We've learned that just because it's cloudy and rainy outside doesn't mean it's going to be that way forever. Sunny days are coming and praise God we've got one of them today. Just beautiful seeing that sun shining through the leaves. It's a glorious time to live in Michigan. But we also are prepared by God's Word for those days that are difficult days. And I would just ask you to think about a time in your life when you were devastated. Devastated by some kind of a loss. We've all experienced it. It's part of living in a fallen world. I've shared with you, it broke my little heart as a little boy when my dog that was just my best friend ran out in the street and got killed. I thought my world had ended right then because it was hard. It was a great loss. Many of us here in this room, if you live for many years, you're gonna go through physical problems. I remember when I was in high school and had a sport injury and I was just giving it my all and I had to sit out for a season. And that was hard, it was a loss. But those losses then in perspective as life goes on, you have a loved one. leave you through death. It's so hard. These things are difficult. And at times when we are devastated by a loss, we may feel like there is no hope. That's how we feel. And we feel like there is no way that God could ever work good out of these circumstances because they're just so terrible. And so those are times when we need God, we need faith, we need the Word of God to teach us and to instruct us, to remind us that we are living in a fallen world and the Bible tells us that. And that it was by Satan's temptation and Adam and Eve's choice to disbelieve God and rebel against God that sin came into the world and with that sin came death. But we realize that the final chapters are not written. And as we read the Scripture, it begins to give us perspective on right responses to suffering in our life. And God is teaching us, He's teaching us through His Word to learn to trust God's heart when we can't trace His hand. That is, we realize we live in a fallen world with losses and disappointments, but that God is still good, and that we can trust God. And so we're looking into the life of Job, and we've been doing that here in several messages, and today we kind of bring that little mini-series to a conclusion, and I hope it'll be a blessing to your heart, it was to mine, as we come to the final chapter of Job, Job chapter 42, if you want to turn there with me. I'd like us to just look at three thoughts together today as we tie this together in our hearts and seek to apply it to our life. Lessons from the life of Job of how we, like Job, need to be growing deeper in our faith. We need to be growing deeper in our faith in God. And the first thought I'd like to share with us today is this. There is pride in the best of believers. Now you'll remember when we studied Job chapter 1 that Job was pointed out by God to Satan as an example of a believer who loved what is good. And he was opposed to what was evil. Remember that back in Job 1.8? where God said of Job, he's a blameless and an upright man, he's my servant. That is, he's a man who had come to God by grace through faith and trusted for forgiveness of sin, not on his own merit, but on God's grace. And so he had been pointed out as a man who was exemplary, a man of faith. And we remember this description of Job, that he was a man that feared God, he was upright, And he also abstained or eschewed, he hated, he turned away from evil. Well, evil was on the march in Job's day. It's been on the march since sin entered into the world and will continue until Christ's return. And evil is on the march in our state. We've been reminding you to become aware with the upcoming election of all the implications of your vote. And vote with your biblical conscience in mind. And we've specifically mentioned some of the difficulties with Proposal 3. This last week I came across, and many of you have seen it, but we're going to let you all see it this morning, an excellent video that was put together by a Bible-based church. It's entitled, I Didn't Know, and it talks about the ramifications of Proposal 3 that would amend our state constitution if passed. Let's watch that video right now. Michigan, this November 8th, you have the right to choose. And your choice will decide whether we wake up in a better Michigan or a Michigan that has been radically transformed. Help me understand what's going on with you. You're just not yourself lately. Mom, two weeks ago I had an abortion. What? How? How? How is that possible? You're only 14. Your doctor didn't even tell me. My teacher said they wouldn't have to anymore since Prop 3 passed. I didn't know. I just don't understand why my son wants to sterilize himself and there's nothing I can do about it. What do you mean there's nothing you can do? He's only 10, and you're his mother. Prop 3 passed and gave every individual the right to effectuate decisions about sterilization. His teacher told him that if he wants to transition, he can do this. There's nothing I can do. If he decides to go through with it, it's his choice. I didn't know. Thanks very much for coming in. Look at all the tests. Everything's going fine. Baby is very, very healthy. But I need to ask you, before we go any further, are you sure this child is not going to cause you any mental health issues, fear, anxiety, stress? I mean, it's my fourth kid, so probably. Well, if you feel that way, we can terminate this pregnancy for you. How is that possible? Well, now that Proposition 3 has passed, you know you have the right to terminate this pregnancy up to the time of a birth. Really? Yes, if it