lack of money, the scarcity, but I knew that the Lord It is there, the Lord was there, because I knew, I was not understanding which way the Lord was leading me, but I let myself be led by the way that the Lord was leading me. Because what we have to understand is that even if we cannot understand why we are going through this, we have to be very clear that the path we are taking is in the direction of the Lord, it will lead us to a path of blessing, we it will lead us to a path of blessing, it will lead us to a path of growth, it will lead us to a path of having experiences with the Lord.

And when I was 15 years old, the Lord healed me, the Lord healed me, I started to speak, I went through a whole process. I applaud the Lord because he is worthy. Only he could do that brothers. And I was a girl that my parents say that the doctors told them and my grandparents not to expect anything from me because I would not be normal like my brothers, I was not going to speak, I was not going to study, I was not going to to have children. Look, look, how the devil is a liar. See how the devil is a liar, brothers.

How many times has the devil said many times in front of us that we are not going to achieve, we are not going to achieve, that we cannot. They are lies from him. We can because we can all things in Christ who strengthens us, who strengthens us the Lord. You may be going through a big problem in your life today, but don't let that problem, don't bow down before that problem, don't bow down before it. I know that problems often afflict us and afflict our emotions, our hearts, our souls, we cry, we remain sad, but do not remain prostrate in front of that problem, fight, fight. Don't give up. We women have a power given by the Lord, we are persistent. We are persistent. If we are strongly elegant we want to be skinny. We fight. You do not know the effort I have made to lose weight. My God. My God. They can't imagine. And I love to eat. I love it I love it I love it. I always say, the servant of God was made for two things, to give glory to God and to eat. Because what the believer does not take, the believer eats. Didn't they understand? What we as Christians do not take, we eat. Now they understood. We eat because it is good to eat. (………………………….. walk, walk and walk). And it doesn't even hold up, but we like to eat.

And I went through this whole process when I left here from Boston, the Lord took me to New Jersey, to New York, I went to work with the women's ministry, we spent 5 years there and the Lord made me go through another valley. It passed me through a very hard valley, which I thought I was not going to get through. I had cancer two years ago in the throat, in the thyroid. All my hair fell out, I was down to size 22, I was down to 250lbs. Imagine me at that size. Imagine me, short at 250 pounds. It was a walking ball, a ball. And I passed. When that doctor told me that I had thyroid cancer, sisters, I can assure you that I thought that at that time all the promises of the Lord came to my mind, and I say, Lord, I do not accept that. What the doctor is saying, that is not your word on my life. About my life a word from the Lord, it is a promise, it is a promise. And I say, Lord, I do not accept that, I have my children to raise, I have, Lord, many things to do in your work, in your house, I cannot.

And sisters, I left that hospital with a diagnosis of cancer and the doctor says, you are going to have to take oral medicines because they were there at the beginning and she saw that I was not yet ready to do direct chemotherapy. And I told her, doctor, I'm not ready to lose my hair, I'm not ready for that. And she said, we are going to try to give you the oral medicine. But it will be the same effect of chemotherapy. And I said, at least don't send me to the hospital for chemotherapy because I'm not ready. And she passed the medicines, they did a lot of tests on me and it was confirmed and I started taking the medicine, and those medicines made me very nauseated, a lot of urges to vomit, a lot of leg cramps. I had a church service preaching, singing and there were so many cramps that I went to lie down in one place, I could have fallen. And yes, they did, and I spent 6 months with that diagnosis without telling anyone. My mom didn't know, my sister didn't know, my children didn't know, my pastor didn't know. And 6 months, I say, Lord, I am going to give you a test. The Lord tells us that we can test you and see that you are good. And I say, Lord, I have a promise and your word says that whoever has a promise from the Lord does not die before the promise is fulfilled. It is the word of God.

What we lack, do you know what it is many times, sisters? It is knowing the word and claiming what we have the right to speak. The word of the Lord is for us, it is for us to take possession of it, it is to speak, it is to vindicate, Lord, I am your daughter. Lord, there is a promise from you in my life. There is a word of yours in my life. I do not accept this situation. But that many times when the fights come we accommodate ourselves. Oh, I have cancer, I know I'm going to die. And we prostrate ourselves in an armchair and we wait for death with our mouths open, without eating, that's worse, because eating is good, without eating.

