93-69 – When God Doesn't Make Sense – When God Doesn't Seem to Make Sense, Part I

This sermon is Part 1 of the series "When God Doesn't Make Sense" by Dr. Chuck Betters.

This series was preached by Dr. Betters just six weeks after the death of his 16-year-old son Mark. Dr. Betters gives us a real, raw message as a man struggling with God, as a man wrestling with his faith. In his transparency, we see that Dr. Betters learned during this time that he is not very different from the rest of us. Walking by faith is hard, especially hard when God turns our lives upside down. God is in control of all things, even during these hard and emotional times. This is when we need the strength of other believers to help us through these times, to help remind us that God is in control and HE has a greater purpose for why things are as they are.

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SPEAKER_00 0:16

Let's join Dr. Patterson as he preaches this series when God doesn't make sense.

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I must admit I have borrowed the title of this sermon from a new book that has been published by James Dobson. I hope if you have experienced any kind of sudden pain or loss, or if you're wondering why God doesn't make any sense sometimes that you'll go out and get that book. It's entitled When God Doesn't Make Sense. It was a book written for people who have experienced sudden or unexplainable pain. Now, most of you sitting here have not lost a child, and certainly there is a cup of sorrow that losing a child has to bring that is different from other kinds of pain, but all of us at one time or another have experienced some unexplainable pain. Whether the loss of a job or the breakup of a marriage or a sudden illness or sudden financial collapse, or simply a category of trials that you can't put your finger on, that sums up the message title here when God doesn't seem to make sense. Now there are certain principles that can be gleaned from the scriptures for whatever pain you might be bearing, for whatever cup of sorrow you have to drink. Colossians 1:24 tells us, now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, which is the church. Now, Paul to the Colossians there is referencing a cup of sorrow to fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. Now there is certainly nothing lacking in the sufferings of Christ as far as our salvation is concerned. But as far as our identification with the suffering of Christ, we are all given certain cups of sorrow to drink so that we might experience the fellowship of his sufferings and enjoy more of what the love of God and the goodness of God and the grace of God is all about. Simply stated as a principle, I'd like to put it this way: not all of us will have to drink the same cup of sorrow. But all of us will have to suffer to some degree or another. There is an inevitability that each of us will be placed into the refiner's fire. That is a principle of Scripture that few of us understand until we have actually had to walk through the fire. There is an inevitability of the refiner's fire. Now Peter talks about that. 1 Peter chapter 1. He makes basically three points. The first point he makes is in verse 7. He says there is a price tag for refined faith. The price tag for refined faith is the fire of testing. Verse 7. These, what are these? These trials, these cups of sorrow that you have to drink, have come, and here's the reason, so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes, even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. I read somewhere a little commentary or comment on the three gifts that the Magi brought from the East when Jesus was born. You remember what those gifts were? Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Now, most of us do not have any problems bringing as offerings to God our gold. Our gold may be defined as our time, our talents, the tangible things that we can bring to God, the things that we're comfortable with, the things that are expendable. Now, fewer of us have problems bringing our incense. Incense is representative of worship. Some of us truly know how to worship, others haven't learned the art yet. But nonetheless, even for those who know how to worship, bringing our incense as a sacrifice of praise to God is not a problem. We don't have any difficulty with Romans 12, 1 and 2, which talks about being not conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of your minds, that you may prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God. We don't have a problem worshiping God with our incense. But most of us sitting here truly have a problem bringing as a sacrifice of praise our myrrh. You know what myrrh is? Myrrh is an embalming fluid. Myrrh is a spice or an ointment of death. When these magi brought their gifts of gold and incense and myrrh, the one who brought the myrrh was showing symbolically what he understood in his heart to be the case concerning this baby. This baby would suffer. This baby would die. This baby would sacrifice his life. This baby would yield his body. This baby would suffer intense pain. Now we don't have any problems bringing our gold, fewer problems bringing our incense, but most of us have difficulty bringing our myrrh as a sacrifice of praise. Sudden grief, suffering, sudden pain, some extreme difficulty, the sacrifice of a broken heart. The bringing of myrrh is simply