would be advisable for the protection of your mental health. I didn't know. You are the county prosecutor. My 15-year-old granddaughter is dead, and you tell me you can't do anything to the person who killed her? I understand your frustration, but since Proposition 3 passed, the state shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against someone for aiding or assisting a pregnant individual in exercising their right to reproductive freedom with their voluntary consent. There's just nothing I can do. I didn't know. Hey babe, how was your day? What's wrong? I, um... I had to perform an abortion today. What? How is that even possible? You work for a Catholic hospital. And Prop 3 passed and gave the mother the right to make and effectuate all abortion and postpartum care decisions. And she chose us and we had to comply. I had to comply. It was her right. I didn't know. Michigan, Proposition 3 is dangerous for parental rights, religious liberties, our children, the unborn, the newly born, the preyed upon, and the abused. It's permanent and goes way beyond Roe. Proposition 3 is dangerous for our state, for our culture, and for our society. This November 8th, vote no to protect human life in all its forms. Vote no to protect the vulnerable. Vote no to protect parental rights, religious liberties, and medical and prosecutorial rights. Choose to give your child a Michigan and a future they deserve. On November 9th, don't wake up saying, I didn't know. Choose to vote no on Prop 3. Because now, you know. So I hope you will get the link to that video. If you don't have it, you can get it from our church office and show it to as many people as you possibly can. Let's continue to pray. I like this little picture I saw this last week of a pregnant mom looking at a sonogram with her doctor and she says, my body, my choice, right? And the doctor replies, this is your baby's body. And then another little quote from a woman doctor, Dr. Chadha, entitled Biology Lesson. And she makes the statement, as a medical doctor, your baby's DNA isn't identical to your DNA, making it not your body. Well, these are things that reminds us of Romans 1 when it talks about people in societies that turn away from God, that are no longer thankful to God, that no longer choose to glorify God, that remove God, the Bible, and prayer out of their schools, out of their society. And what will happen? It says that they will become willingly ignorant. It's not a matter of IQ or intelligence. It's a matter of the heart. Willingly ignorant choosing to turn away from the revelation of God in conscience and in nature And so let's continue to be much in prayer to God over these things now. Let me remind you back from Job chapter 42 that Job was severely tested by Satan That is, when you take a stand in a culture that's moving away from God, expect there will be some difficulties. There will be some testings. That's going to happen. It's always happened through the centuries. Satan is alive and well. And so it was that Job, living for God, pointed out by God in Job chapter 1, of being a faithful man, Satan attacked Job and he said to God, Touch all that he has, Job 111, and he will curse you to your face. So Satan's lie was this. He only believes because of the blessing he gets. That's as shallow as his faith is. You take away the blessings and he'll curse God. Well, we don't understand all of the ins and outs of God's sovereignty, but God sees a bigger picture than we do. And for God's own glory, God does allow people to make choices and suffer consequences, and he does allow suffering in the lives of all people, believers and non-believers. And Job lost almost all his possessions. You remember in the first part of the book, in one day a whirlwind came and took down the house where his 10 children were having a meal, and he lost 10 children in one day. You talk about a blow. But in all of that, Job still trusted God. He responded in worship in Job 120. Job arose, rent his mantle, shaved his head, fell on the ground, and worshiped. He said, I came into this world naked. I'll return naked. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job sinned not. He did not charge God foolishly. Well, you'd think that would be the end of it. But you come to Job 2, and there's a second attack on Job. And again, God points out to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There's none like him. He's a blameless, upright man. He fears God. He hates evil. He holds fast to his integrity. Even though these difficult circumstances that you have instigated have been brought into his life. And Satan then answers and says in verse four, skin for skin, yea, all that a man has he will give for his life. Put forth your hand, touch his bone and flesh, and he'll curse you. Well, the test came. Job was covered with boils from head to foot, and yet Job continued to trust God. He continued to believe God and trust God. Satan again was wrong. in his lie and his deception that he could destroy Job's saving faith. Job never cursed God. He never denied God. But then we read through the rest of the book of Job and we see the tough circumstances were on Job. His three accusing friends who, they had it all figured out. They could judge everybody and know what their motives were. And so they judged him and said, the reason you've gone through all this is because of personal unconfessed sin in your life, which wasn't true. Job was one of the strongest men of his day, not perfect, but a godly man. And that was not the cause of his suffering. It was a direct satanic attack in his life that was going on. And during those chapters in the middle of the book on through to the end, Job