BOUNCE BACK | OCTOBER 2026 SERMON SERIES

Part 4 | Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Nashville | October 25, 2026

Watch the full Sunday service: https://bit.ly/4jzlVh0

Prayer

Father, we thank You now. Thank You for this moment that we have come to center on Your word. We magnify Your name. Speak to us, that clarity and understanding may be ours because of what we are about to receive. And God, we thank You for Your power to transform lives. We pray that somebody will be changed forever as a result of what’s about to happen in this place. In Jesus’ name. Everybody said, Amen.

I. INTRODUCTION

Job 42:10 (NKJV)

And the LORD restored Job’s losses

when he prayed for his friends.

Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much

as he had before.

Today, there is something in all of us that longs for restoration, particularly because we know a God who specializes in restoring.

• A God who can restore what’s broken.
• A God who can heal what is wounded.
• A God who can recover what was lost.
• A God who can give us strength in places we never imagined we might need it.

One of the greatest challenges of faith is learning how to respond when life does not turn out the way you expected it. When life starts lashing, it can challenge even the best of us, because it is easier to praise God when the doors are opening and the money is flowing, the family is doing well, and everything seems to be right where you wanted it to be. But what happens when the same life you prayed for starts falling apart? What do you do with the diagnosis you never expected? What happens when the relationship you invested in starts to unravel? What happens when the people you thought would stand with you start to walk away? What do you do when you’ve been faithful to God, but you find yourself in a season you never thought you’d find yourself in? That’s where the story of Job is today. It is a story about when life starts lashing, what will be your reply?

Job is found in the section of books in the Bible called wisdom literature, where we gain wisdom, both devotional and theological, and we get an understanding of who God is. The books of Proverbs and Psalms and Ecclesiastes and Job all point us to a God who is righteous, a God whose plans unfold before our very lives. The fact of it is that the book of Job wrestles with this tension: why do bad things happen to someone who is righteous? In biblical days, it was clear that the theological premise by which they operated was that whatever one did good, good would be the consequence, and whatever one did bad, they would experience the consequences of their actions negatively. What we learn in the book of Job is that God calls him one who shunned evil, one who was righteous before God, who loved God with all of his heart.

We learn that Job disrupts this whole narrative that doing good automatically brings you good and exemption from bad, because what we learn from this text today is that you can dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s and still experience something you never expected to experience. There are no exemptions from trouble in your life. But what we will discover today, people of God, is that even though you find yourself in a chapter you never imagined you’d be in, that will not be the final chapter of your story. God controls how the story is going to end. And that’s why today, as you hear this word, I want you to remind somebody: just stay tuned, because your comeback is on the way. I don’t care how people have diagnosed it, what people have said about it. Understand, it really ain’t over until God says it’s over.

In this text today we will discover something quite powerful. Job is minding his own business. Now let’s understand something. Let me contemporize the story of Job so you can clearly understand where this is going. Here is a man who has immense wealth. As a matter of fact, if Job were living today, Elon Musk would be looking up to him. Job was incredibly wealthy in proportion to the place where he lived. Job had livestock and cattle. He trusted God. He was a man of great resources. He was a man of great righteousness. Job did all these things right.

And imagine Job just living his best life, and over his head, unbeknownst to him, there was a conversation taking place between Satan and God. It is a cosmic conversation. Satan has gone up and down the earth, and God says, “Where are you going?” And Satan says, “I’m looking for somebody to terrorize. I’m looking for somebody to attack.” And God offers up Job without Job’s permission. God literally offers him up. You would think that God would at least consult with Job and say, “Get ready, this is going to come.” But God never consults with us when He allows stuff to happen to us. “Have you considered My servant Job?” And Satan says, “I thought about it. I really did. But the reason why I could not get him is because You got a hedge around him.”

That’s enough to make somebody shout right there, because the reason why some things did not happen to you was because God had you in protective custody. There were some things that should’ve happened, that could’ve happened, but God kept you with a covering around you.

