The topic that is assigned to me is what do you do when your child makes a bombshell claim? Now, Mike was gonna teach today on a different topic. He'll come back to that in a couple of weeks when he's up here teaching from the pulpit, but I just pushed one of my topics ahead a little bit. What do you do when your child makes a bombshell claim? Psalm 112 verse 7 says this, the godly man will not fear evil tidings because his heart is steadfast and he is trusting in the Lord. Now, I just read Psalm 112, verse seven. I'm gonna come back to that a little bit later on in our time, but that's gonna be sort of the verse to begin our discussion together. What do you do when your child makes a bombshell claim? Now, maybe to begin, let me define my term. When I talk about a bombshell claim, it's a claim from someone that is overwhelming surprise of disappointment. A bombshell claim is something that is sudden, unexpected, a piece of news that you never saw coming. It's hard to hear, it's understandable, but very disappointing. A bombshell claim is a shocking piece of news. That's how Cambridge University Press defines a bombshell claim, a shocking piece of news. Could you imagine as a father or mother, if you hear a child come to you and totally unexpected, they say, Dad, Mom, I'm an atheist. They say, I reject your Christianity. I have converted to Roman Catholicism. Dad, Mom? I'm pregnant. I got an abortion. I'm leaving your house and I'm gonna go live with my girlfriend. Or on and on we could go with different bombshell claims. And the reason that this particular topic was selected in the series that we have, What Do You Do When, sort of a biblical counseling, a very practical series that we're working through over the next few months, is because sadly these things are becoming more and more and more common. particularly in the realm of gender and sexuality. What if you heard your boy or your girl say, Dad, Mom, I'm gay. I don't no longer view myself as a boy. I'm a girl. Often these things have to do with gender. They have to do with sexuality. And in our society and in our times, it's becoming more and more and more prevalent. Doesn't take hard to see that, it's all over the news and all over the headlines as well. Let me give you a little background information, still by way of introduction. According to UCLA, in their research just last year, nearly one in five people who identify as transgender are of the ages 13 to 17. 20% of all those in our nation who identify as transgender are teenagers, 13 to 17. Mainly, according to the states, where do they live? They live in California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. While a relatively small share of adults in our country would identify as transgender or non-binary, they would affirm that they know someone who is. Maybe you could certainly say that as well. More than 50% of Americans would say they know someone who is trans or someone who might say that they are non-binary. I'm going to define some of that later. Now, the trans-affirming care, or we might call it a trans-inclusive workplace, and all the diversity trainings that are out there, you could all testify probably more than I could to this, they are thoroughly infiltrating every level of society, right? You would agree with that? But many, and so many, have drunk the Kool-Aid of this evil ideology. And when it comes to the workplace, often it would come to this point. There are four key areas of intervention that you must have in an organization to cultivate a trans-inclusive workplace. I'm just sharing with you some of the thinking that's out there. Number one, you need to have basic signs of trans inclusivity, like bathroom use for men and women and so on, and dress codes and pronouns and affirming all of that. Another thing that workplaces might say is you need to have effective support for gender transition, financially or even just support emotionally for these individuals. Third, there needs to be trans-specific training, diversity training. And from what I hear from a lot of you, it's all over the place. And then fourth, there would need to be interventions to build resiliency. And I just mention that, not just to fill our time with statistics, but to tell you that it's everywhere. It's in the education, it's in the workplace, it's from the youngest of elementary school age all the way through university. Everywhere you go, you can't get past the indoctrination of this satanic ideology. I want to define my terms. First, when I talk about transgender, this is someone whose gender identity, or the way that they view themselves, or their gender expression, it does not correspond with the sex that they were assigned at birth. When I use the word non-binary, non-binary people are those who identify as an intermediate or what they might call a separate third gender. They would identify with more than a gender or no gender or have a fluctuating gender identity. You might think that's a little confusing and it is. Third, when I talk about binary, we have to understand that that simply means there are only two sexes, male and female. That's biblical. Only two sexes. What is becoming more and more common is the word detransition. Detransition is the cessation or the reversal of a transgender identification or a gender transition. It's whether by social or legal or medical means somebody has become transgender and now they're transitioning out of that. And then we have to understand the word gender. The Bible teaches very clearly that gender is