struggled. He was human like you and me. And he had questions. And there are some right questions we can ask of God, but there's some wrong questions we shouldn't ask of God that begin to judge God's wisdom and his sovereignty and his love. And so Job fell into a time of some wrongful questioning, some complaining and challenging of God's wisdom. And that comes out in the midst of Times of strong faith where he says, I know my Redeemer lives. The worms destroy my body, yet in my flesh I shall see God. He never lost his faith, but he struggled. As you can imagine, with all the things that he went through. That brings us to Job chapter 42. Job grew in his faith and humility. As he came to repent and confess his sin of a wrongful questioning. A complaining and a challenging of God's wisdom and justice. You see, God spoke after Job went through this time of questioning, wrongful questioning, complaining against God. And God spoke to Job and showed him afresh the wisdom and the greatness of God revealed in God's creation. His ability to create and sustain the whole earth, the animals, the birds, the eagle, the hippopotamus, the dinosaur, that God had the wisdom not only to create but to sustain all of this. And we come to chapter 42 verse 1, then Job answered the Lord after God had gotten done speaking and challenging Job. And he says, I know, Job answers to God, that you can do everything. You can do all things. I see it. You are omnipotent. And no thought or purpose of yours can be withheld or restrained. You are sovereign. Even though Satan attacks, you are over Satan. You have the power to override Satan. And so he came to this place of acknowledging, God, you know all things, you are all powerful. I have believed in you as my savior, but I'm recognizing you now as my sovereign, that you are still good when bad things happen in my life and in this world. His eyes were opening. In verse three, God corrects Job. Job had said, who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? This is God speaking to Job. And then Job answers, therefore, now I see it. I've rashly uttered what I didn't understand, things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. And then God says, here I beseech thee, and I will speak. I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. God is stating that he does have judicial authority to demand answers. from his accusers, even including Job, when he becomes doubtful. In verse 5, Job says, So at last, Job is beginning to understand on a deeper plane. You see, he had faith. But now his faith had gone through the sufferings of life in a deeper way. And he sees and grasps the greatness of God, the majesty of God, the sovereignty of God, the independence of God. That God doesn't have to answer to us for the things even that he allows in a fallen world. And so it is Satan's temptations and mankind's choices to bring sin and suffering into the world. Satan loves to then get us to blame God. And when we do, we're falling into His ploy there. God is looking at us with loving, all-knowing, all-powerful wisdom. And He still cares for us. He's got a perspective far greater than ours. And here Job then in verse 6 says, wherefore, I abhor myself. I retract my words, and I repent in dust and ashes." This is not a repentance bringing him salvation. He'd already trusted God's grace to forgive his sin. But this was a repentance for wrong attitudes toward God through the difficulties that he faced. So before the trials, Job was a humble man. He was a man who, through the trials, became a far more broken man, a far more humble man. He didn't need to confess unrepentant sin, but he did need to repent of the presumption and the allegations, the accusations of unfairness that came out of his heart in the midst of severe suffering. Someone has pointed out that the world is trying to do everything to be safe except repent. And so it is we do need to repent and receive Christ as our Savior. But then as believers we need to repent of our prideful thoughts toward God that we know better how to direct our life and our circumstances than God does. And so we see here the need in our lives as believers to keep going deeper in our faith and repent when the Lord shows us glimpses of our own fleshliness and our own sinfulness that are still there. The second thing I want us to see is this, that God has plans for growth. Growth in the faith of believers through suffering. This is part of God's plan. If you're not going through some suffering today, you will in the future. Through suffering, we see more of our own sinfulness. And we see our need for right responses to suffering. These are things that have to be taught in the midst of the valley. They're not taught on the mountaintop of blessing. They're taught in the valley of difficulty. You remember, as we saw in verse three, that Job was corrected by God. God did know what he was doing, even in the things he was allowing. And Job spoke rashly. And in verse 4, God had the right to demand of Job and show him, don't doubt me in the dark when you've trusted me in the light. In verse 5, Job needed to see God's greatness. And that God doesn't have to answer to us. We need to trust God, even in the difficult times. And so verse six, he repented in dust and ashes. So as Christians, we often need an attitude adjustment. We need our opinions and perspective to come down in our own evaluation and recognize there's a God who's far wiser than we are. Through suffering then we see more of God's greatness. We see his wisdom, his sovereign purposes. We read that in verse 2, that Job finally saw it. After all he went through, he said, I see now, God, that you can do