Evening to you all. Well, when I pulled up in the parking lot, I didn't think anybody was here tonight. And then I don't know, where are you guys showed? Were you underneath the cushions or what? I don't know, but wow. Had a different day today, had a funeral, then went to the jail and had a dear friend that did the funeral today and he had taken his life and so it was a challenge today and so anyway, a lot going on but excited about tonight with our learning about trials because we're all gonna either be in one or already waiting for one to come, right? Because they come all the time. When trials become our teacher though, and that's what God wants to use in our lives, is trials to teach us how to be dependent on Him. Sad to say, often God has to use trials or He doesn't get our attention, right? And that's not His desire. His desire is that, as Jesus taught, In the Beatitudes, blessed are they who mourn or are broken. And in other words, we need to be desperate for God continually. So I thought we'd start off by starting with James because he, the half-brother to Jesus, wrote these words in the book of James that I think are so powerful because they help us to have perspective about trials. So if we could go ahead and do that, I would appreciate it. Could we read it out loud together, please, there, the key verse at the top? Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, and perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature, complete, not lacking anything. Boy, what a jam-packed, two verses there because what is the results of our faith being tested? Perseverance, come on, talk up now, you guys are all in class here, talk up. Perseverance, perseverance, that means endurance, hanging in there and not giving up, amen? I don't know about you, but I've been a Christian about 50 years, since 1972, and I have watched many leave the faith. after sharing the faith with many and even seeing people respond to the faith. You know, the faith works without often us being in the faith. Do you follow? I've seen lost people at least tell me about the fact that they're high on alcohol or drugs and sharing God's word just because it's in their DNA because as children they were in the class. And people respond to that because God's word never comes back void. And we know that, right? Well, God's trials or God's allowing trials in our lives never come back void, amen? It either makes you better or bitter through those trials in life. And so James says that there's an element in the trial that we need to have as a perspective and that's joy. Now that seems strange to me that he would say consider it pure joy if you encounter any trials of various kinds. Now we're talking about a man that had tremendous amount of trials. And for instance, last week and the last two weeks, we've talked about all of those trials that came to him all in one day. Now tonight, we're going to be talking about the second wave of trial that really deals with his person. It's affecting his health. All the other things actually tested his possessions. And now we're looking at his person. And oftentimes when trials become personal, in other words, when they actually attack our bodies with health, boy, that's a big trial. Can you guys say amen to that? Amen all right, and it's one thing to have a flat tire as a trial or to have Your keys missing or I mean just different types of trials that we've all experienced Versus having your health diminished or like Job where he suffered much for a long time. Well let's go on here and look at chapter two of the book of Job and I'd like to read it real quickly if I could please. We're going to be looking at really virtually the whole chapter. It's very short so can I read it really quickly please. And on another day, the angels came in the presence before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the Lord said to Satan, where have you come from? Satan answered the Lord from roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth in it. Then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There's no one like him. He is blameless, he's upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. He still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason. Isn't that interesting that God is saying, that he maintains his integrity, even though you incited me against him." Now, let's go on and it says, Skin for skin, Satan replies, a man will give all that he has for his own life, but stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones and he will surely curse you to your face. The Lord said to Satan, very well then, he's in your hands, but you must spare his life. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it and sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, Are you still holding to your integrity? Curse God and die. He replied, you are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble? That is a profound statement right there, everyone, because most Christians want it to go well instead of hard or struggles. But I don't know about you, but our greatest growth comes through struggles, not through bliss. Is everyone with me on that? And if you don't know that, then you're not very deep. And I made a statement early on that stated that When you come to Christ, you change the direction of your life from going with the stream of life to hell, amen? The stream is rushing towards hell and the world is in it. And then when you come to Christ, you're actually going upstream against all of that