James 5, verse 10 and 11. Take, my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience. Behold, we count them happy who endure. You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. This is sort of the last half of the study we had last week on the subject of patience. Notice, starting back in verse 7, the admonition to be patient unto the coming of the Lord. The example was given to us of a farmer who waits after he has planted his seed for the early and latter rain and must wait for the precious harvest. And so the idea is we are to be patient as well. Now, patience, we ask ourselves, what is it? What do we mean by our patience? Well, it's the ability to stay the course, whatever that may be, stay the course in the face of great difficulty. In other words, as you look down at verse 11, he says, Behold, we count them happy who endure. And that gives you a synonym for the idea of patience. It's those who endure, those who keep on going, those who persevere, those who remain steadfast. And they remain steadfast in the face of difficulty. the someone defining courage. And the popular conception of courage is that it is the absence of fear in the midst of danger. And I remember reading someone who said a much better definition of courage is someone who adheres to their duty in spite of their fear in the midst of danger. In other words, As soldiers will tell you, they're all scared, but the courageous soldier does his duty anyway, in spite of the fear. Well, in the same sense, you can think of patience as adhering, staying the course in the face of difficult circumstances or difficult people. It is not to turn back, it is to keep the faith, as we say in Christian terms. And I thought I would ask you tonight to give me some examples of things that you must face, the difficulties that bring about the need for patience. What are some trials? Name some. And notice, we're talking about remaining faithful to Christ instead of drawing back, instead of turning away from Christ or shirking our duty. What are some things that would cause us to do that? Don't everybody speak at once now. Let's give somebody else a chance here, okay? What do you think? What kind of things happen to us that cause us You understand the very fact that we're being admonished to have patience means the Christian life's not going to be a cakewalk. You don't need patience if it's fun. You know, if the Christian life's going to be fun, well, nobody needs patience when it's fun. You need patience when it's not fun, when it's difficult, when it's a trial, when everything within you says, stop, quit. So give me some ideas. What are those things that happen in the Christian life that cause you to want to turn back, let's say, or tempt you to turn back? Death of a family member. And I would say especially a child. That causes us to question why would God do such a thing? Why would He allow such a thing? John, what were you going to say? In other words, you've got family members that are constantly doing their best to discourage you. They would love to see you give it up, chuck it all. And that gets difficult over time. Just year after year after year. I agree. Unfaithful spouse. Yeah. And could we say general area of being disappointed in people. And that may be a spouse. It may be a preacher, a leader in the church. There's a lot of different areas. And by the way, I think this is one of the most difficult trials when someone you trust goes bad. that tends to give you the notion, well, what's the use? Why even keep on? Tony? Let's see, what would you call that? The trial of being, well, and we would say in most cases, unjustly accused and misunderstood charged with things that are unfair. That typically goes on and goes on from having been through that myself. People believe, well, that means you believe this, that means you don't like this, you know, and it doesn't necessarily mean that. And in their eyes, you're being unfaithful to the faith. You're turning away from the truth to be accused of being in error. and leading people, especially as a pastor, of leading people in the era. I remember Jim Lane over in Nashville. You've heard me speak of E.W. Johnson so much, but his daughter Marsha was in our church in Nashville, and Jim was her husband. So Jim and Marsha Lane were two just very, very faithful members. through Jim's connection with somebody at his work, he and I got invited to go over to his big Southern Baptist church up in Goodlettsville, north of Nashville, on a Sunday night to meet with this class that was studying cults. And they heard what we believed and decided we fit the definition, so we got to go and explain what we believed to this class that was studying the cults. It was a bizarre situation when you're telling these people that what I believe is what you believed 150 years ago. That was exactly what I hold now is what you used your people, you know, Southern Baptists held 150 years ago. I don't know if they ever believed me, but that's certainly the truth. So there is that sense of being mischaracterized and judged unfairly and un-Christianly, shall we say. Okay, other things come to mind, Mike? Physical infirmities. You get sick and tired of being sick and tired. Martin Lloyd-Jones had a wonderful book out on spiritual depression. And he says one of the... By the way, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones was in fact a medical doctor before he went into ministry. And they tell me there at Westminster Chapel where he ministered in London, that a lot of times after he got through preaching, he would open the floor up and they would ask theological