something that you are before it's something that you learn. In other words, the distinctions between male and female find their origin and their meaning and their definition in God's good creation, not in what you learn from culture or how you might choose to identify yourself at a certain time. So what do we do? Why is this important to bring this up in a family Bible teaching hour at Christ Fellowship Bible Church? Why is it important in this study, what do you do when, to have a topic like this, when your child makes a bombshell claim? because we need to realize and reaffirm and reestablish our convictions that we are here to destroy every lofty thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God. That's why the Bible says we are destroying speculations, that is world views, and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God. And we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. That's what you and I are called to do as Christians. We're called, we're commanded to do that in 2 Corinthians 10 5. But there are a lot of speculations, aren't there, in our day. I mean, there are all kinds of worldviews and ideologies and ways in which teaching is being promoted in our generation. But there's one that's driving a lot of this. And I've mentioned it before, but I want to say it again because it's everywhere. Expressive individualism. Expressive individualism. Now, Yuval Levine wrote a book entitled The Fractured Republic, which deals with this topic of expressive individualism. And in that book, Fractured Republic, here's what Yuval Levine says. Here's what is written, quote, the term expressive individualism suggests not only a desire for a man to pursue his own path, but, here's the key, it's a yearning for fulfillment through the definition and articulation of your own self-perceived identity. In other words, people find fulfillment in their own perceived identity. It's a drive to be more like whatever you already are and how you identify, and you want to live in society by fully asserting who you are. But then the book continues. Expressive individualism holds that human beings are defined by their individual psychological core, who you are, what you want to be, what you think, how you feel in a moment. and that the purpose of your life is allowing your internal psychological core to find social expression in relationships. Now get this, here's where trouble is gonna come. Anything that challenges how people choose to identify is deemed oppression. You're a hater. You're oppressive. You're a bigot. You are committing hate crime because you do not promote people expressing themselves however they perceive in their psychological core. They want to find their fulfillment. They want to define who they are by their own man-made identity. Christian, you and I, we see the flaws in that. It's all over the place. We see the pride in such definitions. We see the self-deification of such statements. That's why you and I can't call a transgender person by their preferred pronoun. We can't. That would be dishonoring the Lord and going against how God in his amazing beauty made that person. Now, when we talk about expressive individualism, and I'm sort of going through a long introduction to get to some scriptures here in a little bit, I want to give you four areas where you and I have to be aware. These all are hot-button issues in our day, so I'm going to mention all of them. And just briefly, I'm going to mention the four topics. I'm going to tell you how culture would define it, and then how the Bible would define it, very quickly. And that'll help us to understand these four key areas of expressive individualism that are just permeating workplaces, institutions, and even, sadly, churches in some cases. The first key area is the area of identity. Identity. How do you identify? Well, culture would say your identity is defined by how you determine yourself to be. Your identity is your self-given identity. It's the social acceptance of who you want to be. And that's what gives purpose and meaning and happiness to your life. It's expressing yourself to the fullest. You know what God says? God says your identity is determined not by you, but your identity is determined by God. God gives meaning and God gives purpose. And quite simply, Ephesians 2, 1 to 10 is the best place to go. You're either dead in your sins outside of Christ, that's your identity, or you're in Christ saved by grace. That really kind of boils it down quite simply. God determines one's identity. Another key area, let me give you a second, is the topic of sex. Sex. Culture would say sex is for pleasure. It's not for God. If it feels good, do it. You know what God says? Sex is a gift from God, and it is to reveal the glory of God, and it's not ultimately for you, it's ultimately for the glory of God. Not ultimately for your self-pleasure alone, but for the purpose of the glory of God. And when we talk about the topic of sex, the way that God designed it, there are a number of purposes of sex. First, it is to be for the consummation of marriage, leaving father and mother and joining together and becoming one flesh. It is also for the topic of, and for the wonderful beauty, the design of procreation, to have children. It is a wonderful expression of love. It is for pleasure, and it's also a foretaste. It's a preview of the perfect heavenly communion that every believer will enjoy in the presence of Jesus forever in heaven. So, but culture has taken these topics and they've totally flipped