another platform for believers to exhibit to the world the difference that Christ makes in our lives. Now, Peter is saying that there's a price tag for refined faith, and that price tag is the fire of testing. Now, what's the second principle? Look at verse 8. The product of refined faith is the joy of the Lord. Verse 8, though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him. And note that next expression. And you are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. Now is that possible? Is it possible to be placed inside of the refiner's fire and emerge from that fire with an inexpressible and glorious joy? I read something by Amy Carmichael. What a beautiful illustration of this second point. The product of refined faith is the joy of the Lord. Listen to this. She says, one day we took our children to see a goldsmith, refined gold after the ancient manner of the East. Now catch this picture. The goldsmith was sitting beside his little charcoal fire. He sits as a refiner. The gold or silversmith never leaves his crucible once it is on the fire. In that red glow lay a common curved roof tile. Another tile covered it like a lid. This was the crucible. In it was the medicine made of salt, teramined fruit, and burnt brick dust. And embedded in it was the gold. The medicine does its appointed work on the gold. The fire eats it. And the goldsmith lifts the gold out with a pair of tongs, lets it cool, rubs it between his fingers, and if not satisfied, puts it back again in fresh medicine. This time he blows the fire hotter than it was before. And each time he puts the gold in the crucible of heat, the fire is increased. It could not bear it so hot the first time, but it can bear it hot now. What would have destroyed it then helps it now. How do you know when the gold is purified? We asked him. And he answered, when I can see my face in it, the liquid gold in the crucible, then it is pure. Thus, when in us our refiner sees his own image, he has indeed brought to us ultimate and true wholeness. We have reviewed our own lives, and we have realized that as we have gone through different trials, what would have killed us earlier? What would have destroyed us earlier? When the hot flames would have been too hot, we are able to bear now. But what's the objective? What is the purpose? What is Peter trying to tell us? What is the refiner's objective? The product of refined faith is the joy of the Lord. He wants the joy of the Lord to be seen. He wants his face to be seen in your face. He wants his image to be reflected in you so that as you go through the fire, the glory of God and the joy of the Lord can truly be your experience. Well, look at verse 9. We have the price tag for refined faith, verse 7. We have the product of refined faith, verse 8. Look at verse 9. The purpose of refined faith is to prepare us for glory. For you are receiving the goal of your faith. And what's the goal of your faith? What's all of this for? What is the refiner's fire to accomplish? What is its purpose? What is its objective? Where is it leading us? Why are we put through these various trials? Why are we refined the way we are? So that God may, in reflecting the image of his son in our lives, prepare us for that moment of glory, the salvation of our souls. Charles Spurgeon suffered greatly from depression. You read some of his memoirs and you realize that the suffering of Charles Spurgeon was intense suffering. The man literally, physically and emotionally, was exhausted week after week after week, yet he was one of the princes of the pulpits of his day. His wife used to help him battle the severity of his depression. And one day she was reflecting on the purpose of such suffering. And keep in mind the severity of her husband's depression. And one day, as she writes in her memoir, she was watching a log in the fireplace. And she reflected, we are like this old log. We should give forth no melodious sounds were it not for the fire. Isn't that the truth? Just take that old log and sit it down. What does it do? Nothing. Nothing. How does it respond? What does it give off? Nothing. But stick it in the fire. And it begins to snap and crackle and pop. It begins to fill the air with its aroma. Stick it into the fire. She says, we're like that old log. Basically worthless until we're placed into the fire. Years before that, her husband had spoken of death. This is what he said. The dying saint is not in a hurry. He keeps to his old pace. He walks. The last days of a Christian are the most peaceful of his whole career. Many a saint has reaped more joy and knowledge when he came to die than ever he knew while he lived. When there is a shadow, there must be a light somewhere. The light of Jesus shining upon death throws a light somewhere across our path. Let us therefore rejoice for the light of God's glory beyond. Written by a man who knew what it was to suffer. Isn't that what Peter has in mind when he says, For you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. There is a purpose, there is a plan, there is an objective to your suffering. But there is an inevitability that all of us are going to one degree or another suffer. That's principle number one. Principle number two, you'll find in Revelation chapter 20. I'd like you to turn to Revelation chapter 20. When God doesn't make sense, principle number one, there is an inevitability that we will experience the refiner's