surgence, and that creates, I believe, trials, amen? And as you're going upstream, Jesus is saying, I don't want you to swim, I want to swim for you. And then we say, oh, but Lord, I don't know you in that way. I don't know you in the way that you can do it and I can't. And so there's the battle of pride that goes on for many years, at least it did in my life, until he continued to break me and make me and mold me. And I believe with all my heart, Job was that kind of man that had those experiences to develop him for this moment. Well, let's go on. I didn't mean to deviate from that, but it's important that we look at that part. So Job's wife said, Job, just curse God and die. So moving on, he replied, you're talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble? In all of this, Job did not sin. when he spoke. In this, Job did not sin in what he said. And then verse 11, when Job's three friends, Eliphaz, the Tenemite, Benidad, the Shuddamite, and Zubar, the Temanite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes to meet together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him. They began to weep aloud and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights and no one said a word to him because they saw how great his suffering was. What a sobering passage right here. Can we pray a moment please? Father, I pray that each of us would pray to ourselves that you would have your way in our lives because many are here tonight with trials. Many are here tonight with maybe physical affliction that has gone on for years. And so Father, we are weak, we are feeble, and we need you desperately to help us know how to have joy in the midst of our trials, and how to look to you with integrity, and not blame you, but worship you. Now help us to learn from this tonight so that we leave different and that we leave so that you might be able to do more through us than you've done before. In Christ's name, amen. Well, let's look at this. In chapter 2, the book of Job, we see him endure three specific trials. We also see how the heavenly scene of chapter 1 is represented or replicated with Satan coming in the presence of God a second time. Sounds almost like a mirror of an experience here that God, again, pulls back the drapes and allows us to see this encounter with Satan and the host of angels before God, and Satan actually wanting to do his demise. First of these are the accusations of Satan, which are manifested in four ways. Number one is Satan's persistence. Persistence. Look at Job. 1 through 3, and it says in chapter 2, and the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the Lord said to Satan, where have you come from? And Satan answered the Lord from roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth in it. Then the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him. He's blameless, upright, and a man who fears God and shuns evil, and he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any cause or reason." Now it's interesting to me that Job passed the huge test with his trial of his possessions and maintained his integrity. That's an amazing test. Remember, I shared with you that life is a test, it's a trust, and it's a temporary assignment. And so, God uses tests to develop our character. And in this case, Job's character grew strong before God, and his integrity stayed intact. Well, Satan is relentless in his accusations, and of course we know that one of his characteristics is that he's an accuser, and Pastor Phil already brought that up from Hebrews. He accuses the brethren. He's just an accuser. He's a liar so that he manipulates what he's sharing with accusations, either towards the individuals or towards God. If you remember in Genesis, the accusation of Satan was Eve, If you really, if God really cared about you, he'd let you eat this so that you'd be smart and wise like he is. Do you see how he manipulates things around so that all of a sudden you're taking sides? And usually the side you fall on is your own, amen? In other words, This is what I think, and that's what, of course, Eve did. She thought, instead of trusting what God had said. So the point of the matter is, is that Satan is relentless in his accusation. He isn't creative, just relentless. In other words, he's sort of a storyteller that continues to use the same vein of structure. Are you with me on that? And he is a liar and he hates humanity because we're created in God's image and likeness. And so he's relentless to come after us. He hates you, especially now that you're complete in Christ. You're complete, you're alive. He hates you even more. He loves the fact that those are dead and blind because They're pawns in his hands. He can manipulate and use the lost any way they like. And so it's we who are believers that he hates. He hates all of humanity because all of us are created in the image of God. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying, but he especially hates those who now have eternal life. Obviously he's trying to take as many as he can to hell with him, right? And so that's the ultimate test in Satan's mind. I just want followers. So the first test was Job's possessions. That's the next blank. And then second, Satan's persuasiveness or persuasion, excuse me, his persuasion. So Job 4 through 5 states this, that Satan says, well, skin to skin, Satan replied, a man will give all he has for his own life. Do you know what he was saying to God about Job with that sentence? He was saying he didn't really care about his kids, he didn't care about his servants, he didn't care about his animals, he didn't care about anything but himself. He only cared about his own skin. That was a huge statement by Satan right there. But then he goes, well God, because you're protecting him, just stretch your hand out and you'll see he isn't your follower any longer and he will not, he will curse you. He will curse you. And so, Going on, it says, God is responding to this by saying, you can stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, but you cannot take his life. Do you see that in verse five? The Lord said to Satan, very well then, he is in your hands, you must spare his life. So his persuasion, Satan replies in verses four through five, skin for skin, yes, all that a man has he will give for his life, but stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and flesh and he will surely curse you to your face. When Satan used the phrase skin to skin, he was accusing Job of sacrificing the skin of his children, the animal servants. I just mentioned that, but I wanted to reemphasize. In other words, he was saying Job only loved God because God protected his health. So Satan says, God, if you'll take that away, his health, he will curse you to your face. Well, next of all, Satan's permission. Satan's permission. And we've emphasized this, that Satan can do nothing without God's permission. God's in control. God's in control. Verse six simply says, hey, you know, Very well then, he's in your hands, but don't take his life, spare his life. So the Lord then answers Satan in verse six, saying, behold, he's in your hand, but spare his life. God gave him permission slip with an unrestricted license to harm his body. And yet, in other words, what we're saying here is God permitted Satan to use the greatest tactic possible to get Job to to forsake God. Do you understand what I'm saying? What I wanted to do was, on this next one, Satan's persecution, Satan's persecution, verse seven. It says, so Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores and from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Many believe that these were actual, what am I trying to think of? Boils, thank you. Boils that appeared from his feet to his head. And so what I wanted to do was show you a picture of a disease Now, unlike what David Jeremiah thought it was, elephantitis, where maybe many of you have seen where the legs get extremely huge like an elephant. This is what he had thought that this might have been because there are sores acquainted with that, but it's primarily in your legs. And what this is showing you here is, and I can't pronounce it and I won't dare try, my wife couldn't even and she's an RN, but you can see the sores, the boils on their bodies, because it's one thing for us to read scripture and to think, well those boils must have been a bad thing, but look at that. That's an incredible thing, and it tells you that chronic skin condition, feeling lumps in places such as groin and so forth, skin lessons developed as a result of inflammation, infection of sweat glands, this condition, pea marble-sized lumps under the skin that can be painful, tend to enlarge, drain pus, they usually occur where skin rubs together, and so it is incredibly painful. Now, many believe, or at least Dr. David Jeremiah brings out the point that when he said that in the next verse that he went out and he went to the ash heap and that he sat on the ground with them for seven days, it says there in verse 13, that there was a place probably within their community where where people that had diseases would go and basically sit in the dirt because they were outcasts from the community. So, Job went from where he was the social, focus of the community, probably with his leadership, to where he was basically in the garbage dump, sitting in the dust with these boils that were incredibly filled with pus and very, very sore, and he would take pots here and scrape them to find some relief. Have you guys ever had poison ivy, poison oak? Come on, raise your hand. If you haven't, I'll bring you some. My wife was raised on the farm in northern Iowa. I could not believe that we moved to an acreage when we first got married, and up there in northern Iowa, they spray so much for the weeds, she'd never even seen poison ivy or poison oak. I couldn't believe it. Well, she found it, and it started in one place, but she had cut herself, and I don't know if you guys know this, but if you get that, and you got a cut, it'll go into your bloodstream, and it's everywhere. Well, that's the closest I've ever seen anyone to Joe because all she could do is just basically find herself, you know, like, with all that poison ivy that she had on her body. Well, that's poison ivy. This is even worse than that. And so it reminds me of how the lepers were rejected and then cast out. Now in the context of, and we're gonna go to the next one here. Well, I'm gonna get to that in a minute, but I wanna talk about his wife and you'll understand some things I think as we talk about it. The persecution that took place, number four, Satan renews his persecution of Job in verse seven by striking him with painful boils from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head. He took some pot shears in which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. And the same word could be used for boils that was in the sixth plague of the Egyptians. Isn't that interesting? It could be the same kind of boils. And that would be Exodus 9, 9 through 