Wednesday, March 8, 2017 was International Women’s Day and women all across the United States found ways to celebrate and honor the women who have paved the way for the rights American women enjoy today.

The Studio in downtown Troy was packed Wednesday with women, who came, not so much to celebrate women’s rights, as to hear Dr. John Ed Mathison of Leadership Ministries speak.

Mathison was the guest speaker at the March meeting of Female Factor and was speaking for the unprecedented fifth time.

In introducing Mathison, Dianna Lee spoke of the time she was singing the praises of Mathison and a friend asked “What’s so wonderful about John Ed Mathison?”

Lee explained that she had asked him for prayer for her daughter who was to be an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of a friend.

“I saw him much later and he asked about my daughter,” she said. “You may forget what someone says to you but you will never forget the way someone makes you feel.”

Mathison took the stage to a thunderous applause.

He first asked for prayer for America and then brought attention to Saint Patrick’s Day which is celebrated annually on March 17, the date of the death of Ireland’s primary patron saint.

St. Patrick’s used the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity but the shamrock is sometimes placed in the bottom of a mug of “cider” Mathison said.

“When the glass is empty, the shamrock is taken out and thrown over the shoulder for good luck,” he said. “But we should base our lives on faith – on favor with God – not on the hope of luck.”

Mathison used the illustration of a dog and a ball in outlining the four steps to achieving goals set in life that would lead to favor with God.

He said, when a dog jumps for a ball, its focus is on the ball. The dog is not distracted from its attempts to catch the ball. The dog commits its attention and its efforts to catching the ball. The dog’s sole purpose is catching the ball.

Mathison said, in seeking God’s favor, one should focus on the goal and not let any distractions alter that focus.

“When a lion trainer goes in the cage, he takes a stool with four legs,” he said. “He waves the stool before the lion and the lion is distracted by the four legs. He can’t focus on just one leg. That’s the way it is when we become distracted. We can’t focus on the goal we have set if we lose our focus.  Don’t let distractions interrupt you. Keep your eyes on your goal.”

To achieve favor with God, Mathison said it is necessary to be determined to finish what you have begun.

“Stay with it until you have finished the task,” he said. “In all six of the major sports championships this year, the winners all came from behind. The others lost their focus. Those who finished were winners.

“Purpose. Know and understand what your purpose is. Purpose and God’s favor should cross paths. And, when they do, you will be living in a FOG – the Favor Of God.”