them, whether it's identity or whether it's sex. But let me give you a third topic, and that is the topic of marriage. Marriage. Of course, this is no surprise to all of us. Our culture is saying that marriage is a cultural institution. Our culture refuses the Bible. It wants to take God out of it. It rejects the authority of God and His Word. And so you just make marriage, quite honestly, whatever you want it to be. If you want to marry your dog, marry your dog. If you want to marry a man, marry a man. If you wanna marry something or someone else, you're free to do that. That's what the culture would say. Whatever makes you feel good, because you are your own authority, you can make marriage whatever you want it to be. The Bible, here's the biblical reality of marriage. God made marriage, not the culture. Marriage, then, is fixed. Marriage cannot be changed. It does not shift when you go to different cultures. And marriage, this is so beautiful, it always points to Christ and his gospel. Always. That's a category that unbelievers don't even have in their wiring. But yet every believer understands the very meaning and the very institution of marriage. Because every believer does. We understand this because it points to Christ and it points to the gospel. And then, let me give you the fourth topic. Culture has totally confused identity, sex, marriage, and then forth. It's the topic of gender. The culture says your gender is not revealed. They would say that you're assigned a gender at birth, but your gender can be arbitrary. It can be false. It can be governed by your feelings. And really what it comes down to is those who would hold this teaching, this worldview on genderism, say that feelings are the authority and that everyone must embrace and accept and submit to my feelings about how I view myself and my gender. But God, but God in his word says that we resolve all of these issues not by bodily change. This is not a surgical, it's not a hormonal, it's not an ideological. What it is, gender is assigned by God. It's given at birth, it is seen with biology, and it is fixed by the grace of God and for the glory of God and by the good design of God. I mention all of that because the topic, what do you do when your child comes to you and makes a bombshell claim? Well, there's so much in our society that is teaching the godlessness of what I just mentioned here a few moments ago. We need to understand that there are battle forces that you and I, as parents, grandparents, and Christians, we are up against. Here are the three battle forces. Every young kid is up against three things. Number one, their own natural selfish nature. their own natural selfish nature. Ephesians 2, you were dead in your sins, you're walking the course of this world, you're influenced by the power of the devil, you are a slave of him headed for wrath, Ephesians 2, 1 to 3. There's a natural selfish nature in the child. Second of all, another battle force that we're up against is there's a spiritual undertow. We have those who are forces in the heavenly places, Ephesians 6 verse 12. They're invisible, but they're real and they're powerful. And then a third battle force that we are up against in our parenting is an increasingly whacked out culture. an increasingly confusing, chaotic, and godless culture. In the last days, difficult times will come. The first that Paul mentions there in 2 Timothy 3, 1 and 2 is men will be lovers of self. That's what marks all of this. People love themselves, and they want to identify how they want, and they want you to embrace that. So take your Bible and go with me to Deuteronomy chapter six. What do we do? What do we do going back to our question and the counseling question that we're dealing with? What do you do when a child says to you this bombshell claim, something that shocks you, something that disappoints you, something that you never saw coming? What do you do? Well, let's just kind of go back to the, building blocks of what God reveals in his word, Deuteronomy 6, verse seven. You shall teach them. And the them goes back to verse six. These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. So all of God's words, verse seven, we should teach diligently to our sons, and we shall talk of them when we sit in the house, when we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when you rise up. We have to teach our children Turn maybe a few pages to Deuteronomy chapter 11. If you look at Deuteronomy 11, verse 18, here's what God says to his people. You shall impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you rise up. We could also turn to Ephesians chapter six, when the apostle Paul writing to the believers is commanding parents and fathers as the leader, those who are accountable. Fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up. It's an active verb. You can't be passive. You got to bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. And there's a warning on this, The warning comes in Proverbs 22 verse six, train up a child in the way he should go, even when he's old, he will not depart from it. That's not a guarantee that if you parent well, your kids are gonna be saved. It's actually a warning. If you just in a passive way, allow a kid to just go his own way, don't be surprised if for the rest of his life, even when he's old, he's not gonna depart from that path of sin. But what do you do when you seek to be faithful, when you seek to teach, when you seek to shepherd the children, you're leading them in family worship, you're discipling