Amen. Thank you. Ladies, take your Bibles, if you will, please. Job chapter 13 tonight. Job chapter 13. Job chapter 13 and verse 23. How many are mine iniquities and sins? Make me to know my transgression and my sin. Title of the message tonight, What If You Are the Problem? Part 2. Let's pray. Father, thank you for another chance Be here, gather together with your people. Lord, thank you for the opportunity we have to study your word openly. Lord, help us to be doers, not just hearers. Help us to take your word to heart. I pray you'd open our eyes of understanding. Lord, help us to be willing to look at our own hearts, our own lives in light of your word. and to make whatever changes we need to make. Pray that you'd help us in that, guide us, direct us, that we might glorify you in Jesus' name, amen. What if you're the problem? Psalm 77.3, he says, I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah, think on that. Selah, think on that, meditate on that. I complained and my spirit was overwhelmed. Word overwhelmed in the Hebrew means to languish, to faint, to swoon, to fail, to be in darkness. That's what the Hebrew word conveys, those thoughts, to swoon and be in darkness. And you can create that in your own life. Proverbs 15 and verse 15, all the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. So we make that determination. We're afflicted in the Hebrew meaning depressed. And you've been around people that just everything's terrible. If it's not that bad today, it's gonna get worse tomorrow. And all their days are evil. Even if something good happens, well, they're just waiting till it's gonna end and something bad's gonna happen. And so they go through life being sad. Depressed and fretting and fearful all the days of the afflicted are evil But he that is of a merry heart hath the continual feast again. Does that mean he never has anything bad happen to him? No, but he chooses to respond in a way That's going to be good And so we make those determinations numbers chapter 11 verse 1 and when the people complained Get displeased the Lord And the Lord heard it, and His anger was kindled because the people complained. Has God changed? Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever? And so if it displeased God way back then when the people complained, when they murmured, then it's safe to say it displeases God today. Numbers 11 verse 4, the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting. And the children of Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we didn't eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. But now our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes. An amazing thing. What were they doing when they were in Egypt? Well, they say, man, these leeks and these onions and these melons, this garlic, this is good. We're eating good. No, they were complaining. They were murmuring. They were upset. Remember, God heard their murmuring, and God heard their groanings, and he sent a deliverer. And so now they've been delivered, but because of their lack of faith, they're gonna wander the wilderness. And they're gonna murmur some more. They're gonna be upset some more. Verse 10, then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families. Every man in the door of his tent, and the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly. Moses also was displeased. And Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? Moses is going to start complaining now. He's having to put up with a bunch of whiners and crybabies, and he's had it. Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? What did I do to deserve this? Moses didn't volunteer for the position. He got volunteered for the position by God. And wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people? Are these my children? Have I begotten them that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom as a nursing father, beareth a sucking child unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers? When should I have flesh to give unto the people? That's what they're crying for now, food. When should I have flesh to give unto all these people? For they weep unto me, saying, give us flesh that we may eat. I'm not able to bear all these people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And Moses is wearing down under the load. Lord, I can't bear all these people. There's too great a responsibility for one man. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me. Lord, could you just do me in? It's amazing how many times servants of God, like Elijah, Lord, just kill me. And we're pretty good at having pity parties sometimes. If thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight, and let me not see my wretchedness. It becomes easy to get overwhelmed in those circumstances. But oftentimes the answer isn't what we think or what we're hoping for. Now notice how God responds here, verse 16, the Lord said unto Moses, gather unto me 70 men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them, and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there. And I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and I will put it upon them. And they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone. The Lord came down in a cloud, spake unto him, took of the Spirit that was upon him, gave it unto the seventy elders, and it came to pass that when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and did not cease. But there remained two of the men in the camp. The name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad, and the Spirit rested upon them, and they were of them that were written, but went not unto the tabernacle, and they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My Lord Moses, forbid them. And Moses said unto him, Envious thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them. And Moses gathered him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. Moses had to go through this first situation so that the Lord could prepare him for the second situation. and make him a better leader. So the Lord's response to Moses