This was the deal, ladies and gentlemen. Please hear me loud and clear. God says, “I’ll remove the hedge, and I’ll let you attack Job, but you cannot take his life. That belongs to Me. You have limited authority. I will allow you to go and wreak havoc on his life.” And there was a systematic satanic attack upon a man who’s unaware that his destiny is being discussed over his head.

And Satan comes in and says, “I know what’s going to happen. If You let me attack him like that, he’s gonna curse You to Your face. As a matter of fact, God, the only reason why he’s trusting You is because look how You blessed him. The only reason why he’s faithful… look, who wouldn’t trust You with all the things that Job has?”

So therefore, a systematic attack begins to happen. Economically, all of Job’s cattle are now lost. Look at Job’s stock market. Look at his 401(k) fall. Look at Job’s finances fall, go down to nothing. And while that’s happening, now Job encounters a physiological attack upon his body. Now he has a disease whereby boils are all over his body, and pus begins to ooze out of them, but there is no remedy. And when the sheets are on his back, when they come to change the sheets, it rips the skin off of him. It’s an excruciating disease.

Now, coupled with that, he has to deal with a sociological issue, because now his friends have come, and they’re looking at him, and now they are accusing him: “Perhaps you have done something to deserve this.” Now he has to deal with a domestic issue, because his own wife, who is now fed up watching him deal with this excruciating pain, watching this go on, looks at him and says, “You should curse God and die.” Why? Because the wife is not only watching her husband go through that, but now all 10 of their children have died in a mysterious wind. Not one child, but all 10 have died.

And so now, not only does Job deal with an economic issue, and not only does he deal with a physiological issue, not only does he deal with a sociological issue and a domestic issue, but Job now has to deal with a psychological or emotional issue, because that would mess with anybody’s mind. He begins to wonder whether his actual day of birth was even necessary. He curses the very day he was born. And now theologically, he begins to wrestle with God, and he begins to raise questions to God.

Somebody up in here today knows what it’s like to not just have one thing, but one thing after the next thing. Systematically, the devil is trying to break you down, not knowing the whole time that God is gonna use this to raise you back up. Not knowing it ain’t over just because it looks that bad. Somebody up in here today, I need you to hear this word, because God’s gonna give you a word: no matter how bad it looks right now, stay tuned, because your comeback is right around the corner.

II. DON’T CRASH OUT WHEN LIFE CRASHES ON YOU

Job 1:20

Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head;

and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

What does Job teach us in this moment today? What lessons can we learn? I’m glad you asked. Here’s the first one: when life crashes in on you, don’t you crash out. Somebody say, “Don’t crash out.”

Young people have a phrase, and they call it crashing out. Crashing out is when you allow frustration and anger and disappointment and pressure to push you to a place where it causes damage in your future. When somebody allows one painful moment to make them say something that they cannot take back, or to walk away from something they should’ve never walked away from, or to do something that costs them more than their original problem ever did.

• Somebody disrespects you, and you crash out.
• Somebody betrays you, and you crash out.
• Somebody challenges your character, and you crash out.

Life will hit you with one unexpected blow after the next, but just because it hits you like that doesn’t mean you have to crash out. Job teaches us that when life crashes in on you, you don’t have to lose your mind. You don’t have to crash out. All you gotta do is turn to what you’ve been standing on before life began turning on you.

A. God knew you could handle it.

Job 1:21

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

and naked shall I return there.

The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;

blessed be the name of the LORD.

Let me talk to somebody and let you know: it’s OK to tear your robe. It’s OK to go through a season where you’re angry. It’s OK to tell God, “I don’t like how this feels.” You don’t have to be so super spiritual that you act like you can’t be real with God. After that kind of loss, after that kind of attack, anybody in their right mind would say, “I don’t like how this feels, Lord. This hurts.” God can handle your pain. God can handle your aggression. He can handle your questions.

