If you were to look around this auditorium, you'd see a huge variety of people. Underneath the surface, you're really looking at two kinds of people: Those who face life's challenges with youthful faith and resilience, and those who feel worn by the same events - and the choice is yours.

Here's what fascinates me: Two people can go through identical circumstances — same trials, same setbacks, same pain points — but one emerges stronger, while the other just emerges tired. In every trial, you have a choice — a choice of faith driven by free will.

That entrepreneur who hit rock bottom, then bounced back stronger than ever.

That couple whose marriage crisis became their turning point, and they're happier together than they ever believed possible.

That athlete who broke an ankle, but came back stronger.

What's the difference?

That's what we're talking about today. Today, we'll explore how God empowers us to emerge stronger, wiser, and renewed through our trials. We'll unpack what it means to journey from uninformed to informed optimism through faith.

Because God talks about people who get their youth renewed. People who run and don't get weary. People who walk and don't faint.

Let me show you something from God's Word. It's a promise from God that's going give you a new way to view every trial, every setback, and every challenge you face:

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Psalms 103:2-5).

See that—your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

I invite you to think with me about: Older Younger But Wiser

This isn't about turning back the clock. It's about something far better. It's about emerging from your life's trials with something you didn't have before: Strength. Real strength. Divine strength.

Just like in business, our faith journey has its peaks and valleys. Let's explore this through the lens of what we call the 'Transition Curve' of faith.

Even though this is about business, it's really talking about the ups and down of a Christian's faith.

There are 5 stages here:

Uninformed Optimism. You're starting a new business and you're sure you're going to get rich... but then things don't go so well.
This became the first talk in the series called "Shiny Promises."

Informed Pessimism. Here's your reality check. Not enough money coming in, not enough customers, not enough sign ups... this thing's going down. That's when you hit...
This became talk 2 called "Shock to the System."

Crisis of Meaning. Should you cut your losses and shut it down? How much more can you take? This is the fork in the road... It's at this fork in the road where our free will becomes super important. Here, we either switch 'faith on' or 'faith off.' Is God's promise true or not true? That's the choice before you.
This became talk 3, "Dark Night of the Soul."

Crash & Burn. You're deflated, defeated, dead inside. You're either going to de-convert and walk away from God, or not.
This became talk 4 (last time), called "Crash and Burn... Or?"

I added the Or because you always have a choice. You always have the option to turn back to God, back to faith, back to Jesus.

Informed Optimism. You've changed. You've opened your heart to an upgrade. Your uninformed optimism is transformed into informed optimism. You have new hope, new directions, new ideas, and new victories.
And this is my talk today... I'm calling it "Older Younger but Wiser."

I want you to notice that in this journey, you start with optimism and you end with optimism.

But the first optimism is uniformed, naive, and immature.

The ending optimism is different. Now, you've been through the fire. You've got some battle scars. Anybody here have some battle scars? Through that you've been transformed. This isn't about changing your circumstances it's about changing your heart.

The essence of informed optimism isn't better circumstances - it's a transformed heart. Totally remodeled. Blown up. Ripped apart. And put back together by the Holy Spirit of love.

That's what we're really talking about today. And there are three divine sources of strength that create this transformation...

Ready?