was different than his response would be later to Martha. Both of them felt overwhelmed. But only one of them was legitimately overwhelmed. Now Moses had a tendency to get himself or put himself in overwhelming situations. It was prior to this, perhaps a year or so prior, that we read Exodus chapter 18 and verse 13, and it came to pass on the morrow that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood by Moses from the morning into the evening. And when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, what is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto evening? And Moses said unto his father-in-law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God. When they have a matter, they come unto me, and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God and his laws. And Moses' father-in-law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. So Moses is sitting there hearing the cases of the people and explaining the law, applying the law to them. And his father-in-law says, hey, what you're doing isn't good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou and this people that is with thee. For this thing is too heavy for thee. Thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. He says, Moses, you're going to wear out. You're going to wear the people out. These people that have to stand in this long line just waiting for a chance to see you and talk to you for a few minutes. You're going to wear everybody out. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee. Be thou for the people to God, word that thou mayest bring the causes unto God. And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties and rulers of tens, and let them judge the people at all seasons. And it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge. So shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure. And all this people shall also go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens, and they judged the people at all seasons. The hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. And Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land." And so Jethro comes and gives Moses the answer to his dilemma. He's overwhelmed. The people are overwhelmed. They're wearing away. The Lord didn't say to Moses, Moses, just man up. The Lord didn't say to Martha, Martha, you're right, you need help. In Luke chapter 10, Jesus answered Senator Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. Both of them had complaints. Both of them had people problems. But Martha's wasn't legitimate. And so he said, Martha, you're careful, you're full of care, you're anxious and troubled about many things. Martha, you're bothered all the time. But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. In both cases, the Lord is dealing with what had become problems in people's lives. Moses' life, Martha's life. And both of their situations involved other people. And the Lord was using other people to work in Moses' life and to work in Martha's life. Think about it. How many of your problems involve other people? If you had to list your problems tonight, how many of them involve other people? Most of them? All of them? Maybe. Do you think that God is more desirous to change your circumstances and your problems or to change you? What do you think God would rather change? Now God gives us clear instructions in regards to our circumstances and our problems. We have that in the word of God. Philippians chapter four, be careful, be full of care. Martha was full of care. Be careful, be full of care for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication. With thanksgiving, how often we leave that part out. Usually when we go to God, we want him to solve something, take care of something, take care of somebody right now. You have something you're bothered about, you're stressing about? Don't be anxious, don't fret. Bring it to God with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. That doesn't mean he's gonna fix your problem right away. It doesn't mean he's gonna take care of that person. But he'll deal with your heart. And oftentimes, he's brought those other people into your life so that he could deal with your heart. Because it's not in the good times that we make a lot of progress spiritually usually. It's not in the good times that God deals with our heart. It's in the tough times. It's when there's circumstances and situations that we don't like. But when we'll respond correctly, then God can help us with our heart. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The psalmist said this, from the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed. When my heart is overwhelmed. when the circumstances are just piling in on top of me. From the end of the earth, while I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Lord, I need you. I need you to lead me, help me. Psalm 57.1, be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. For my soul trusteth in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. You know the only way you can make your refuge in the shadow of his wings, figuratively speaking, you have to be close. You have to be close to him. And I'm gonna make that my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. He's not saying, Lord, would you get rid of these calamities? Would you take these calamities out of my life? No, I'm gonna flee to you until these calamities be overpassed. Psalm 142.3, when my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Then thou knewest my path. One of the problems with being overwhelmed is we don't know what to do. We don't know which way to go. We're not sure what to say. We're not sure how to respond. We're not sure if we should respond. And so he says, when my spirit was overwhelmed, you knew the direction I needed to go. So it makes sense that when our spirit is overwhelmed, the very first thing we should do is go to God and say, God, what should I do? Not God, take care of this. That's an easy prayer. That's the prayer we want to pray. Lord, take care of my problem. Take care of this person. But