11. Here's the thing, this was Job's second test and it was his person, it was his health, it was his health. So the next part that we're gonna look at here is Job was abandoned by his wife. Verses nine and 10, let's look at that real quickly here. It says, his wife said to him, are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die. He replied, you're talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble? Now there's so much here we can learn about their interaction. First of all, she gave, him advice, it was her advice. Now listen to me everyone, it was her advice, not God's advice, not wise advice, it was her advice. And I think, quite frankly, after going through losing 10 children, after having all the servants and all the animals and all those things that was her husband's and They're one, that it was an incredible thing to see now her husband actually remove himself from her presence, going out to this ash heap for, we don't know how long he suffered with these, but obviously it was longer than probably a week. Because like anything, when you're suffering, time makes it even more heavy on our hearts as to responding well, does it not? I mean, it's one thing to get the flu, and it's only 24 hours, amen. That's like one day, but if flu goes on and on and on and on, it makes it really hard. And so she probably missed him greatly, and second of all, she saw him deteriorate to where she probably lost all respect for him because of what we saw there. It's interesting. You all know that the greatest test oftentimes to a marriage is health, is it not? We all know people that have abandoned their spouse in their greatest need when they had a physical ailment. At least I know of many that have done that. And that's when we need them most, is it not? And so here's the other thing. She actually was trying to get him to do what Satan desired of Job. Isn't that interesting? Her advice was to curse God, and that's what Satan wanted him to do from the beginning. So wow, can you imagine that in itself was a test. Who am I going to listen to? Now we know in Genesis, Ruth, just a second, in Genesis, Adam listened to Eve, right? And so, I don't know about you guys, but is not our circle of friends and our circle of influence extremely important when we're going through trials and testings in our lives? Because we can get different advice from different ones, right? Everybody's got advice, but is it God's advice? Is it God's advice or is it their advice because they don't want you to suffer? How many people have seen family going to the hospital and the comment is, well, we just don't want them to suffer, so give them as much medication as you can. Or they should just die because their lives are, there's no, there's no, there's no, Yeah, there's no better ahead for them. It's only gonna be worse. And yet, we've seen people that have been diagnosed with, they'll never walk or they'll never talk or any of those things. And of course, in time, they did. What was your question? I think sometimes we're awfully hard on Joe's wife because she just lost all of her kids. I agree, I agree. We can be awfully hard on her, that's for sure. I can't imagine losing one child, let alone 10, and the devastation that that was in her life. It's interesting, though, she's alive. Yeah, I'm sorry. I was looking in a study Bible, and it said the words she used for curse God and die in Hebrew Oh, oh. I see. Well you got a good study Bible, that's good, that's good. Well anyway, Job's answer in verse 10 was you're not speaking wise, you're speaking like the women that are foolish. And so I think the thing that we can learn about Job's response was that he was extremely patient with her and kind. I mean, it's one thing to say, honey, you're not really speaking wise, you're speaking foolishly, versus getting angry at her and not really responding with integrity, and I think he did. Well, Job was assaulted by his friends, And we're going to see that more as we get into the other studies because this particular passage actually strengthens their friendship. In other words, they did many good things for him when they came. Let's look at 11 through 13. His three friends, Eliphaz, the Tenomite, Bildad, the Shunammite, and Sovar, the Tenomite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, and they set out from their homes to meet together by agreement. In other words, they organized, these men organized their visit with Job. So they were considerate. I don't know if a lot of you know, but Wendy Mortenson was struggling in the hospital and pastor asked Crystal and Diane to go and be with her up at the hospital so that Pat could come back and sort of attend to personal things. Isn't that awesome? Did you guys do good with your advice with her? It must, she's back, right? She's doing well, amen. I just think that's incredible because I think it was of the Holy Spirit that they were chosen to go because they were great representatives from all of us that your best care is what we're concerned about and here she's out. I think that's great. Well, I don't think Job's wife had anyone with her. I mean, they're all dead, right? Who did, except the ones that ran back with the bad news. The point is, is there wasn't a whole lot of resources for her. And of course, Job's got friends. Not a lot of us have friends that have done what these men did. In other words, Job's friend, number one, they comforted him. They comforted him. In fact, they looked from a distance, saw how bad it was, and