questions, and then when that was over, people would ask him about their health concerns, and he'd give them medical advice. A very interesting guy. But anyway, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote a book on spiritual depression, and he says that one of the causes of depression among the saints is being ill for a long time with no hope recovery inside. And many times that leads Christians to be discouraged, depressed, because there's just no light, at least physically, at the end of the tunnel. And that's certainly true. It's a hard battle to fight. Children going astray. That's a tough one. David said that it wasn't my enemy that betrayed me, it was my close friend, the one that I went to the temple and worshiped with. In other words, betrayal by someone you trust. All of those things are difficult, difficult things, trials to have to endure, but those are the things, and you begin to see it, that the Christian life demands patience, as we think of various things out here in the world that require patience, endurance, that aren't easy, that are difficult and hard, and they're not instantaneous. You've got to stay the course. We've already had one example given to us in the text last week, and that was the farmer who must labor hard long before the harvest. Can you think of any other types out there in the world, things that by their very nature require patience, stick-to-it-ness, perseverance. What's that? To deal with people. Yeah. But I'm thinking of occupations or classes of work or people. Yeah, Al? Government leaders. Yeah, government leaders. I don't know why anybody goes into that, honestly. But yeah, anybody who is in a place of leadership. I was thinking particularly of an entrepreneur or a businessman. If you know people who have started their own businesses, it's not instantaneous. And man, it requires, as the old saying is, you'll never work for anybody else as hard as you'll work for yourself. You'll never put in as many hours for anybody else as you will for your own business. and the fact that you have to stick it out, and a lot of times for a long time before the prophets ever roll in, sometimes the prophets never roll in. But if you don't stick it out, they're certainly not going to roll in. Anything else come to mind? Yeah? A pregnant woman. Yeah, well, that wasn't on my radar, but I guess you're right here. Yeah, there are certain things you've just got to wait. You've got to stick it out. You've got to hang in there. Right? That's certainly true. I was thinking of a soldier. The soldier in his training and so forth. It's not easy. And you've got to stick it out. You can't give it up. If you're going to be a soldier, you have to go through the difficult physical regimen to prepare you for that task. Okay. You think a doctor? Yeah. Um, who was it? Who was it? I was talking to. Oh, that was, uh, Megan saying that she's working on her doctorate. That's Mike's daughter, oldest girl, who's, uh, uh, working on her doctorate and said it typically takes about 10 years in her field to get it. That's a long time. A lot of work. A lot of study. How about an athlete? I mean, there are rare cases, I suppose, where somebody's just so naturally gifted, they just walk on the field and they're a star. But let's face it, in the vast majority of cases, even the best athletes have to train. They have to get in shape. They have to work at it. I still remember in Evanston, way back there in the early seventies, a Canadian guy that lived in town out there on the football field every morning about five in the morning throwing a discus. And the Olympics were coming up and he was trying to qualify for the Canadian discus thing, track team. And there he is, snow on the ground, you know, fifteen below, and he's out there throwing the discus. before he goes to work in the morning, trying to get in shape. We think of the LeBron Jameses and the Michael Jordans and all those. It just comes effortless. It comes effortless on the court because they put in so much time off the court. That's why it's effortless. That's why they do so well. And so there is that demand that you've got to work at. You can't give up. You can't quit. You've got to stick it out. I mean, it's all around us. We see these examples. James uses that of the farmer. But there are many, many others. The Christian life demands patience, endurance, the ability to stay the course, keep the faith in spite of hardships. Nowhere is that perhaps more evident than on the mission field. The missionary who goes and endures hardships. for the sake of the cause of Christ. And mission work typically doesn't happen instantly. There's not an overnight conversion of thousands of people. It's hard. It's day in, day out. One here, one there. William Carey, we call him the father of modern missions, his first convert was after 12 years in India. And that was not unusual for those new fields, for it to take that long before they would see a single convert. You imagine how discouraging it got. Adonai and Judson went to Burma, similar situation there. And how many wives did he... I think he had his fourth wife, buried three of them in Burma, if my math is correct. Terribly difficult. situations in those early days, pioneer missions. So, the Christian life by its nature requires patience. Now, in our text tonight, notice in verse 10 that James is giving us yet another example of patience, and that is the prophets. Notice in verse 10, take my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering, affliction, and of patience. Now, I have to admit that when I think of the subject of patience, profits don't