it's, Lord, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. Would you help me? Would you give me wisdom? Would you give me direction? I don't want to mess this up. Lord, I want you to be glorified even in this situation, as ugly as it is. Help me to know what to do. Your spirit, when it's overwhelmed, the thing that you need is you need direction. Now, sometimes other people are the problem. What then? In Psalm 143, 5, verse 3, it said, For the enemy hath persecuted my soul. He hath smitten my life down to the ground. He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead. Therefore, because of that, is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. My spirit's overwhelmed. My heart is desolate. So he's in a bad way. So what does he do? Verse 5, he says, I remember the days of old. I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands. When we're in the midst of a bad situation and we don't see any way out, we muse on the providence of God. And the fact that he's brought us thus far. And the last problem that we thought was overwhelming, he took care of. And he worked it out. And so the psalmist is in a place where people are persecuting him. They're trying to destroy him. His spirit is overwhelmed. And he gets to thinking, hey, God's taken care of me before. I'm guessing he can take care of me again. I stretch forth my hands unto thee. My soul thirsteth after thee as a thirsty land. Selah, think on that. Hear me speedily, O Lord. My spirit faileth. He's not in a good way, emotionally, mentally, physically, but spiritually, at least he knows where to go. My spirit faileth. Hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning. Do you know the only way, the only way you can hear God's loving kindness in the morning? You have to get up. You have to go aside and be in His presence. That's the only way. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. And there you have that same thought. Lord, I don't know what to do. I don't know what direction to go. I've got a lot of decisions to make, and I don't know what I should be doing. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies. I flee unto thee. to hide me. When they're coming to kill you, you might need deliverance from them. But be honest, how often is that the problem? Probably never. Now, it may seem like everything's terrible, but I think your problems and my problems, most of the time, aren't people are conspiring to kill us. Now maybe, maybe someone's after you tonight, but for most of us, that's not a problem. But God deals with what you will face, and he gives you clear instructions. Because most of your problems aren't like that. But here's where most of your problems are. Colossians 3.12, put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." That's where most of your problems are going to come from. Other people, not that they're trying to kill you, but they irritate you. They get on your nerves. Maybe they're selfish and proud, arrogant, and you just don't even want to be around them. But they go to this church. So how do you solve that problem? He tells you. Humbleness of mind, kindness, You know you make a choice to be kind? You just make a choice. You can be kind to this person or you can be unkind. Meekness, longsuffering, do you know what that word means? It means to suffer long. That's what it means, longsuffering. It means you put up with some things. You say, they're just so irritating. So are you to somebody else. Really? There's somebody in the world that would find you irritating. So I don't even hardly talk. Some people find that irritating. Well, I like to talk. Some people find that irritating. So he says, put all these things on. He says, forbearing one another. The word forbearing means to put up with, to bear with, to endure, to suffer. Forbearing one another. Put up with one another. And forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Did Christ forgive you? Yes. Does He forgive you on a regular, ongoing basis? Yes. His mercies are new every morning. Thank God for that. He says, that's the basis for your forgiving someone else. You know, we have a tendency to do. That's the second time he's done that. That's the third time she's said that. Oh, it just started to irritate me. Well, what if God forgave on that basis? That's the 679th time they've come to me with that. I've had it. We forgive as we've been forgiven. So he's given us what we need to get along. The problem is we don't follow the formula. Again, Luke 10, 41, Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. Martha wasn't one to put up with much of anything. We've made that out to be a virtue in our society. I'm just not going to put up with that. I don't have to put up with that. I'm not going to let them get away with that. And we act like that's strength of character and a virtue. This was Martha's trouble. She didn't put up with anything. She got upset about it. Above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, maturity. You want to be thought of as mature, don't you? You want to be thought of as mature in your Christian life? This is the mark of it. This is one of the identifying characteristics of maturity in your Christian life, put up with. You know, for one thing, we never know the whole story. and in just interactions at church, and we might find somebody's behavior or lack of participation might find it irritating. Man, that person never stays to help clean up. They never stay. As soon as it's time to clean up, they always take off. Yeah, but they've served in the nursery once a month for 10 years, and you've never served even once. Or maybe they have to get home fairly early because they drive a long ways, and they aren't supposed to drive after dark. or they need to get home to care for someone who is sick or to help a handicapped neighbor. We don't know. Or maybe they always come early and help set up, and you don't, but they do. Most of the time, we don't know the story. We just get irritated with them. Or maybe they seem ill-tempered and bothered, but you don't know. The phone call they got