that in itself was enough to cause them to just be quiet and go to comfort. Have you ever been with somebody that's just great in comfort? You know, they just comfort you without a word. Maybe it's a pillow behind your head. If you're in the hospital, maybe it's a drink because you look thirsty, if you can have water. Just things like that that I think are commendable to these guys. These friends comforted him. They also, the friends had hearts of compassion. It says here, that when they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him. They began to weep aloud and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. That was a... sort of a Jewish thing, in a sense, or a cultural thing that they did. And the point here is that they felt his load and burden. I think the greatest friends we can have are those that wanna come alongside and not tell us, you know, you shouldn't be sick, or if you just trusted God, he'd heal you, and all those kind of things. We just need people with hearts of compassion, amen? Then we go to Job's friends listened quietly with him in the dirt. One thing I wanna mention is do you notice that they got down in the dirt? They didn't hover over him, they didn't stand up like they were beyond where he was at or they were better than him. They got in the dirt and here is the key, they listened quietly. to all that Job could say was groans and moans. Are you with me on that? Because really I don't think he could really talk with the pain that he was in. Now obviously he did with his wife, but I'm stating that probably it got worse as time went on. So these friends at the beginning of this book are comforters, compassionate, and they're listeners, but it doesn't last long before they start to accuse him. I don't know about you folks, but don't you find that people that get around you when you're sick want you well because it's a lot of work while you're sick to tend to you? and they're not well wishing, they just wish you would get well, because this has gone on and on and on and on. And those are the kinds of friends that aren't good friends, because they really don't have your best interest in mind, nor God's interest in mind in developing character, not only in their lives, but in your life, right? You can watch people suffering and learn a lot from them, I hope we all understand that. Not that it's, I'm glad I'm not suffering. That's not how you're learning anything. But what I'm saying is, what is God trying to teach them that he could teach me without suffering so that I might learn how to be what God wants me to be without that? Does that make sense, everyone? So let's look on the back here. What can we learn from our trials? Well, verse 10. We can learn patience. Patience is needed when you're under pressure and you feel the weight of pressure. That means the pressure is what? Getting well. Getting well, getting back to where it was, that's pressure. And so, the weight of that pressure, if you're not careful, you can make poor decisions and end up acting in irrational ways. during the time of testing or during the time of trials. They need to teach us patience. The thing that it seems that I've learned in my trials is to be patient and to wait on God for an answer. Not expect one immediately, but expect God to work in regards to my prayers, in regards to my trial. Did I lose all of you? Because a lot of times we want instant response from what God has allowed in our lives, where a lot of times He's just trying to have us learn how to wait on Him. And there's and and what I have found for instance. I've tried to do some mechanical things, and I'm not mechanical But I've tried to do that with some wrenches and trying to get to a nut underneath the head or whatever it is on the motor it's so tight in there and my hands are big or whatever it might be and the wrench is small and I I've taken a nut off, and then I placed it here, and by the time I get to the nut to put it back on, I can't find it. I'm searching all over for this nut, and then I begin to pray, and my first response, because this is how God has sort of taught me, is that, Father, thank you for this lost nut. I can't find it anywhere. I don't know where the thing is, but you'll show me, please. Please show me where, and so I spend the next two or three hours looking for this nut. And then by the time that happens, what I finally say is, okay, Lord, okay. I'll go in the house for a while, and I'll just forget about it. And sure enough, I'll come back out, and it's right there. God was just developing me through a test to be patient. Are you all with me on that? And so it's so important that we let trials develop patience, because I don't know about you, but as you get older, there's a whole lot of waiting going on, amen? Because things, you just don't move as fast. It's just not there. So trials, number two, teach us perspective. Perspective. This is B here. 10B, it says, Here, A says, you're talking like a foolish woman. Are we not to accept good from God as well as trouble? So, that's perspective. Divine health, divine wealth. I mean, there's no trouble with that doctrine, right? I'm 100% healthy 100% of the time, and I'm just overwhelmed with wealth. I mean, that's what they're teaching, and yet some of the greatest things that I've ever received in my life is patience in trial, especially God has laid my head down in the pillow with sickness before because he needed my attention. I remember getting the flu and laying there in the pillow, and I said, okay, God, I've