normally sort of bubble up to the top of my list. But I think once you think about this a little bit, you will see what James is saying. Can you name me some profits who had to exhibit patience? Jeremiah. Okay, give me an example. What's the deal? Oh, yeah. Do you think Jeremiah ever got discouraged? You remember throwing him in the pit and leaving him there to rot. I mean, it was literally the cesspool. They throw him down there. And if it hadn't been for this Ethiopian eunuch, this is Ethiopian eunuch number one. We've got another one in the New Testament. But this Ebed-Melek was his name. They threw a rope down and put rags under it for him to put under his armpits and literally pull Jeremiah out of the muck in the mire because they had thrown him down there to die. And you just can't imagine what he went through. May I point out Jeremiah? It's interesting you bring him up because I had a text or a verse I wanted you to look at in Jeremiah 20. I asked this question, do these guys ever get discouraged? Look at verse 8. Jeremiah 20, verse 8. Well, let's go to verse 7. Jeremiah 20, verse 7. Oh Lord, Thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived. Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed. I am in derision daily. Everyone mocketh me." Now, when we normally think of patience, we think of patience as somebody who doesn't gripe or complain in the midst of trials. Right? And if they do, they lost their patience. But I want you to notice the prophets weren't like that. The prophets did a whole lot of complaining. We're going to see that. And notice what Jeremiah has just said. Lord, you tricked me. You deceived me. You lied to me. I mean, that's not being very kind. He's simply telling it like he feels, okay? He says, well, what's the problem, Jeremiah? He says, well, for since I spoke, I cried out. I cried violence and spoil. the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me and a derision daily." In other words, every time I spoke, I got in trouble. So, verse 9, then I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name. I'm just going to quit this prophet business. You ever got to that point? I'm just ready to quit. Every time I open my mouth in the name of the Lord, I get mocked and reproached, so I'm just going to quit. I'm not going to make mention of him anymore. Then he says, but his word was in mine heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not refrain, or I could not stay. I couldn't quit, is what he's saying. And again, we see the idea that patience is not so much never having a question, never having a doubt, never having a complaint. It is going on in spite of the fact that you've got questions and you've got complaints. That's what's happening here with Jeremiah. Verse 10, he says, For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars, my familiar friends, you see, watched for my halting. saying, peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. But the Lord is with me as a mighty, terrible one. Therefore, my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail. They shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not prosper. Their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten." Notice the idea that Jeremiah is saying, basically, I'm ready to quit. But God wouldn't let me. His Word was in me like fire in my bones. And I couldn't shut my mouth. I'd made up my mind I wasn't going to speak in His name anymore, but I had to. Interesting thing. That's a prophet now. An example of patience. Any other prophets come to mind of examples of patience? Moses. That's a good one. Look at all Moses. We're going to be dealing with him a little bit in here, and the times that Moses was ready to strangle somebody. Well, he did kill the Egyptian, you know. A lot of times Moses was ready to just chunk it all, and of course, that's what got him in trouble was just, you know, how long do I have to put up with these people? It was the Israelites that were the great trial. Every time he turned around, They're complaining about something else. God sent us out here to kill us. And who made you leader? You remember the attacks on him and Aaron? Who made you guys king, you know? We're just as good as you. Korah and his rebellion, calling into question, Moses' calling and leadership. So yeah, Moses is a great example of someone who had to endure through a lot of difficulties. Anybody else come to mind? Elijah. Okay, why Elijah, John? It takes off. That's right. It's just you and me, Lord, and I'm not sure about me. I'm ready to quit. Down to us. It's just you and me. And God says, get up and quit your griping. You've got work to do. There's the idea of having to prevail in the face of difficulties, in the face of the famine, You remember the three and a half years it didn't rain, and the ravens had to feed him. He went up to the widow's place for a while. And then the confrontation with Baal. That's the high point. And then run out of town by Jezebel, questioning what was going on. I mean, that's clearly what's going on. He doesn't understand why there's not a national revival. You know, all of a sudden, now we've killed all these prophets of Baal, and I thought everything's going to be alright. And instead, what we're seeing is everything as bad as it ever was. The discouragement of all of that has to keep on in the face of it all. Anybody else come to mind? What about a New Testament? John the Baptist is the name that comes to mind. I mean, you know, he had an easy time, didn't he? Eating bugs, dressed in camel skin, living out in the desert, and then finally put in prison and left there to