today. You don't know the lab results that just came back. That they were praying wouldn't come back that way. You don't know. You don't know the burdens other people are carrying. She sure seemed in a bad mood. And maybe she is. But maybe she just got the worst news of her life. And she's carrying that burden. And she came to church to try to deal with it. Ephesians 4, 1, Paul says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. Paul says, I'm begging you. walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you're called. What does that even mean? What does that mean to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we're called, what we've been called to walk worthy of that? He tells us, with all lowliness and meekness. You know, we eliminate almost all of the friction that ever occurs in a family, with a couple, in a church, in wherever. and we're humble. Only by pride cometh contention, the Bible says. So for me to walk worthy, for you to walk worthy of what God has given to us and called us to, it's with all lowliness and meekness. With, there's that word again, with longsuffering. To suffer long with one another. And you might have come tonight and you've had a wonderful week and everything's great, good. Next week it might not be so good. It might not be so good for somebody else. So he says with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, putting up with some things in love, putting up with some irritations from some people whose personality isn't like your personality, whose gifts aren't the same as yours, who maybe can be a little bit abrupt, a little bit inconsiderate, Maybe they talk too much and maybe they don't talk enough. Who knows? He's put up with some things. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. You know what that means? It means we have to work at it. We have to work at it. It doesn't come natural. It's not our human nature. It's not intrinsic to us. We have to endeavor, we have to work. Verse seven, but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. You've been given grace. God has shown you grace. Now he wants you to show it to others. Peter, as he winds up his second epistle, says, but grow in grace. You come to the very end of the second epistle, grow in grace. To me, that's so precious because Peter had so little grace in his life until God brought him down, broke him. and then built him back up. And now he could say, oh, grow in grace. Grow in grace. Peter, the least gracious of all the apostles, but he learned to have grace. He learned to appreciate the grace of Christ, and he could manifest it to others. And so can you. And so can me. So can I. Bad English, my wife's over there. So can I. So it could be, that's bad. But we can grow in grace if we want to, if we desire that. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. What's grace? We say unmerited favor. It's what we don't deserve. God's grace manifested to us wasn't because we're worthy of it, we're not worthy. It's because of his gracious giving heart. And now he says in your speech to others, your communication, which is usually where we get in trouble, we usually get in trouble mouth first. He says, in that communication, don't let any corrupt, that which will hurt, that which will defile, break down, don't let that communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, of building up, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. In other words, we're gonna be kind to people that maybe aren't being kind to us right now. They're having a hard week and they're taking it out on us, but we're gonna minister grace. He goes on to say, Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed into the day of redemption. Holy Spirit of God wants there to be a spirit of unity in the body of Christ. He said, Don't grieve him. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to another. There's that word again, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. And so you're gonna have opportunities to manifest that, how well you're doing. God gives pop quizzes, doesn't announce them all the time. As a student in Bible college, I didn't like pop quizzes. As a teacher, I don't find them that troublesome. But we get pop quizzes, and pop quizzes, the teacher doesn't say, next Thursday, we're having a quiz. You just come to class, he doesn't take out a piece of paper, and you're like, oh, I didn't even study. Well, God gives pop quizzes. And He brings people into your lives when you maybe least expect it. And sometimes things happen where you think, oh, that's the last thing I needed to happen today. But God doesn't see it that way because he allowed it to happen. God somehow thought it was the thing you needed today. He said, oh, brother, I did not need for that. And God's up in heaven saying, no, you actually did need that today. You needed to be stretched, broken down, and humbled, brought to the place where maybe you'll listen. And so God in his infinite wisdom and in his great grace, he gives us pop quizzes. Sometimes he gives us major exams. Ephesians 6.13 says, wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. You know what that is? That's a major exam. The evil day. And it's not just one. You don't get one sometime in your life, and you say, oh, I'm glad I got that over with. No, you're gonna have some evil days. Some days where it's gonna seem like all the forces of hell have marshaled their forces to bring you down. Maybe it's in the area of temptation to sin. Maybe it's just in people that are just rubbing you the wrong way. But there's a lot of them, and it's intense. and you're not really responding well, and it's getting worse. But you're gonna have evil days. You're gonna have days where, you know, I don't know what I'm gonna do. You have days when you're overwhelmed, and then something else is gonna happen. You read the first chapter of Job, and the way the devil worked in his life was while he was yet speaking, and then came the next, and then while he was yet speaking, and while he was yet speaking, and while he was yet speaking, and