them, you want them to know the gospel, what do you do when your children make a bombshell claim? I don't have a one vitamin that's gonna solve all the problems on this. But what I do want to show you for the remainder of our time is when this happens, this is where your theology becomes really practical. I'll put it like this. This is where your doctrine of God must govern your heart. This is why we have to study God. It's why we have to know the attributes of God. It's why we have to hold to the absolute sovereignty of God. We have to believe in the goodness of God, the wisdom of God, the providence of God, the decrees of God, the mercy of God. Ponder with me. No, no, no. Go with me. Let's go to Isaiah. Let's go to Isaiah chapter one. Now, in Isaiah chapters one and two, I wanna spend just a couple of minutes here. What do you do? What do you do when your children rebel? What do you do when you've been faithful, not perfect, but you've been faithful to teach them, and you love them, and you've prayed for them, and you've ministered to them, and you've brought them under the teaching and preaching of the word in every possible format you can think of, and they rebel. What do you do? Isaiah 1 is a great go-to chapter. You know why? Because beginning in verse two, God explains himself as the parent. And then in verse two, he has a child, a son, Israel, who is rebellious. How is God gonna respond to a rebellious child? What's God gonna do? Ponder these opening verses. Let's just sort of look at verses two through five, and maybe we could read more and more, but if I was gonna give you a little phrase, if you're taking notes, just a brief little outline, you could do this. Number one, you have to expose the sin. You gotta expose it. Verse two, listen, O heavens, hear, O earth, for the Lord speaks. Sons, I have reared and I have brought up, but they have revolted against me. Now you gotta hear what God says. I am the father, Israel is my son, and he uses the most graphic and the most, as it were, violent Hebrew word for sin. Revolt. They have willfully transgressed against me. They know that this is the line of God, and it's like they're looking at you the whole time while they transgress. Willful, willful sin. Verse 3, an ox knows the master, a donkey its master's manger, but Israel does not know. My people don't understand. Verse 4 in the middle says they've abandoned the Lord. They've despised the Holy One. At the end of verse 4, they've turned away from Him. I mean, this is just God saying that the people have revolted, they've sinned, they've despised, they've abandoned, they've turned away from the top of their head to the bottom of their foot. My son has rebelled. What is God gonna do? In fact, it's so bad, verse 10, he calls them Sodom and Gomorrah. That's how bad it is. Well then, if you're writing down an outline, number two you could write down, you have to compel them. Compel them. You have to compel them, woo them, urge them, plead with them. Look, that's what God does. Look at verse 16 of chapter one. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your deeds from my sight, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, remove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow, come. Come, let's reason together, says the Lord. Your sins are as scarlet, but they will be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land. Do you hear what God is saying? You have rebelled against me, but come, come. Come, your sins can be washed. I will give you the best. But verse 20, if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. Here's the third. If you're taking notes on this little outline, you have to expose the sin to those who make this bombshell claim. You have to compel them with love to be reconciled to God. But third, you gotta warn them. I was surprised, and I have been surprised, in reading some of Christian world out there, Christian counseling, integrative counseling, and so on, this word, affirm them. You don't want to affirm them. You tell them you love them, but you're not there to affirm them in your sin. Look at what God does in verse 20, to the son who has rebelled. Verse 20, but if you refuse and rebel, you'll be devoured by the sword. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Verse 28, look at the end of the chapter. Transgressors and sinners will be crushed. All those who forsake the Lord will come to an end. You will be ashamed of all the oaks which you have desired, and you're going to be embarrassed at the gardens which you have chosen." Do you hear God saying, if you continue down this path, you're going to be ashamed. You're going to be humiliated. And then in chapter 2, the way that God puts this book together for us, chapter two, as a parent, when a child makes a bombshell claim. Number two, you have to choose, or this is number four, you have to choose hope. You have to choose hope. Why? Because chapter two gives hope. Not hope in the present circumstance of trouble, but hope in the future glory of God. revealed in the great kingdom of our God. Now that's just one example we could go to in the word, Isaiah chapters one and two. When a child makes a bombshell claim, guess what? You can pray on your knees and you can be grieved in your heart and God can relate. He can relate, chapter one of Isaiah. We also don't wanna forget the importance When a child makes a bombshell claim, practically, you don't want to forget Proverbs 20, verse 5. A plan in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding draws it out. What does that mean? It's much more than a verbal claim. It comes from a deep well in the heart. So the kid might say, the child might say, the teenager might say, the adult child might say, I'm transgender. I'm no longer a boy. I reject your God. Whatever they might verbally say, you want to go deeper and probe the heart, asking open-ended questions. What do you really want? What makes you the happiest in life? Or if they use this bombshell claim of genderism or sexuality or something of that sort, what led you to believe that you might be gay? Have you ever experienced these feelings before? What was your initial reaction? Have you talked to anyone else about these things? You see, we wanna get at the root of the issue. We understand the confusion in the heart of a sinner, but yet we also recognize the power of the gospel. Can I say that again? The power of the gospel. We also recognize the love of the Savior. Remember the prodigal? We looked at that in Luke 15 not too long ago. The prodigal father did not scold the sinner when he came home, he received him. We wanna show the love of the Savior, the love of the Savior. And with all of this bombshell talk, claims, parents never forget the persistence of your prayers. and the power of persistent praying. I wanna mention three things that I would love to each do a separate part on, but for the sake of time, I can't, I'm gonna mention it to you. Number one, whenever a claim like this happens, remember that you, first of all, are a slave of Christ. Your identity, Christian, is you're a slave of Christ. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6, he says in verse 4, in everything we are commending ourselves as slaves of God in endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, imprisonment, tumult, labor, in purity, knowledge, patience, kindness. And then he says, we are servants of God, even by evil report and by good report. Whatever kind of report could come your way. 2 Corinthians 6 says, you have to remember, we are servants. We are slaves of Christ. That's your identity. Remember that. A second point that I want to mention very briefly is what I read at the beginning, Psalm 112. I remember David Paulusen teaching on this, and the verse just stuck with me. It never, ever has left me, I hope it doesn't leave me. Psalm 112 verse seven, the godly man does not fear evil tidings. He doesn't fear bad news. You know that you get that phone call at midnight, you get the doctor report. You know, the child says, I wanna talk to you. You know, whatever, you're called into the boss's office, whatever, and you're fearful. The godly person, Psalm 112, doesn't fear bad news. Why? Here's the answer. It's right here in Psalm 112, verse seven. His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. What does that mean? In the Hebrew, his heart is like cemented down, like a pillar deep in the ground. He's cemented in God, never ever to be shaken. You can be trusting in the Lord, steadfast in God, relying on Him, and you don't need to fear any bad news. Well, how do you get rid of anxiety? How do you get rid of it? Philippians 4, verses 4 to 9. gives three really helpful ways, and oh, it'd be so great to read this and spend a lot of time here. But how do you get rid of anxiety? How do you get rid of all of the fear and the worry that can so cripple us, that can handicap us? How do we get rid of it? Well, first, there has to be right praying, right praying. Philippians 4 verse 6 be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God So you got to begin with right praying and then second there's got to be right thinking Because then, in Philippians 4, 8, whatever is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely of good repute, anything excellence and anything worthy of praise, think about such things. Our mind should not be thinking about the possibilities of the unknown, but we ought to be dwelling and filling our mind on that which is lovely. Right praying, right thinking, and then third, there's gotta be then right living. right living, because then the very next verse, the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice, do it, do these things and the God of peace will be with you. You're a slave of Christ, that's your identity. You don't need to fear bad news, Psalm 112 says. Well, when the anxiety and the worry and the fear just cripples me, Philippians 4, right praying, right thinking, and right living can be such a help. But I wanna close our time by having you turn to the book of Habakkuk with me. Habakkuk, I wanna take you to a man who can relate. If there's a guy in the Bible who can relate to getting a bombshell claim, I mean, there are situations in your life where something happens that just rocks your world. It shakes you to the core. Maybe it's news about something. Maybe it's a child who makes a bombshell claim. It's something that disappoints you. It's something that shocks you. It's like you're numb afterward. What do you do? And if there was a man in the Bible who can relate to that situation, It's the man Habakkuk, or in the Hebrew, Habakkuk, Habakkuk. Chapter one, we read in verse five, Habakkuk chapter one, verse five. God says to the prophet, look among the nations, observe, be astonished and wonder. I am doing something in your days which you would not believe if you were told, in parentheses, here's a bombshell claim. Verse six, behold, I am raising up the wicked, the evil, the terrifying, the ungodly, the polytheistic Chaldeans, the Babylonians. They're