been really busy for you, but now you got my attention. I don't feel good at all. Speak to me. And man, oh man, now I finally got your attention. Let me tell you what I've been wanting to talk to you about, and that's usually my character. And so the perspective is huge, is it not, everyone? When it comes to trials and to life itself, perspective is everything. Job had perspective on his trials. He realized even, this is the incredible thing, he didn't know why, but he knew obviously he was in it. But he didn't know why. And the point is is that the why wasn't, the why wasn't important. Why not, why not really is the answer, is it not? All of us, why not? Why not God bring things into our lives if you're gonna develop me into the man or woman that you want me to be, right? Why not? Not why, why God would you do this? Well, he realized that he had been a recipient of many undeserved blessings from God. In other words, he knew the ownership of all that he had was God's and that he was thankful for all of them. And that's why I believe he could worship God and say, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He had a great perspective that God owned it all and that he was a steward of that. But when God decided to take it away, it was still time to praise God's name. Well, let's look at three. Trials teach us perseverance, or excuse me, persistence. I'm sorry, persistence. Persistence. And that's 10C. And that's when Job said, you know, my Bible doesn't go A, B, C. I don't know how the C works. Does anyone have C in your Bible? CCC, huh? Okay. Anyway, I believe it's when Job said, or God said that Job did not sin in what he said. So. He persisted, concluding with a stunning sentence in all of Job, he did not sin with his lips. Job proves that it is possible to worship God in difficult times, even if God chooses not to explain to us what is going on. How many in the room have had circumstances in your life that you would shake your head and say, God, you've allowed difficult times in my life, What in the world is going on? Has anybody been there before? Okay, I thought most of you had been. Don't you think that's why in heaven we'll probably ask a ton of questions because we'll wonder why? Or maybe God will just show us why as we look back. I don't know how that works. Well, here's some personal reflections that I want you to think about this week on your own. Can you do that for me? And that's from Lamentations 3, 22 through 31. And I just wrote three questions for you to think about. Would you please look at this passage because it has a lot to do. Lamentations is the book that Jeremiah was the weeping prophet and wrote Lamentations because he was lamenting the nation of Israel and what they were going through. And so from this passage, and I'm not gonna read it, I want you to do it, but the Lord is good to those who practice what two habits, I'm not giving you the answers, I want you to look at verse 25, and then it is good for us to do what two things quietly, and then for what reason? Verse 26. And then what is the hope given to the hopeless in verse 31? Okay, so that's your assignment this week, and I feel like it would really bless you. Now in conclusion, what I'd like to do is share a few more things that I'd want you to write down below, okay, please? What do we do when God seems distant? What do we do when God seems distant? Now, would we all agree that Job would have had to have felt like God was distant, yes or no? Yes, that God was distant. He wasn't necessarily communicating what he had before. And I believe with all my heart that Job talked with God, I think God talked to Job. I think that's how he was able to be a man of integrity and a man that was shunned evil and all of the things listed about him. Someone doesn't become that way without the impact of God in their lives. So what do you do when God is distant? First of all, here's a statement I want you to either write down or just listen to. But the deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain. The deepest level of worship is when we praise God in spite of pain. Now, I'm not trying to be personal, but I'm trying to be personal. Patty suffered with a neurological disease, my wife, for over 20 years. When I started in ministry at IFI in Newton, she received this neurological disease that her neck muscles won't let go, and it's like having a Charlie horse all the time in her neck. Very, very, very painful. And so over the period of years, God had her on different medications for the pain, and we've watched God do incredible things in her life to be able to sustain. She worked for 27 years in the school system as a school nurse, so she didn't just stay home in her pain. She went to work. She coped with it. But the thing I've watched my wife do is have joy. She's usually humming all the time about Jesus or listening to different things on the radio about Jesus. She is a prayerful, godly woman that I'm honored to live with that has had pain for 21 years. Pain for 21 years. And here's what she would say is God has used it in her life to keep her humble. She was from a family of know-it-alls, and so consequently she knew it all. And she'd let you know what she knew, and she was full of pride because that's the family arrangement in her life. Are you with me on all this? And so the point of the matter is she feels that God has allowed this pain in her life to keep her dependent on God and humble. Now that's a great response, amen? And so what do you do with