But people of God, may I help you understand something? Please hear me loud and clear. Whatever you’re going through right now, God knew you could handle it. God chose Job. Why? Because God saw something in Job. He knew Job would not make Him look bad going through what he was going through. And God saw something in you that you can’t see in yourself. You’re wondering why God chose you to go through this and not somebody else? Because God knew you could handle it. He knew if anybody was gonna make it look good, it was gonna be you. If anybody was going to show up, it was going to be you. If anybody was going to give Him glory, it was going to be you.

Wait a minute. I know some of you are saying, “But Pastor, you don’t understand. I’m going through it right now and I’m crying uncle, and I don’t feel like I’m representing God like I ought to represent God.” But can I tell you something? You can handle this. And the reason I know you can handle it is because you are handling it right now. It has not taken you out. Why? Because you are here, or you are watching me right now, and you’re in your right mind. You ought to give God glory, and give yourself some credit that you are stronger than you ever thought you were. There were some things that should’ve broke you, but you’re still here. Some things should’ve taken you out, but you’re still here, because everything you’ve gone through has prepared you to handle what you’re going through right now. Now God can trust you with trouble, because He knows you can handle what He allows to happen in your life.

B. Worship through it.

Job 1:20

Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head;

and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

Psalm 34:1

I will bless the LORD at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

And here is the deal. What does Job teach us? “How do I get through this, Pastor?” I’ll tell you how: you’ve got to worship through it. I need somebody to shout, “Worship through it.” Come on, shout it again and say, “Worship through it.” People of God, Job tore his robe, Job shaved his head, Job sat on the ground, and Job began to worship.

Do you understand what worship is? Worship is not a reaction to what God does. Worship is a response to who God is. And sometimes God may not do what you want God to do, but you don’t fold your arms and put your lip out and have an attitude because you didn’t get your way. Lord, deliver me from all these spoiled believers who only respond to God in transactions.

The way God knew He could trust Job is because Job’s relationship was not transactional. It was rooted in truth. It was not based on consequence; it was rooted in conviction. And when you’re saying, “God, listen. I’m not just responding to You based on what You do.” Because if You don’t do what I want You to do, I’ll disconnect, stop coming to church, have my lip stuck out. “But I understand who You are. Just because I didn’t get the job don’t stop You from being holy. Just because I didn’t get healed don’t stop You from being a healer. So what I’m gonna learn how to do is lift up my hands, hold my head up, open up my mouth, and give You glory because of who You are. Because God, I know who You are. And in the midst of it, I’ve learned how to worship You, God, with tears in my eyes. I’ve learned how to worship You, God. So if You don’t heal me, I’ll still worship You. If I don’t get the job, I’ll still bless Your name.”

Who am I talking to up in here today?

When peace like a river attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Who am I talking to? I’ve had good days and bad days, hills to climb, but when I look around, all of my good days outweigh my bad days. I won’t complain. God’s been good to me.

You got a choice. You can whine through this, or you can worship your God through this. Somebody needs to know there’s power when you worship through it. With tears in your eyes, worship through it. When it don’t make sense, worship through it.

III. THIS SEASON WILL REVEAL THE STRENGTH OF YOUR RELATIONSHIPS

Job 2:9

Do you still hold fast to your integrity?

Curse God and die!

Job 2:13

So they sat down with him on the ground

seven days and seven nights,

and no one spoke a word to him,

for they saw that his grief was very great.

Here’s the deal. Wait a minute, I wanna go a little deeper and tell you something: this season is gonna reveal the strength of your relationships. People of God, one of the most difficult discoveries in your life is that everybody who stands near you when things are going well may not necessarily stand with you when things go wrong. When you are successful, people wanna be around you. When doors are open, the invitations are flowing, when your name is being celebrated, everybody wants to be on your IG page. They wanna be on your timeline. But you will not discover the strength of your relationships during seasons of celebration. You will learn them during seasons of crisis.