fire. Principle number two, don't let these big words scare you now. There is an eschatological dimension to our suffering. The word eschatological simply means with futuristic consequences. There is an eschatological purpose or dimension to suffering. Revelation chapter 20. I want you to look at verse 1. And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the abyss and holding it in his hand, a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations any more until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be set free for a short time. Underline that. And even amongst them there was significant apostasy. There was very little advancement of the kingdom in the Old Testament. In fact, the Old Testament ends with 400 years of silence where there were no prophets in the land. And so you look at all those thousands of years of Old Testament history, and the kingdom of God has not been built. The kingdom of God is still waiting, and Satan is free to roam. And Satan is free to hinder the work of the kingdom. But when Christ dies on the cross, Satan is cast from the heavens. Satan is bound in his efforts to stop the flow of the kingdom of God. This is what Jesus had in mind when he said, I give to you the keys to the kingdom, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Satan will be bound, and the thousand years is simply the period between the first coming of Christ and the second coming of Christ. That is the age in which the church is, the time between his first coming and his second coming. Satan is absolutely powerless to stop the flow of the gospel. But toward the end of that period, just before the coming of Jesus Christ, Satan is going to be let loose. And there will be significant apostasy within the church. And Satan will once again be given for a little season the opportunity to stop the flow of the kingdom. As the elect come into the kingdom of God, Satan will be let loose toward that end period. Why do I tell you this? Well, because I believe we're in or heading toward that last period. I believe if Satan has not yet been let loose, Satan will shortly be let loose. And as he is let loose, one thing you can count on, and that is the eschatological dimension of suffering, meaning this: that in the last days there will be an increasing pressure of satanic trial as he is loosened for a little season. Satan is going to take his best shots at the people of God. You are going to see a recurrence of that conversation that God had with Satan concerning Job. Have you considered my servant Job? And as Satan is allowed to roam the earth, and as he is allowed to attack the church, as the tribulation enters this age, Satan being let loose, there will be increasing pressure on the people of God, and those who are faithful will be brought to light, and those who are unfaithful will also be brought to light. That is one thing you can bank on that if indeed we are living in the last days, if indeed the coming of Christ is near, then your faith is going to be put to an inexpressible test, and whether or not you are genuine in the faith will be brought to light. Matthew chapter 24, verse 24, Jesus says, For false Christ and false prophets will appear in great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. How dreadful those days will be, he tells us. Look at verse 15 of Matthew 24. How dreadful it will be in the last days. Now you stop and think, are we in the last days? How dreadful it will be when you see standing in the holy place, the abomination that causes desolation. Now that's none other than the apostasy that will take place within the church. The abomination of desolation is the apostasy within the church. When you see that happen, spoken of through the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand that those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of this house go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that your flight will not take place in winter on the Sabbath, for when there is great distress, unequal from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. That's Satan's little season. At the end of the gospel age, just before the coming of Christ, Satan will. Be let loose. Now he is bound. You say, wait a minute, I see him all over the place. But you see, he cannot stop the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is being built. It was built during the last four decades behind the Iron Curtain, in spite of the Iron Curtain. The kingdom of God was flowing in spite of godless communism. The kingdom of God is being built in some of the remotest parts of the earth. But there will come a day when Satan will be let loose. He will no longer be bound in that sense. And who do you think his targets are going to be? The faithful people of God. How dreadful those days will be. Well, there's that eschatological dimension, but there's more to it than that. When you're going through sudden pain, when you're going through some horrific experience, Romans chapter 5 teaches you a very valuable lesson. Turn to Romans 5, look at verse 1. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. Now underline this, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. You see what Paul is doing here in this passage? He's going to do here what he's going to do in all these other passages, and I'm just going to reference a few of them and read a few verses to you. You don't have to follow along. He's going to do the same thing in all of these passages. He's going to tie together three concepts. And he's going to tie them in one knot: hope, suffering, and the second coming of Jesus Christ. They're triplets that cannot be separated. The whole of New Testament thought says, here's your hope. Well, why do you need hope unless you're suffering? It's easy to praise God when everything's going well, isn't it? It's easy to say, thank you, Lord, for the blessings when the blessings are so sweet. But let's see what we're really made out of when all hell breaks loose. Let's see what our hope is when Satan unleashes a horrific attack against our faith. And you see what that does, what suffering does at that point is it kindles or rekindles hope in us. And what is that hope? That one day, listen, we're not going to need any hope. Say, what do you mean? Faith, hope, and love these three. Remember that passage in 1 Corinthians 13? Faith, hope, and love these three, but the greatest of these is what? Why do you think he said that? Why is the greatest of these love? Why isn't it hope? Why isn't it faith? Because hope and faith are temporal characteristics. When you stand before God face to face, you don't need hope anymore. You don't need faith anymore. Love, that is the love of God, abides forever. That's why it's the greatest of these three. And what does suffering do? It lights that fire inside of your spirit that says, I want to see Christ. The hope of Christ's return is rekindled by sudden pain. Just listen to these verses, Romans 12, 12. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. See the knot? Romans 15, 4, so that through endurance and encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15, 12 and 13, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 15, 12 through 19, if only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. If your only hope is in this life, you're a miserable person. 2 Corinthians 1 7, just as you share in our sufferings, so also you can share in our comfort or our hope. 2 Corinthians 1 10, on him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. 2 Corinthians 3 verses 7 through 12. Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. Ephesians 1 16 through 23, that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. See where your hope lies. Colossians 1 3 through 6, the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven. Colossians 1 22 to 24. Do not be moved from the hope that is held out to you in the gospel. 1 Thessalonians 1 3, that your endurance inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ may be continual. 1 Thessalonians 2.19, for what is our hope? Our hope is that the Lord Jesus may come. 1 Thessalonians 4. Encourage one another with these words. And what are these words, brothers? We do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep. We do not want you to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. Who have no hope. I want to tell you a story. We were on vacation, and my wife and I went out to breakfast, and we were both having a pretty rough day. In fact, we were both miserable. And we went out to breakfast and went to this kind of famous place where it's breakfast, and we had to wait. And as we're sitting out in the lounge area waiting, sitting by ourselves together, and she was in tears, and I was close to tears, this man about my age and his daughter, who was about our son's age, our son who went to be with the Lord, and their mother walked in. Now the girl knew the hostess who was taking the reservations. And so the father and the daughter walked up to the hostess. The mother went over in the corner and sat down. And we were happened to be sitting right there where the hostess was taking her reservations, and so we overheard the whole conversation. The gist of the conversation was this young girl with her father standing there, not only consenting to it, but also participating in it. That young girl begins to talk with the hostess about everybody they had slept with the night before, about all the drinking that they had done, about all the partying they were going to do, about the hangovers that they had, about the sex that they were going to have. And we're sitting there, and this man about my age is encouraging his daughter to say all these horrible things. And I said, Are you thinking what I'm thinking? And she shook her head, yes. And we were both thinking the same thing, and I'm going to be totally honest with you. Lord, why didn't you take that scumball? Why did you take our son? Now go ahead and judge me. You would have thought the very same thing if you were sitting there. But you know, when I come to this passage, he says, I don't want you, Chuck or Sharon, to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope. You see, she's got her reward. Her pleasure and her sin and her father's pleasure and her father's sin, that is their reward. But one day, that little girl and that little girl's father are going to die. And they're going to stand before a holy God. And they are going to be hopeless unless they come to Christ. You see the difference? It's like we begin to reason, God, you have this quota of people who are going to die. And why did you include my family in that quota? Isn't that a ridiculous concept? Because you see, we're all going to die. It is appointed to each man to die once. All of us are going to die. And if you're here and