rot. until he has his head cut off. In other words, you start looking at these prophets, and when you got called by God to be a prophet, you didn't have to say, well, what's the 401K going to be like? Because you're not going to retire. What Jesus said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, who stonest them that are sent unto thee, Yeah, you don't have to worry about retirement. You're not going to live that long. You're not going to make it. And so, the very calling. These are God's spokesmen. These are His choice ambassadors, if you will. And look at them. And that's what James is pointing out. Take the prophets as an example of these people that are called to suffer affliction and therefore have to exercise patience. They kept on. They stayed the course. in spite of the difficulty and in spite of the questions. It's a remarkable thing. And then, out of the blue, he says in verse 11, you have heard of the patience of Job. Now, you have heard of the patience of Job. That's a colloquialism. We say, well, he's as patient as Job. He has the patience of Job. There's something to that effect. common saying. Does that mean that Job just never had a problem? Never had anything to deal with? He did pretty good in the first chapter. But there's a whole bunch of other chapters that follow that first chapter. And all of a sudden, when his friends showed up and started sitting around there staring at him, Shall we say lost his cool? Now here again, if you think that patience is the ability to stay calm and collected in the midst of the storm, then Job is the very opposite of what patience is. Because Job, from chapter 3 on, is mouthy as he can be. He didn't curse God. He stayed the course. through losing his substance, losing his family. But then when those three friends showed up, he knew what they were thinking. I mean, he admits he would have said the same thing. All they're doing is parroting to him what he would have said to somebody else in his situation. So he knows where they're coming from. Job, God doesn't do this to innocent people. You must have done something. It must have been terrible for Him to do this terrible thing to you. And Job says, hey guys, I haven't done anything. I mean, he doesn't, I don't think, claim sinlessness, but you know, nothing's changed. All of a sudden, I'm getting a bill when I should have had a credit. You know, the celestial computer in the sky is making this big mistake. And I'm being blamed for something I didn't do. And they're saying, oh Job, all you need to do is just come clean. Just fess up. Just go ahead and confess it and God will forgive you. And Job's saying, confess what? What did I do? Where is my fault? Where is my crime? Show me this." So you get the picture of what's going on here. That Job is losing not only his substance and his family, but he's losing his reputation. You remember at one point he says, there was a time when I walked up and young men stood up. I mean, I was something. What's the old commercial when E.F. Hutton Talks. Everybody listens. You remember those? Well, when Job talked, everybody shut up. Everybody listened. He was the guy. And he says, now, these boys, I wouldn't have hired their daddies to watch my dogs. They mock me. They make me the butt of their jokes. They make me the mockery of their songs. These young pups. that I wouldn't have hired their dads to watch my dogs are making fun of me. They're mocking me. They make up songs about me. You begin to see what's really tormenting Joe. The loss of all he had down to his reputation. It's all gone. Let's look at a few. I jotted down a few of his statements here to let you know that patients, if you've got to keep your mouth shut in the midst of a trial, Job doesn't qualify. Look at Job 3. This is after his buddies come and stare at him for seven days. Job 3.1, after this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. And Job spoke and said, let the day perish in which I was born, and the night in which it was said, there is a man child conceived. And he goes on and on, let that day be blotted out like it never existed. He doesn't curse God, but he sure curses the day he was born and the fact of his birth. Look at chapter 10, verse 1. This is Job speaking here. He says, my soul is weary of my life. I will leave my complaint upon myself, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul." That sound like a patient guy? I will say unto God, do not condemn me, show me why thou contendest with me. You get the idea? God, what are you doing to me? Why are you doing this? Why are you condemning me as a wicked man? Show me what you're doing. Then go on over to chapter 16, verse 1. Not only is he angry with God, but he gets angry with his friends. Job 16, verse 1. Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things. One of the guys just got through with his speech. He says, miserable comforters are you all. If this is your words of comfort, you all can just go home. In fact, a little later he says, how does he put it? Physicians of no value. You ever been to one of those? A physician of no value. You've come to treat me. You've come to encourage me. And in fact, all you're doing is pouring gasoline on the fire. You're just increasing my misery. So anyway, he's upset with God. He's upset with his circumstances, upset with God, upset with his friends. Look in chapter 23, in verse 1, Then Job answered and said, Even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat." And he's talking about God. If I could just have my day in court with Him. He said, I would order my cause before Him, fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me