• You find out who can celebrate you when you’re hurting.
• You find out who can encourage you when your heart is broken.
• You find out who can protect your name in rooms when you’re not present.

Your real friends will show up in crisis, because trouble will always reveal your tribe.

And let’s be very clear: Job has to evaluate his relationships. First, at home. Be very careful. Do not be so hard on Job’s wife, because the Bible says in chapter 2, verse 9, she looked at her husband and asked if he still held fast to his integrity, and told him to curse God and die. Please understand, the wife is suffering too. She lost 10 of her children. She’s watching her husband endure excruciating physical pain, and we should not overlook her grief or reduce her to one statement made in a moment of anguish. But people of God, her words show us how deeply tragedy has shaken her. And Job is trying to manage his wife’s emotions while also trying to hold fast to his integrity with God.

And then to top it all, now Job has to deal with his friends, because in Job chapter 2, verse 13, the Bible says that Job’s friends came and sat with him seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word, for they saw that his grief was very great. We’ve got to applaud them, because initially they did the right thing. They showed up. They sat down and said nothing. And may I encourage somebody, and help you understand, that’s one of the most powerful things you can do when people are grieving, when people are hurting. Just show up, sit down, be quiet, and let your presence represent the presence of God.

Where we mess up is we try to put theological language in places where God never told us to. People are hurting, people lost a loved one, and you come and say, “God needed another flower in His garden.” Shut up! Just sit down and be quiet. You’re making it go from bad to worse. God didn’t need no flower for His garden. You’re trying to make it worse. Y’all gotta learn there’s power in just being present. Sit down and pray for me.

A. Manage misunderstanding.

Proverbs 18:13

He who answers a matter before he hears it,

it is folly and shame to him.

The Bible says it actually went from bad to worse, because when they opened up their mouths, they began leveling accusations. Because in their day, they had to assume that if you had experienced something as severe as this, you must’ve done something wrong. “Job, what did you do?” And now they are leveling accusations at Job. And you know what Job does? He doesn’t respond to it.

Because there comes a moment in your life when you cannot give energy to people who do not have the ability to interpret what God is doing in your life. Sometimes you feel the need to try to defend yourself, try to clap back, but you’ve got to learn the power of being quiet. You’ve got to learn the power of not responding to ignant. You see, I’ve learned there’s a difference between responding to ignorance and not responding to ignant. I give you a pass on being ignorant, because that means you have yet to be enlightened. But when you ignant, it means you know better and still don’t want to do better. Can I talk to somebody?

Touch your neighbor and say, “Leave people alone.” Stop trying to respond. Stop trying to do a comeback in the comment section. Turn it over to the Lord and let God fight your battle. God will eventually fight his battle, and tell his friends that God would deal with them based on Job’s prayer.

But can I help you understand something, people of God? There comes a moment in your life that you’ve got to rely on the sovereignty of God. You’ve got to manage misunderstanding. People will not understand, but you’ve got to be willing to manage. You’ve got to be willing to deal with people who don’t know how to diagnose your situation, and still be true to who you are.

B. Trust the sovereignty of God.

Job 13:15

Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

Job 38:4

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?

Tell Me, if you have understanding.

And while you’re trying to manage that misunderstanding, you’ve got to trust the sovereignty of God. I need somebody to shout, “Trust God.” Shout it again and say, “Trust God.” “What do you mean, Pastor, when you say the sovereignty of God?” I’ll tell you. The sovereignty of God says that God can do whatever He wants to do, when He wants to do it, and God can impose His will upon our lives without our permission. And there comes a moment when God says, “You can question Me. You can ask Me whatever you want, but I am not obligated to respond.”

May I help you understand: whatever question you have, God can handle it. Whatever you level at God, God can handle it. But you’ve got to be OK knowing that God is sovereign, and whatever God does, even though you may not understand, His ways are always right. You may not understand it now, but we’ll understand it better by and by.