pain? You worship God and praise his name. But here's some sub points. Tell God exactly how you feel. And I watch Patty do that. I watch her tell God how she feels. Because sometimes, if you notice my wife, she'll usually hold her neck like this, because torticollis wants to move your neck like a tortoise, or constrain it, and that's because these neck muscles are pulling. her head this way, and so she gets tired of it sometimes. Can you imagine? And I've seen her cry, I've seen her cry out to God, but she always maintains integrity. She's never cursed God, she's never done any of that. In fact, she's praising God because she thinks and feels that her pain is for her character development for humility. So here's that first point, tell God how you feel. It's so important. I think Job did, and we're gonna read about how he did. He told God how he felt. First of all, and then second of all, focus on who God is in his unchanging nature. Have you guys spent time with God and purposely prayed about all of his names or many of his names? God, you are Adonai, you are master ruler. God, you're Elohim, you're the creator of everything. God, you're Jehovah. And just, I mean, he loves his name. He loves His name told to Him for His glory and fame, amen? And so I think it's so important that we focus on His unchanging nature as we go through trials. Thirdly, trust God to keep His promises. He's... promised to never leave us or forsake us, amen? And there's many other promises he has made, like for instance, in Philippians where he says, I've begun a good work and I will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. Oh man, I am a work in process, right? In progress, hopefully progress, and not regress, right? Trusting God's promises. Here's a key one, remember, remember what God has already done for you. How many of you journal? Raise your hands. Any of you, okay. I journal. I got it right by my Bible. If a verse comes out and God speaks to me, I write that down because I feel like God's spoken to me. I write down, like for instance, I've got a funeral today. Last night or yesterday I wrote that. Please, Father, empower me and fill me with your spirit. Help me to know what to say. I need him to show up. Does that make sense? So my journal is a reminder when I get into trials that God's brought me through many other trials and this is just another one, not the final one, right? Because I don't know about you, but I'm an excessive compulsive. It's like this is it. No, it's not, you little boy. This is just another one. to define you and refine you and to make you what I want you to be. And so a journal is a great piece to remind us of what God's done. You know, I just sometimes love to walk by faith and my pickup was really virtually out of gas. And I thought for sure, I'm just gonna drive this thing to Walmart in Altoona, just to see if God can get me there. I got almost all the way to Altoona, and I'm out of gas, I could tell. You know, you can tell if you're out of gas. If any of you've never been there, I'm so sorry, it's a great experience. So I'm going 65, speed limit. Now prayers kick in really heavy. God, I still wanna get to Walmart, I still wanna get gas, please get me there. And it was an incredible experience because I actually was able, where I ran out of gas, to go down the exit ramp there in Altoona. The light was green, that was another answer to prayer. The next light was green and I turned into the parking lot. I'm still coasting. and I coast right up to the gas pump. Did we have a worship service there? Oh, it was awesome. See, I really believe with all my heart, do we not need to trust God, not maybe as foolishly as Jerry? No, no, it's too expensive there, brother, that's the point. Oh, you gotta remember I have Jewish blood in me, amen. Anyway, so I hope all of this helps us, right? Because I don't know about you, but how many of us are going through trials right now? I mean, we're just going through trials. Right? And God wants to grow us so that we can know Him more, so that we can help more. Can you understand? My trial is not for me, it's for all of you so that we all grow together. That's why Job's trials were recorded. It was for all of us. when we lose all that he lost, or have as sick as he was. Not that Satan said, let me at him, but because God wants to help us grow. And God wants us to help us know him in a deeper way, more than ever before. Especially in these last days. Are we not in the last days? I think we're in the last days. We need to know him better than ever before. And we need to know that we need each other desperately. Let's close in prayer. Father, thank you for this time to learn about trials, to learn about the benefits and what they teach us. Father, thank you for the way that you help us to understand that you have a bigger plan, a bigger picture. And ultimately, Father, you want worship. You're not intimidated by Satan. You're not scared. You're not one that thinks, well, I can't let this happen because Lord, you're in control. And Lord, ultimately, you want glory, and you get glory when your children, when your people worship you despite whatever comes their way. In fact, that's the test. of whether or not we're the real deal. Are we gonna praise you just when the sun shines or when there's rain and it's cloudy outside? I'm thankful that there's so many here tonight, no matter how cold it is, because it's hot in here with Jesus, amen. Thank you for your love. Thank you for this night. In Christ's name, amen.