fierce, they're impetuous, they're gonna march through the earth, they're gonna seize the dwelling places. They are dreaded and feared. Their justice and their authority, do you see verse seven, originate where? From themselves. Here's a bombshell claim, Prophet Habakkuk. I'm doing something in your day that's gonna absolutely shock you. I'm gonna take a wicked people, the Babylonians, and they are gonna come to the land of Israel. Verse 11 says, they're gonna sweep through like the wind and they're gonna pass on. Their strength is their God. They're gonna destroy God's people, Judah, at this time. by destroying the temple, destroying Jerusalem, and hauling them off to exile. What? What a bombshell claim. It was so difficult that verse 13, Habakkuk says, whoa, whoa, whoa, your eyes, God, are too pure to approve evil. I mean, this is evil. Or maybe if a child says, I'm transgender, I'm moving out and going to live with my girlfriend. That's, it's evil. Habakkuk can relate. Your eyes are too pure to approve evil. You can't look on wickedness with favor. God, why are you doing this? He doesn't get it. Verse 13 ends, why are you silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they? God, it seems like you're not acting. It seems like you're not involved. It seems like you don't care. I've done all that I can to raise up this child and teach this child and give him truth and how could they do that? Chapter one is the trial, the trial. If a bombshell claim ever comes your way, it's a trial. It is a trial. Habakkuk can relate. Well then, chapter 2, here's the key. It's the trust. Verse 1. Chapter 2, verse 1, I will stand on my guard post. I'm going to station myself on the rampart. I'm going to keep watch to see what God is going to speak. I've poured out my heart to God, and I'm just going to wait, and I'm going to see what God is going to do. I'm going to trust in Verse two, then the Lord answered and said, record the vision, inscribe it on the tablet so the one may read it, may run for the vision is yet for the appointed time, it hastens toward the goal, it will not fail, though it tarries, wait for it, it will certainly come, it will not delay. Verse four, but as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him, but the righteous will live by faith. Well, I don't get what you're doing, God. I don't understand what you're doing. Here's a bombshell claim. That's my trial. What do you do? Habakkuk 2 teaches trust. The righteous live by faith. We live by faith. Not the proud one, because his soul is not right within him. It's not that I need to have my way, it's I need to be righteous in living by faith. Well, if the bombshell claim is the trial in chapter one, and then you've got to trust the Lord in chapter two, And then verse 20 can also be a good reminder just for us as we trust the Lord. Do you see it there? The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him. Let me just be quiet and listen. The trial, the trust. But then you gotta get this. Chapter three is the triumph. It is the triumph. It is all triumph. A prayer of Habakkuk, verse one, the prophet, according to the Shigionoth, and then here's this amazing praise song. But he just heard a bombshell claim. And then he was reminded that he's gotta live by faith. No worry. No anxiety, no fear. How? You conquer that with praise. Chapter three, oh Lord, I've heard the report about you and I fear, revive your work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years, make it known in wrath, remember mercy. Verse three, God comes from Timon, the holy one from Mount Paran. His splendor covers the heavens and the earth is filled with his praise. The radiance of God is like the sunlight and his rays flashing from his hand and there is nothing, there is the hiding of his power. Before him goes pestilence and plague comes after him. He stood and surveyed the earth. He looked and startled the nations. The perpetual mountains were shadowed. The ancient hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting. His eyes are off the situation and they're on to the majestic sovereignty of the king. And then you come to the end, look at verse 17, the end of the book, Habakkuk 3.17. Okay, so here's the bombshell claim. It's bad, it's tough, it's real. Verse 17, though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, and the yields of the olives should fail, and the fields produce no food, and the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stall. That's pretty much life is falling apart at every level. Financially, Economically, if everything goes bad, verse 18, yet I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he has made my feet like hinds feet, and he makes me walk on my high places. For the choir. Director. When your child makes a bombshell claim, gender, sexuality, whatever it could be, what do you do? Here's the lesson from Habakkuk, and maybe it's a good one to end on. Christians are people who do not live based on explanations, but we live on the promises of God. And that's what Habakkuk does. That's what the book of Habakkuk teaches. When that bombshell claim comes, we don't live based on explanations. We live by faith. And we trust our God. And we know that his promises are always good and always reliable. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the counsel, the sufficient, reliable counsel that you give from your word. We pray that we would honor you in how we think and how we pray and how we live and how we conduct ourselves in life. In Jesus name. Amen.