There comes a moment you’ve got to trust God, though you question God. Job begins to have a conversation with God, and that conversation is chronicled in the book of Job. As a matter of fact, God handles every request that Job has. And even though God does not give Job every detail as to why this has happened, God gives Job Himself. In other words: “God, You ain’t got to explain to me why, as long as You keep reminding me who You are. You don’t have to explain to me why this is happening. Just remind me who is in control.” When you know who is in control, you can handle what you deal with, and you can handle how you’re gonna come up out of it.

And do you know what God does? Watch this. I love this. There’s something very powerful in this text you cannot miss, because in chapter 38, around verse 4, God turns the tables on Job. “Job, you’re asking Me questions, but I got a few questions for you. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?”

“Job, you got all these questions for Me, but can I ask you, where were you when I formed the world? Where were you when I put the sun to work the day shift and the moon to work the night shift? When I flung the stars on the backdrop of the universe, and I put wall-to-wall carpet on the earth and called it grass? Where were you when I created the galaxies of the universe? And I’m holding all of that together. Don’t you know I could hold your little life together? You wonder about Me, but I’ve been holding this universe together. Whatever you deal with, I got the whole world in My hands.”

Somebody up in here today, when you begin to realize that God’s got it under control, you can step back and say, “God, I trust You. I don’t understand it, but I trust You. I got tears in my eyes, but I trust You.” Job looks at the boils on his body. Job looks at the caskets of his children. Job looks at the grief on his wife’s face. And Job looks up at God and says, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

There comes a moment you’ve got to trust God. That’s why grandmother used to sing, “I’m gonna trust in the Lord till I die. I’m gonna treat everybody right,” because she understood the power of trusting God. You’ve got to trust Him even when you can’t trace Him.

IV. YOUR LATTER IS ABOUT TO LOOK LARGER

Job 42:10

And the LORD restored Job’s losses

when he prayed for his friends.

Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much

as he had before.

Job 42:12

Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job

more than his beginning.

But wait, wait. Let me wrap this up. Let me pull this in, because I wanna get personal. But I wanna make an announcement, and I don’t know who it’s for. Just a moment: your latter is about to look larger.

Job’s story does not end in this crisis. His story does not end with the funeral. The story does not end with boils on his body. His story does not end with accusations from his friends. It does not end with Job’s questions. His story ends with restoration.

Thank You, Jesus. Are y’all getting this? It says now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. But you’ve got to understand this in order to put it in perspective. Some of y’all missed your shout, because restoration is not about money. God was still with His community. His brothers and sisters came to him. People who knew him came to comfort him, and his life continued. The story does not suggest every loss will be reversed in exactly the same way, or that every believer will receive twice as much material wealth. Job’s restoration is a testimony of God’s freedom and God’s power, not a formula that guarantees every circumstance will unfold identically. But it does teach us that suffering does not have to be the end of your story.

A. When you pray for them, God turns it for you.

Job 42:8

Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams,

go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering;

and My servant Job shall pray for you.

For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly;

because you have not spoken of Me what is right,

as My servant Job has.

Matthew 5:44

Love your enemies, bless those who curse you,

do good to those who hate you,

and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

Here is the deal: the latter will be greater when you pray for them. God will turn it for you. Pray. Pray for who? When Job prayed for his friends, then God turned his situation around. There are some of you who’ve been asking, “When is God gonna turn my situation around?” And the problem is, God’s waiting to see: are you willing to pray?

• Are you willing to pray for people that didn’t understand you?
• Are you going to pray for people who falsely accused you?
• Are you willing to pray for people who disconnected from you?

Because God cannot take you into the next season with bitterness in your heart. God wants to know: can you love, and can you pray, according to Matthew chapter 5, for those who despitefully use you? Can you do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you?