and understand what He would say to me. Is He going to contend with me or plead against me with His great power? No, but He would put strength in me. In other words, if I could just get my day in court before God, If I just knew where to find him, then I would be able to straighten this mess out. I would tell him what's going on here, and he would hear, and he would say, yes, Job, you're exactly right. You've got a legitimate complaint. I hear you. But he says there's this problem. Verse 8, Behold, I go forward, but he's not there. Backward, I cannot perceive Him. On the left hand where He doth work, I cannot behold Him. He has hidden Himself on the right hand that I cannot see Him. In other words, He's never in His office. I can't ever get a hold of Him. If I could just get a hold of Him, I could straighten this mess out. So, Job is absolutely convinced that something terrible has gone wrong. There's been a breakdown in the running of the universe. And as Elihu will later on say, all you're really doing is ascribing wickedness to your Creator when you say such things, because He's the sovereign. And by the way, all of Job assumes that God is sovereign, because if He's not, then none of this makes any sense. And in fact, it's the fact that God is sovereign that is the thorn in the side for Job. Let's ask this question, when the devil went to destroy Job's faith in God, and he sent wind to blow down the house where his kids were, if that really was just the devil doing that. And we know from the rest of the story that no, God gave him permission to do that, right? He couldn't touch him until God gave him permission. And if that's not true, then why would Satan do that? You see the problem? Why would Satan even do that if he didn't know that Job knows God is ultimately in control. So God had to have allowed that. That's got to be the reasoning. So anyway, all right. And yet in the midst of it all, Job remains faithful. In Job 13, go there a second. In Job 13, And there's verse 15, "...though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." And then he goes on to say, "...but I will maintain mine own ways before Him." I'm not going to confess something I didn't do. But notice, although I have this complaint, at the same time, I will never ever leave Him even if He slays me. I will still trust in Him. That's patience. That's that quality that keeps on, remains faithful, remains steadfast in the face of, in this case, unimaginable loss, unimaginable discomfort, unimaginable trial. And yet, he says, even if God kills me, I'll still trust Him. And notice that James, to go back to James now, he points our attention particularly at the end of the story. He says, you have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the end of the Lord. Now the end here, the telos, means the purpose or the final outcome. You've seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. Pitiful means full of pity. You know, we say, well, that's pitiful. We generally mean something bad. But to be pitiful means literally to be full of pity. He's full of compassion and full of mercy. Although, when Job was in the trial, it sure didn't look that way, did it? There was no evidence that God was pitiful. No evidence that He was merciful. And yet, James is saying, if you look at the end, though, you see God's compassion, you see His mercy. What happened at the end? He got restored. All his possessions. In fact, not just his possessions, but twice. Twice the number of cattle, twice the number of camels. In other words, however big a farmer he was at the first of the book, he's a doubly big farmer at the end of the book. And then he was restored. You remember his children? How many sons does he have? Seven. I figured somebody would guess. How many daughters? Three. Seven sons, three daughters. So he was restored at the end with the children that he lost at the beginning. Now, I'm not a genius, but even I can figure out it takes a little while to have another seven sons and three daughters. Right? How long would you suppose? About twenty years? Well, that's true. I guess they could be twins. But if you have them one at a time... I always said, you know, that was her punishment for questioning him in the first chapter. You know, she said, curse God and die. And of course, we said, God took all His children that He loved and left His wife behind. What does that say? And then she gets hers at the end of the book. having another seven sons and three daughters, perhaps, anyway. But even I can figure out that that's going to take about 20 years. And you begin to see the patience, the fact... And shall we say that in most cases, as we dealt with the prophets a moment ago, how did most of the prophets end up? How did they die? Was it an easy death? laying on their deathbeds, surrounded by their kids and so forth? No, most of the time they were martyred, beheaded, sawn in two. We have the list there in the book of Hebrews. No, you never saw the end of the Lord in their case. Not with these eyes. You never saw what you see with Job. I think Job is giving us the bigger picture. That in his case, God opens up the curtain a little bit and says, here's what happened in his life, but here's the reward that followed. Here's the payoff. Back to the farmer. You've seen the hard work. Now you see the harvest. And in Job's case, he has intentionally given us the bigger picture so that yes, we can say, OK, now I get it. Yeah, there is an end with the Lord and he is full of compassion and pity and mercy that we can trust him. We can safely trust him. We can stay the course no matter