I say, no, I'm not going to sit here in this chair with my mouth open and without eating, much less. Now that I'm going to eat, I want to be a woman with a full belly. I will not stop eating. But I went through the test, 6 months later I was in my church, in the early morning prayer, from 10 to midnight that every day we had (...) that prayer and I was crying so much, so much on that day, I was going through it so bad, so bad, and I say to him, Lord, will it be that I am going to wake up tomorrow because I felt so bad? My hair had already fallen out a lot. I had little hair because I always had a lot of hair and it scared me, and those pains that I felt, I say, Lord, help me. And the brothers asked me, sister, why is your hair down? And I said, because I am under stress. And stress does that? And I say, yes, it does. But I said, Lord, I am not going to open my mouth because until the last moment I believe in miracles, I believe. And God on that Monday night, my pastor used, and he said like this, (…) I don't know what is happening but the Lord shows me that a disease is on the body and the Lord wants to cure her tonight, wants to heal her. Look brothers, God knows us, sisters. He knows how far you and I can go. He knows our limitations. He knows how far we endure. And on that day, God used Pastor Fernando, it was night, and he told me, look, sister (...) I don't know what's going on. And I knew in my spirit that the pastor knew what was wrong with me. But he wanted to say that I had a malignant disease, but he did not have the courage to tell me that the Lord had revealed cancer to him. And when we were in a circle with many brothers praying, I said to the pastor, I know that I am not flesh and blood that revealed to you, it was the Lord because I have cancer.

Brothers, the faces of the others remained like this, looking at me. And it was the time, brothers, that I sang the most. And many times I went to sing with pain here that you can't imagine, here it itched as if I had some needles, it itched here. It was a lot of pain and the days that I was worse, the nights that I went to church, for services, were the days that the pastor called me the most to sing. I tell him, Lord, he is going to kill me today. I am going to die here on that altar, I am going to die singing here. It was true, sister, I assured like this in the pulpit, I said, Lord, give me strength to sing. And sister (...) repeat the hymn. And me singing and him, repeat again. I say, Lord, he is going to kill me today. Today he kills me. But the Lord was leading me on a path of miracles, it was the path that God was taking me, it was the path of miracles. Oh hallelujah!

And I discovered something with the Lord, do you know when we have more to sing? When things are worse. When things got black, look sister, open your big mouth and start singing. Don't worry if you're in tune, if you're out of tune. Don't worry if your voice is pretty, don't worry. Sings. Worship the Lord. The path of victory, the path of miracles is your worshiping the Lord in the midst of the test. When things get ugly, start to worship and say, Lord, I am not understanding anything, I am not understanding why I am going through this but I want to praise you, Lord, because I know that you are in control of this situation, I I know my husband is not in your way, he is not in your presence, but he is in the palm of your hands, Lord. I know that my son is not serving, but I know that it is a promise from you about the life of my son and my daughter.

That is why we have to worship with God when everything is fine, it is easy, it is easy, when we have the money to pay the rent, the mortgage, and to pay for the car, to buy food, to go to the mall and buy clothes, but when there is no money, when there is no health, there is no husband, when there are no children nearby, when there are many struggles, it is difficult to adore God. But in this hour that the Lord wants a sacrifice from us. Oh the Lord is not going to ask us for anything that does not cost us, sisters. Because the Lord often wants to see in us the sacrifice, the dedication that we have to have. When things get bad and difficult there is time to worship the Lord, there is time to glorify the Lord.

I went through all that cancer process and after 9 months when I finished all the treatment I went back to the university hospital and they found that I had no more cancer in my throat. Hallelujah! Oh sisters that day was the happiest day of my life. When I did that biopsy and the doctor said that there is no more cancer in the thyroid, we are not going to need to operate on you, we are not going to need anything. You have to always be doing checkups, you have to take your medicines every day on an empty stomach, you have to take care of yourself, but the cancer period developed diabetes in me. Look sisters, it was cancer and she had diabetes, I say, Lord, the Lord rebukes if (...) because diabetes is the devil's wife. (….) What a pastor, who says like this, look, rebuke that devil because diabetes is the devil's woman. I said, that's just what I was missing. That's just what I was missing. Devil, diabetes, look. The Lord rebuke.

Out! I am the exclusive property of the Lord. I am his priority. I developed diabetes, sisters, and started taking insulin. I say, Sir, I do not accept insulin in me. I do not accept, Lord, I do not accept, I do not accept, sisters, I arrived in such a bad state that I was in a pre-coma, I was hospitalized for 3 days in the university hospital and I was there fighting but confident, delivering the word of the Lord on my life. I passed, today I have to take, not insulin thank God, but I have to take my medicine three times a day, I have to take care of myself with food. Oh my God, the rice that I like so much. Oh. I have to eat every two hours, I always have to carry a cookie or a piece of fruit in my bag, because sometimes sugar drops a lot and sometimes it rises, but I'm there. Diabetes is not going to stop me. Diabetes is not going to stop me from talking about the Lord. Diabetes is not going to shut my mouth. Diabetes or any disease is not going to let me say that the Lord is good. Because he is good. Diabetes or no diabetes, the Lord is good. With or without a fight, the Lord is still good.

So, sisters, we must be clear in our lives, in our minds, that the Lord has never lost or will lose control of our lives. You may be going through a problem, God may be taking you down a path that you are not understanding now. But don't murmur, don't murmur. Do you understand murmuring? Claim, do not complain to the Lord. Praise him, praise him. The secret is to praise the Lord. Lord, I don't understand anything, it's hurting, Lord, it's hurting, because whoever wants to go through a fight, nobody wants to go through a fight. But many times God allows the struggle in our life, it is not to kill us, it is not to make us prostrate, but so that we can lift our spirits, need our faith, declare, use our mouth. Because many times it is easier to claim than to praise the Lord, which is to declare a word.