In this season, you need too much from God not to pray. You need too much from God going into the next season not to pray. Tell somebody, “Pray for them.” Pray for them, for they did not understand the hand of God on your life. They don’t understand that God ain’t done with you yet. They didn’t have the ability to really comprehend the greatness that was on your life. So you’ve got to take the moment to pray.  Just because I pray don’t mean I’ve got to give you access in my life. I just gotta forgive you, and release this from my spirit, so I don’t walk into bitterness and unforgiveness. Pray until God turns that thing around. Somebody knows the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Somebody shout, “Pray.”

B. Get ready for a twice testimony.

Job 42:12 tells us that the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. His livestock doubled. His resources increased. His family life continued, and he lived to see four generations of descendants.

Job 42:5

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees You.

Wait, wait, I want to leave this with you. I wanna get personal. I want you to hear this. I want you to hear this, people of God: this is the season to get ready for a twice testimony. OK? Get ready for a twice testimony. I can’t give you another interpretation. Look at somebody next to you and tell ’em, “You’re due for double.” OK. Let me get real.

Job 42 tells us that the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. So his livestock doubled, his resources increased, his lifespan continued. But don’t miss this, and he lived, watch this, to see four generations. When you keep hitting four generations: Job lived to see four generations of descendants.

Now, now, I wanna go deeper, because our testimony is not simply being able to say I got back what I lost. It’s being able to testify: I discovered that God could sustain me through what I lost, and He could still give me a future beyond it. Job got to the point of experiencing God for himself. In chapter 42, Job says, based on what he’s been through, that he had heard of God by the hearing of the ear, but now his eye sees Him.

• I heard sermons about You, God, but after all I’ve gone through, I see you for myself.
• I heard You were a healer, but now I see for myself.
• I heard You were a way-maker, but now I see for myself.
• I heard You were a peace-giver and a provider, but now I see for myself.

My testimony is, I don’t just come out with more than I had; I come out knowing God in a deeper way. So I came out with scars, but I also came out with wisdom. I came out with pain, but I also came out with evidence of God’s grace.

And I wanna be careful. Listen to me. Listen, just be seated. I wanna be careful with this idea of double, because Job lost 10 children, and children were not interchangeable possessions. His first 10 children were precious, and their deaths were devastating. The text does not say that the birth of another generation erased the grief of the first. Restoration does not mean pretending the past never happened. For some of us, the comeback is not getting the exact same thing back. It’s being given the grace to live again after a devastating loss. Would you just look at somebody and say, “God is about to make you live again.” It’s discovering joy after grief. It’s finding purpose after disappointment.

A PERSONAL TESTIMONY: MY CHAPTER 1 AND 2

So there are some of you today in this sanctuary, and even around the world, allow me this personal privilege to testify. You have come to know me in my chapter 42. It’s not your fault; you came to this ministry when you came to it, and the timing of when you came, to God be the glory. And you see my chapter 42. But there are people who have been here, who were with me in my chapter 1 and 2. And it’s important for those of you in my chapter 42 to understand my chapter 1 and 2, so you can understand why I’m the way I am in my chapter 42. Because there are people that look at you in your chapter 42, and they have no idea what it was like for you in your chapter 1 and your chapter 2.

In this very pulpit, watching this ministry grow, giving my life to it. The completion and dedication of this building in 2001, to God be the glory. We broke ground in 1999. We marched into the Antioch location in 2003. And that year, 2003, is the year my first wife was diagnosed with neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer. It was a thing that nobody knew but us, and I was preaching to people, thousands of people gathering, and nobody knew until her physical body began to change. And we had to go public with it.

And the chemotherapy began to take her hair. I remember in this very sanctuary at the women’s conference, she walked in with camouflage pants on and boots, with a shaved head. And women in that women’s conference who were dealing with cancer began to take their wigs off and stood with her in a moment of solidarity and strength.