how difficult it might be. And that's sort of the purpose, I think, of the book of Job is to give us that complete picture, whereas in the case of the prophets, we don't get the full picture. We don't ever see the payoff, the reward on the other end. Well, there's your look at what the Christian life is like. You know, I didn't go into the fact that Jesus Himself was a prophet, and the question was His life, is He? He endured a contradiction of sinners against himself. In fact, James will speak earlier in this book that before you get to Waylon and telling me all your story, you have not yet resisted unto blood. I don't see any blood yet. You mothers, you know, when your kids are little and they come running in screaming, I don't see any blood. You know, what are you saying? Unless you're bleeding, Don't bother me. Get back out there. When you start bleeding, we'll take this seriously. And James is saying the same thing. You've not yet resisted unto blood. I don't see any blood splurting out yet. Christ stayed the course even unto blood, the death of the cross. And those that followed Him, they will do the same thing. And that's why Jesus, when they're arguing about who's going to be the greater in all this, says, are you able to drink this cup? that I drink?" Yeah, you're going to. And sure enough, almost to a man, the disciples died that martyr's death. So there's the picture of the Christian life. Suddenly, the health and wealth gospel just doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? The fact that God wants you happy, wealthy, and well, and thin. Those are the things everybody wants. No, it doesn't quite work out that way. God wants us faithful, and our faith will be tested. And therefore, because our faith will be tested, patience, endurance, steadfastness, perseverance is demanded of the saints. Alright, any other thoughts tonight? Yeah, Charles? Well, that's what I was trying to say is that our notion of patience is somebody that's just stoic and never, you know, they just deal with it, you know, and suck it up and go on. And it seems that it just doesn't fit. And in Abraham's case, yeah, his patients seemed to... there were these questions, in other words, questioning, sometimes complaining, and certainly, you know, he's basically saying, why can't Ishmael be the seed? You said you're going to give me a descendant and made all these promises, why doesn't he work? You know, there's all this misunderstanding of God's ways and of really what's going on. He doesn't understand what's happening. And that's what I'm saying is that the definition of patience is not the absence of questions or complaining or questioning, you know. It's the adherence to trust in God in the face of those things. In spite of those things, I'm still going to cleave to the Lord. And you begin to see in the saints' case, it's like Jeremiah. is saying that I would have quit if God would have let me. But He wouldn't let me. He wouldn't fire me. I was ready to quit. But His Word was in me and I couldn't help myself but speak it. And I think there's some of that going on. That the reason that the saints persevere is because our God is preserving. Or we would, like Abraham, we would make the wrong choice, head the wrong direction. So I think our notion of patience, that's why I've been trying to stress this, is not... If you have gripes to God, go ahead and tell Him. He already knows it. I mean, you're not hiding it from Him. If you've got doubts, go ahead and tell Him. If you've got things that you're wrestling with and struggle with, go ahead and tell Him. The prophets did. Job did. You know, he didn't sit there and just say, well, I'm just going to suck it up and not say these things. I mean, when he opened his mouth, out it came. Every complaint he had in the book. And yet, I'm never going to leave him. In fact, another place, when he tries me, I'll come forth as gold. I'm being tried. I'm being tested, and I know that. And I don't like it. Nobody ever likes the trial. That's why I was saying in the first place, patience can't take place if life is fun. Patience can only happen when you've got difficulties and things that you wouldn't choose coming into your life. That's when patience becomes important. becomes necessary and essential. So I don't know, that's not... But I see exactly what you're saying, Charles. These heroes of the faith are about as faithless sometimes as anybody can get. Abraham running off to Bimelech, telling him Sarah's his sister and, you know, those kinds of... the failures of these guys. And then Ishmael is a good example. You know, Sarah and Abraham had a better plan. And why can't Ishmael be the one? Yes, perseverance, patience, steadfastness. I'm trying to think of all these. Yeah, endurance. Absolutely. Keep it on, keep it on in the face of difficulty and trials. And I'm saying the soldier has to do that, the athlete has to do that, the farmer has to do that, and the Christian most certainly has to do that. So rather than your Christian life being a life of absence of all kinds of problems, It is a life of endurance in the face of those problems. Yes, right. And I'm saying the questions, it seems the Lord never, in these examples we see, never ever chides them speaking what they honestly feel and think. And I think that is an important thing. That's why I was saying that if we have doubts, we have questions, we may not voice those to one another, but we certainly need to voice them to the Lord. Say, I don't understand. I don't get this. I don't see what's going on here. I don't see where anybody has ever chided for asking honest questions.