Unfolding Short Stories: "...more than many sparrows." Derek Mason
The Unfolding
Northwestern Media
4.9 • 809 Ratings
🗓️ 21 January 2025
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Despite achieving material success, Derek Mason found himself consumed by emptiness and despair—so much so that he considered taking his own life. In a moment of desperate prayer, an unexpected encounter with sparrows led him to Matthew 10:29–31, revealing that he was profoundly seen and cherished by God. This pivotal sign brought radical transformation, shifting Derek’s life from hopelessness to a renewed sense of purpose. His story reminds us that, even at our lowest, God’s love has the power to bring hope and meaning.
Hear Derek on episode 100 of the Manly with Andy podcast on Apple or Spotify. Or learn more about Derek's book, Embracing Our Full Victory in Christ: The Journey from Darkness to Light.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | God's story, your life. Unfolding short stories. Despite having money and outward achievements, |
| 0:12.7 | Derek Mason discovered that none of it satisfied his deeper need for meaning or connection with God. |
| 0:18.7 | He realized that simply being a good person in worldly terms wasn't what |
| 0:22.6 | God desired. Rather, God wanted a radical shift of heart in a genuine relationship, a transformation |
| 0:29.3 | that material success alone could never provide. So I grew up knowing God, knowing Christ, I grew up in the church. I knew a lot about God, |
| 0:41.3 | or I knew stories at least, but I did not have an intimate relationship with him. |
| 0:45.4 | I ended up getting into business and did really well for myself, but I would definitely say I was a worldly Christian |
| 0:51.3 | and trying to kind of have a foot in both sides of the pool, I guess you could |
| 0:55.5 | say. I kind of went to church basically Christmas and Easter. And I eventually, through success, |
| 1:01.0 | I took a step back and asked myself, how does it feel to be at this place? And the answer |
| 1:06.2 | terrified me. The answer was empty. I thought I was somebody that had good ethics and morals, but that |
| 1:12.5 | wasn't what God was looking for. God was looking for something radically different. It started |
| 1:17.5 | me on a path because I basically prayed to him. I said, if I'm not where I'm supposed to be, then, |
| 1:21.5 | to take me out of this place and put me where I was meant to be. And that started me on a two-year |
| 1:26.9 | run. It was really ultimately destroying |
| 1:29.4 | all my idols. It took away everything from my health to finances to even personal relationships |
| 1:36.5 | and stuff. And I found all the things that I had really put my identity in had driven me to a place |
| 1:43.0 | where I was just completely empty. I was consumed |
| 1:45.9 | by darkness and hopelessness and failure. Men have this pride of being successful or being |
| 1:51.8 | providers and so forth. And I had done that to one extreme, but all of a sudden it went to the far |
| 1:56.9 | other extreme. And basically, I was like, I have no value. I have no purpose. And all I'm doing |
| 2:02.1 | is like a leech. I'm sucking off of all the people that I care about. I kept hearing in my voice, |
... |
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