in all things. You can do everything. And that no thought or no purpose can be restrained. You are omniscient. You are all-powerful. I'm going to trust you now because you've been faithful in the past. I know you'll be faithful in the present. Well, there's a deeper lesson now, or a further lesson, and that is that through suffering, believers learn to love and pray for our critics and those who misjudge us. That will happen in the course of life. You see, God is a God of grace and mercy and forgiveness to repentant sinners. So in verse 7, And it was so that after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz, So in the midst of the questionings, Job kept his faith. And Though he had questions of God, he did not doubt God. He believed God's existence. He continued to trust God. Well, Job's friends had made wrong statements. They had assumed that Job had wrong motives and that he had conscious sin in his life which was incorrect. They were insensitive and they were prideful and they needed to repent of that. Verse 8, Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves burnt offerings, these were animal blood sacrifices, and my servant Job shall pray for you. Now they've been criticizing Job and he said to them, you need Job to pray for you. For him, I will accept, lest I deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken to me the things that are right, like my servant Job." So Job was right. He had no unconfessed sin in his life, and he had been misjudged by his friends. In verse 9, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar did according as the Lord commanded them. They were true believers, they just were off track in this season in their life. And the Lord accepted Job. So from Genesis to Revelation, we see this principle. The Bible teaches that God is holy and just. And that rightfully our sin requires a substitutionary blood sacrifice. The penalty for sin is death. The wages of sin is death. We either pay that penalty in hell forever or a God provided substitute provides that penalty for us and that's what God did in Christ. So all these Old Testament animal sacrifices pointed forward towards Christ's perfect, full, and complete sacrifice on the cross for the sins of mankind from Old to New Testament. The Old Testament saints were saved by looking forward to the cross. We're saved by looking backward to the finished work of Jesus, His death, His burial, and resurrection for our sins and His ascension back to heaven. Well, Job then, who wanted in the midst of his suffering an intercessor, he said, I just need somebody to be able to talk between me and God to straighten out why I'm going through all of this. And so it was in Job chapter 42 verse 8, he said, my servant Job shall pray for you regarding the three friends. Job was given the assignment to pray for others. Pray for your critics? Yeah, I want you to pray for the guys who've been accusing you wrongly. And so Eliphaz and Bildad and Zophar did according as the Lord had commanded and the Lord accepted Job. Well, in the time of the patriarchs, remember this goes way back to the time of Abraham before Moses and the law, the Mosaic law. The father was the family head and was a believer priest. He would offer up sacrifices for his family. He would offer up prayers for his family. And Job prayed for his family. And he prayed for his friends now on this occasion at the direction of God. You may remember back in chapter 1 verse 5 that Job faithfully offered up burnt offerings According to the number of his children he prayed for his children regularly And he said it may be my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts thus Job did continually He was a faithful believer priest for his family It's a reminder to us even in this new covenant age that as parents one of our greatest Responsibilities is to pray for our children That's a lifelong responsibility. His children were married, but he was still praying for them. We're to pray for our children and our children's children. We're to teach them and instruct them and set a right example for them. Well, in the midst of Job's losses, he was crying out in chapter 16, verse 21, Oh, that one might plead for a man with God as a man pleads for his neighbor. I need an intercessor. Well, praise God for what we know we now have, and that is through Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, his ascension back into heaven. What do we have according to Hebrews chapter 14? We have a high priest. We have an intercessor. He took on human flesh. He passed into the heavens, having suffered and died and conquered sin and death, rising from the grave. And Hebrews reminds us that our high priest can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He understands our humanness. He understands every feeling, every emotion, every difficulty we ever go through. Why? Because he was human. He never sinned, but he was fully human. He felt the emotions that we feel. That means then that we can come boldly to the throne of grace, that's prayer, to receive grace and mercy in our times of need. That no matter how deep our hurt, God understands and we can go to God and through Jesus we have a sympathetic Savior who will strengthen us, who will help us, who will give us all the grace that we need in our time of need. And so God is then teaching us Ephesians 4, let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking be put away from you with all malice or ill feeling. Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. So what is God teaching us? God is teaching us, look how much I have forgiven you, all of your sins through faith in Christ. Now whatever anyone does wrong toward you is small compared to what you've done toward me. There's no room to hold a grudge. There's no room to hold anger and bitterness toward others. As you have been freely forgiven, now it's your privilege to forgive others freely, even when they don't deserve it. Don't become a bitter, angry person. Learn to forgive. This is the principle that God is teaching us. Now, I love to use different study Bibles, and one of them is the Life Application Bible. I want to give you six questions to ask when you go through suffering, and it's in your sermon notes. along with six right responses. If the answer to any one of these questions is yes, here's the right response. The first question, am I being punished by God for sin when you're going through suffering? That's a right questioning. You should ask that. And we do that when we go through, God, did I bring this on myself? Is there any known sin in my life? That's a right thing to ask of God. And if the answer is yes, then confess and forsake that sin. Number two, Is Satan attacking me as I try to survive as a Christian? That's what was happening to Job. If the answer is yes, then call on God for strength. Number two, or number three, am I being prepared for a special service? Job had no idea that his trials would be used and recorded in scripture to help all of us through the centuries, people of faith. Am I being prepared for a special service, learning to be more compassionate to those who suffer? If the answer is yes, then resist self-pity. Ask God to open doors of opportunity to help you discover others who suffer as you suffer. Number four, am I being specifically selected for testing like Job? If the answer is yes, accept help from the body of believers. Trust God to accomplish His purposes through your life. Number five, is my suffering a result of natural consequences for which I am not directly responsible? That was true in this case with Job. If yes, then recognize that in a sinful world, both good and evil people will suffer. But the good person has a promise. A promise from God that his or her suffering will one day come to an end. And all God's people said, Amen. Thank you, Lord. This is only for a season. This is only for a season. And so it is, we need to resist a wrong questioning of God, His sovereignty, His wisdom, His goodness, and things that He allows to happen even in a fallen world, and cling to the key of promise in our life. Now the last thing I want us to see is this. God has plans for blessings. Blessings in your life if you're a believer in Jesus And if not that you would become a believer in Jesus and that God writes the last chapters God's blessings often come in this life. It's not all always in heaven the best is yet to come God is a God of mercy you see Job experienced the blessing of a changed attitude in his own life. He went from being a critic of his critics, the three guys who were wrongly judging him, he was pretty critical toward them, to having compassion for his critics. They were just sinners like him, struggling to grow in their faith. And so verse 10 tells us, the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. His own problems resolved when he let go of the anger and the bitterness and the ill will toward those who had wrongly attacked him. Let go of anger, let go of bitterness. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. You know, it's hard to be bitter toward somebody that you consistently pray for. You know, if you just daily pray for the soul of somebody else, who maybe they've treated you ugly, but you pray, God save them. They're a soul created in the image of God. I pray they'd get saved. I pray they'd come to know Christ. I pray they would surrender their life to God. I pray they'd have the blessings of God. As you pray for others, it melts away your own bitterness and your own anger. This is what God would have us to do. He wants us to become a people of prayer. And so we see in the scripture that He also had the blessing of restored and doubled fortunes. See that in verse 10, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. The blessing of restored family, friends, and support. Verse 11 tells us his brothers and sisters came back with him. They ate with him, they comforted him. Everyone gave him a piece of money and an earring of gold. Verse 12 tells us the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. And so here's Job at the ending years of his life, blessed beyond measure, blessed beyond measure. God had not forsaken Job. And even though he felt forsaken, God writes the final chapters. We need to remind ourself of that principle. You see, the blessing of twice as many children and inheritance in verse 13. He had now seven sons and three daughters. In verse 15, the daughters were fair and beautiful and he was so blessed that he could leave an inheritance to his sons and his daughters. Job and his wife, and his wife had become critical of God and said, curse God and die. Yet they were blessed. They had double the number of children. They had 10 children in heaven. and they had 10 children down here on earth. He had the blessing of long life, family, and good years, in verse 16. After this lived Job 140 years and saw his sons and his sons' sons, even four generations, and Job died being old and full of days. This is just a reminder to us of the promises of God. He does not promise us a trouble-free life, but he does promise, if we'll seek first his kingdom, his rule in our life, All these things will be added. He'll take care of us. He promises us in Galatians that what we sow, we reap. If we sow to the flesh, we reap corruption. If we sow to the spirit, we'll reap life everlasting. Don't grow weary. Keep sowing righteousness. Keep sowing faith. God's blessings often come in this life. They always come for believers in heaven. We're reminded, the psalmist says, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. God's gonna take care of me. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I know where this ends up. Hebrews 11 reminds us that in the Old Testament, believers, some received their dead to life again. They saw the blessing now, but others were tortured. Others were scourged and mocked. Some were sawn asunder. Some were slain with the sword, of whom the world was not worthy. They were a people of faith, believing there's a world ahead that's forever. They, in verse 39 in Hebrews tells us, these all, all the Old Testament believers, the ones that saw great blessings in this life and the ones who, their life was cut off prematurely, having obtained a good report through faith. They were all saved by grace through faith. They received not the promise. They didn't yet see the fulfillment of Christ, his death and resurrection. It was by faith. God had provided a better thing for us. Now we can look back on that finished work and see that through the completed work of Christ, all the New Testament believers will be in heaven together forgiven and saved. And so God is good to us. We are saved by grace through faith. It's not of works. And so what are some of those promises we can hold to when it comes to the hardest times in life, even physical death? We can claim those promises like Paul said, when from a prison cell, Philippians 1, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. I'm in a straight between two things. I want to stay here for you, but I want to depart to be with Christ because it's far better. Heaven is better than your best day on earth by a million fold. Second Corinthians tells us that if we're absent as believers from our body, we're present with the Lord. And Romans 8 tells us that our sufferings in this present time are not even worthy to be compared with the glory that's ahead. The glory that goes beyond our dreams and imaginations. God writes the final chapters. Let's get that in our mind. In Genesis, God created and he said in chapter 1 and 2, it's good. It was a perfect world. But Genesis 3, sin came into the world and it was no longer a perfect world. It's a sin-cursed earth where there's suffering and death mixed in with many good blessings from God. But God writes the final chapters. We're reading today and we've read the final chapter of Job. We know how it all turned out. We know in the book of Revelations how it all turns out. I stood at the bedside yesterday with Bill Heminghouse, now on hospice, wonderful, godly man. Many of you know him. His wife often playing the organ and a faithful man here in our church. We read together these words. What are the final chapters? How does it all turn out? Revelation 21 three, and I heard a great voice coming out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. talking about the new heaven and the new earth that is coming. And he, God, will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. Are you looking forward to that day? He's going to wipe away all the tears. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, Neither shall there be any more pain. The former things are passed away. In the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 21. And he showed me a pure river of water, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst of the street on either side there were the tree of life, which bear twelve manner of fruits. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face. And his name will be in their foreheads, and there shall be no night there. And they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. I love this picture. that God gives us in the Bible, that this world isn't our permanent home. We're looking forward to a home yet to come. What does this mean for us? It means that God is sovereign and all-knowing and all-loving. We can trust Him. We will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That even strong believers are tempted at times to doubt or question God. but that we can trust God's loving heart when we cannot trace his sovereign hand and the things that he may allow in this fallen world, that he still loves us. And we look at everything against the backdrop of Calvary, that God loved me enough to send his son to die for my sins. We then are saved by faith. We're sustained by faith. We are granted victory by grace through faith. As believers, we're loved and cared for by God forever. And I love this little picture that one day Jesus is going to hug you so tight that all the broken pieces will stick together. That's gonna be a grand day. It's gonna be a grand day. So what does it mean for us? We must grow deeper in our faith. We must really get to know our God, not on a surface level, but heart-to-heart, face-to-face, through the Word of God and our study of it, through prayer and our intercession for ourselves and the needs of others, through our fellowship with other believers, and yes, through trials and suffering and difficulty. We need to get to know our God. God's Word is teaching us to choose to trust God's heart when we can't trace His hand and believe that God is still good when bad things happen in a fallen world. Job knew God by faith is a gracious Savior, but he grew to know and trust God as a good sovereign. So in a fallen world, life at times is tough, but God is always good. As one family in our church recently expressed, hard does not mean bad. What are we to do? We are to trust God's heart when we can't trace His hand.