the devil saved his knockout blow for the last thing. Oh, Joe, by the way, all your children died, too. How'd you like to have a day like that? But you're gonna have evil days. And so he said before that, he said, put on the whole armor of God, and he's saying, wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, God doesn't do evil, but he will sometimes allow evil people into your life. Those tests are hard. They are. And if you failed the last test that he sent, don't despair, all is not lost, God gives makeup tests. You may not have wanted to hear that tonight. But he does. The last time you had a great opportunity to have the right testimony and do the right thing and respond in the right way, and you look back and you're like, man, I can't believe I did that. Oh, I messed that up. God'll give you a makeup test. You just don't know when it's coming. That's why it's good to get up every day and say, Lord, I don't know what I'm gonna face today, but you do. And I'm not smart enough to run my own life, but you are. Give me wisdom as I look at your word. Work in my heart. Lord, help me to keep a check on my spirit because I don't want to disgrace your name. I don't want to blow my testimony. I don't want to make you look bad to the world. God, help me. 2 Corinthians 12, lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, Paul writes, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. That's the way we naturally respond. Besought the Lord thrice. Three times he goes to God saying, God, would you take this out of my life? That's our natural response. And here was God's response. He said it to me, my grace is sufficient for thee. And it always is, by the way. My grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. God's strength is made perfect in your life, in your weakness. Not in your strength, in your weakness. In realizing your limitations. So Paul's response then in learning this from God is to say, most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Because I'm gonna glory in them. That's Christian maturity. Where we say, we're not saying, oh, okay, I guess I'll go through it. No, he's saying, I'm gonna glory in that. I'll rejoice in that, to know that God is working in my life, and God is working through me, and maybe it's not comfortable right now, but God is able to accomplish some things through this that I couldn't. It says, therefore, in light of that, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, and the word necessities in the Greek means needs, or to be in want, to be lacking, because I'll take pleasure in that. When I have needs that are not being met, I'm lacking and I have necessities, I need this, but nothing's happening, I'll take pleasure in that. How often are we that way? Most of the time it's, I need this. Lord, I need this. So he takes pleasure in that, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. When I become weak, then God's strength is manifested through me, and I'm strong in His strength, not my own. No room for pride there. Paul would say, great is my boldness of speech toward you, as he writes to the Corinthians. Great is my glorying of you. I'm filled with comfort. I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. Now think of that just for a moment as a response. I'm exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. That's a remarkable statement. We don't usually respond that way. None of you tonight would say, you know, I hope on the way to work tonight, I lose the transmission just right in the middle of the freeway. Just, I think a big problem like that would just be a blessing. No, we don't respond that way. We want everything to go smoothly. But he says, I'm exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. He would write to the church at Thessalonica that no man should be moved by these afflictions, for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. He would write to the church at Philippi, for unto you it is given on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. That's how Christians used to understand the Christian life. We understand it now more through the TBN and PTL programs, that we should be blessed all the time, and everything should be wonderful, and we should be healthy, wealthy, and wise, and everything looking up. They understood that there was some suffering in this life, but that God could use that for his glory. Paul would write, not that I speak in respect of one, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I've learned. It didn't come automatically. It's a part of Christian growth, part of sanctification, part of maturity. I've learned. Have you learned? Don't answer out loud, but have you learned? God has some people that he wants to use to teach you. Don't look on them as the problem. God might be using them to get at the problem, to fix the problem. Your obnoxious boss that you can't wait till he retires or gets fired or dies. That might be the best tool God has in your life right now, to work in your life. He might not really be the problem. He might be God's agent to fix the problem. You say, well, how do I know? First of all, start responding as a Christian ought to respond. And then see what God does in your heart. And see what God does in your boss's heart. When you respond with Christian grace, You might be amazed what God can do through him and through you. Martha, Mary's not the problem. Your own heart is. That's not easy to hear, is it? Because we want God to take care of Mary. But God's using Mary to take care of us. Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, Thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. There's a God in heaven that loves you so much he's not going to let you go. and He's gonna keep working and working and working because He wants to conform us to His image, that we might glorify Him. Lord, thank You for Your Word tonight. I pray that You'd help us. Dear God, help us to not just be hearers, help us to be doers. Give us the grace to respond as You'd have us respond. Bless now this invitation we ask in Jesus' name, amen.