And the Lord wants from us, sisters, that we can be positioned before him. We are in front of the problem and say, problem I know that you are here. Problem, I know that you are in my marriage; problem I know that you are here in the lives of my children who may be on drugs; problem I know that you are in this financial problem that I am losing the house, I am losing everything that I built with so much effort, with so much work; I know you are in trouble, but I want to present you, problem, to my God, to a God who is great, who is greater than you, problem, and who is going to give me strength and victory. That is what we have to understand, sisters, that the Lord is in control, that the path that he is taking us we may not be understanding anything, now, nothing, but this path that he is taking you now is going to be a path that henceforth, after you cross this valley, the Lord has a mountain to (find). And the mountain speaks knows what? Of victory, the mountain speaks of the prominent place, the mountain speaks of a place that is reached in the mountain by those who climb the mountain and go up, and go up, and go up. It is not easy to climb a mountain, it is not easy, it is difficult. You have to have a preparation. And the Lord is using that time to prepare you for where he wants to take you.

The women here in this place now, in this congregation, women that God is going to raise up greatly, using through the word, through prophecies, through songs, through praise, women intercessors, and sisters, don't worry about the title that you are going to have, do not worry about the title, worry about being a servant of the Lord, a woman who understands the call of God, a woman is in a position to obey the call of God, a woman who fears the Lord, a woman who loves the Lord, a woman who wants to serve the Lord and sisters, we know that the man is the head of the family but we women are the spiritual column. What does the column do? It supports the body. The head is here, we are never going to be greater than our husbands, even if your husband is not a Christian, if he is a man who does not serve the Lord, he is still the head. And we have to be submissive, we have to be submissive. Submission is a tremendous principle that if we don't respect it and don't need it in our lives, we're going to have problems. Submission first to God, to our leaders, to our pastors, to our husband, to our bosses at work. We always have to have someone who is always above us and so we have to be submissive.

And one thing that I have learned from the Lord, we are the spiritual column, the husband can command, the husband can have the last word because he has, but we through our knees on the floor, praying to the Lord, we are going to conquer tremendous things, we are going to testify about our children. Sisters, how many times did I say, Lord, am I going to be able to raise my children? It's true. Diana, a few days ago I was looking at the photos of my husband with my children when they arrived here, little ones. Felipe was 6 years old and I said, if the Lord helps me. How many brothers here in this congregation dressed my children, including Ela and her husband, Ana, and so many others here, Marta, so much that they did for me, so much that they helped me when I needed food, in the food that I needed the money. Meche, the pastor, so many brothers, Jeannette, so many people here in this church. Sisters, I went down that path to be where I am today.

I keep passing my tests, yes, but not like before, not like before. The Lord led me down a path and has me leading me, I know that this path will result in a blessing for my life. How many times did I say, Lord, will nobody ever look at me? My God. Sir, 18 years old, grandmother soon. Alone. But the Lord has prepared someone for me, a widowed pastor, a man of God, and the Lord…. It is interesting, brothers, that when the Lord brought me to that church I said, Lord, why am I in that church that speaks Spanish? I learned to speak Spanish here, in this church, it was here with the brothers, speaking portuñol, and the brothers teaching me. Hey, Maira, portuñol. Gonzalo praised me. And I say, dear Lord, how am I going to do, Lord? I sing in praise. But the brothers were patient with me, they taught me and the time I spent here was so good.

And today look where the Lord is taking me. My children are practically raised, all three of them are serving the Lord. Sisters, for me that is the greatest blessing that the Lord could give me. Look, if the Lord didn't want to give me a husband, I would be sad, but fine. If the Lord doesn't want me to lose weight, I was sad, but that's okay. But the greatest joy, the greatest joy that I have is knowing that my children serve the Lord. My daughter sings in the church, my youngest son also works in the church, my older son plays the keyboard in the church. He is far from me, he is living in another state but he is firm with the Lord, serving the Lord. God has led my son to a very big process of faith. He is in college, he is studying and the Lord opened that door for us and now we received the news, last month that he is going to have a scholarship for 6 months, I will not need to pay for his college. Sisters, this is a great blessing for me because I know, I never lost focus on the Lord, my (...) the Lord, and I know the paths that he allowed me to go through that I did not understand but I continued, continued, no I was prostrate in front of the problem. Oh, she has no husband, I am abandoned alone, 3 children and now I am going to die. No, no, I didn't stay like that. I did not stay like this. How many times, Meche, we came for the service and I was in praise with the girls and very happy, and when the pastor later called me to go to the front, to minister to us I cried, cried, the Lord helps me, God gives me strength because I have no strength, Lord. I don't have strength.

Sisters, we are not super women, we are not super Christian super women who often have difficult moments in our lives, but we cannot stay in front of them.