I preached to this congregation and watched the wife of my youth deteriorate in front of me, going between the mountain called ministry and the valley of my personal crisis. Watching her deteriorate with a disease that would not reverse, and praying, and laying hands, and believing God, and having the enemy interrogate me, to tell me, you’re not anointed enough for this. Imagine watching other people get healed, but it was happening for us. Crying on my way to church. Questioning my anointing. Questioning whether or not I had faith enough for it to work in my own home.

2005. I was at Baptist Hospital at 11 o’clock, 11:15. Y’all were having church in this very building, but she slipped away to be home with the Lord at 37 years old. And I was beating on the window while people were dancing in here, unaware that she had passed away. And I was crying, and I was angry, and I was saying, “God, why? Why me?” And I was saying, “Lord, this ain’t fair.”

Nobody understood the depth of that pain, because how could they? Here I am, a man of God, who works for God, who’s been preaching the gospel, who’s been going around telling people that God is a healer. But then I’ve got to look at a wife laying in a bed who did not overcome the disease called cancer. And we buried her in this very sanctuary. The funeral was right here.

I remember it was months later, I slipped into what I understand to be depression. And when you’re a pastor, when you’re a bishop, you don’t tell nobody you’re depressed. You just go home and sit in the dark. You go home and make two or three plates by yourself, and you never tell nobody that Christmas looks like a dark house, ’cause you don’t want nobody to come over, because you want them to think you’re stronger, and you want them to think that you really can treat your own pain. When in fact, I was going through a season when I was questioning whether I believed what I was preaching myself. I was crying in my car.

I was at a point that, even two years in, I found myself at the Jefferson Street location at 11:30 at night by myself, like Elijah under the broom tree, saying, “God, if You wanna take me, You can take me now, because I don’t know if I believe it no more.” And I was going back and forth. Thank God, He kept telling me that I could handle it.

So don’t tell me… don’t tell me that you’re angry with God and you don’t think your pastor understands. But I kept showing up. In that moment I didn’t wanna get up, but I kept showing up. And why am I sharing this with you? Because this is the anointing that you’re sitting under. Because I want you to know my chapter 1 and my chapter 2.

Fast forward three and a half years. God allowed me to randomly be in Florida. I was doing a conference, and a man of God that I respected so dearly spoke into my life. And all of a sudden, I end up in Boston, end up meeting this incredible woman that God sent to me, which was Dr. Stephanie. She didn’t wanna know Bishop. She had decided, no pastor. All she wanted to know was Joseph. She wasn’t concerned about the title. She just wanted to deal with who I was as a person.

And this woman came into my life, and God made us a couple of destiny. And we began to build the whole platform of what it meant to do something bigger than ourselves, still to encourage people about what it meant to be transformed, about being transparent. God began to bless us. And then we prayed and prayed for a child, and God knows we prayed. We tried, and we prayed, and we tried. But thank God, He finally came through for us. And then, if y’all know about that… our first baby came, and she was beautiful. Jovanni Walker. She’s my beautiful girl. She is the perfect between Dr Steph and I. Oh, that’s my baby girl. And watch this: she’s a ballerina. My girl is in the ninth grade now. Y’all, when she went to her first homecoming, y’all I had to get out my shotgun. I ain’t gonna lie, y’all. My heart was moving so fast, ’cause the girl know she fine and beautiful. I said, “God, look at what You did.”

And then we prayed again. I said, “God, You know I want a son.” And Jovannti prayed for a brother. And then God gave us my namesake. Gave us a worshiper. Gave us a son who will pray for his dad before he gets on a plane. When we go out of town, he says, “I wanna cover my daddy.” And that young boy loves basketball. All of a sudden he’s Steph Curry friend and he loves baseball.

If you wonder why Bishop Joseph the Third ain’t out here trying to get a million followers, I’m just trying to do God’s will.

God is a restorer!!

Have a blessed new week with the Lord! ❤️