you don't have Christ, then you have no hope. And you will grieve like the rest of men grieve, but the believer grieves differently because the believer has hope. Paul says, don't grieve like men who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are still left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, comfort and encourage one another with these words. Hope, suffering, the coming of Christ are all intertwined. I read somewhere just recently that there is a renewed emphasis after you lose a loved one for the second coming of Christ. I am so glad that I can honestly and legitimately stand before you today and say to you with all honesty and sincerity and every bit of credibility I as a pastor have that this is the honest truth. For years I have craved the coming of Jesus Christ. It didn't take my son's death to make me anxious for heaven. If the only reason you want to go to heaven is because you have a loved one there. If the only reason you want Jesus to come back is because you have a loved one there, then you've missed the whole point of the hope of the gospel. Does it increase your desire? Of course it does. There's something very precious to us there. Personally, I believe that's one of the reasons why God takes our loved ones to restore or to store up for us the very joy that he's promised to give back. Hope, suffering, the coming of Christ are all intertwined. Do you long for his coming? Do you long for his coming? Do you live your life in such a way that if Christ were to come today, you would not be embarrassed? Are you working and laboring for the kingdom as though Christ will not come for a thousand years? Is there hope in your suffering? Is there encouragement in your suffering? He says, while we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior. That's the blessed hope of the church, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior. Peter would say later that in heaven we have certain promises that have been kept for us, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of our salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may be suffering all kinds of different trials. You see, this is the eschatological dimension of suffering. In one respect, as Satan is loosened in the end times, in another respect, as God kindles or rekindles in you hope for his coming. Now let me give you a third principle. The inevitability of the refiner's fire, the eschatological dimension of suffering, these are two principles on which you can hang your hat when God doesn't make sense. Let me give you a third one. Although sudden pain is incredibly self-centered, God does make sense even when God doesn't make sense. Do you get that? Let me say it again. Although sudden pain is incredibly self-centered. God does make sense even when God doesn't make sense. I want to tell you, the kind of pain that we're going through is self-centered pain. Doctors and pastors and lawyers, professional people will all tell you the same thing. When they go out into a social setting, what will a doctor always encounter? Well, you know, doc, I got this little pain right over here. Or what will a lawyer encounter? Well, you know, I'm facing this legal problem over here. What do you think? Or what does a pastor? I have this problem that I need to talk to somebody about. We get that all the time. And I gotta tell you, most times, I am prone not only to listen, but prone to be a pastor. But after we have experienced what we've experienced, our pain has become incredibly self-centered. At least during this healing process, we don't want to hear a whole lot about your aches and pains. Because we're hurting so bad ourselves. Now, is that being a poor pastor? Not just being a father who has a broken heart. Pain is incredibly self-centered, and all of you know that who've gone through some pain. What you're going through seems to be the most important thing in the world. And in one sense, it is. Why? Because you're struggling with the question, why doesn't this make sense, God? And it's at that time when you are that self-centered, when your pain is that incredibly painful, when you're asking that kind of a question, that God really does make sense. Let me tell you what I mean. God is present. Listen, if you're suffering this morning, God is present in your life even when he seems to be deaf or has taken an extended leave of absence. God is present even when he seems deaf or has taken apparently an extended leave of absence. Now I have believed for years, and I have taught for years, and I still believe, and will never stop believing, this principle, that our source of comfort is this book. When God is deaf, we have 66 letters that He's written that any of us can hear at any given time. I believe with all of my heart this is to be the basis of any revelation we get from God. We are not to look for ecstatic experiences, we are not to look for mystical signs, we are not to test God with fleeces, we are to rest upon the integrity of this book. I believe that with all of my heart. However, I also believe that sometimes God speaks through a still small voice, but I believe he speaks only to those who have trusted in this book. Say, what do you mean? Well, I'm going to tell you something. And I expect cards and letters about this one. But please understand it in the context of what you've just heard. I don't believe there is any revelation apart from this book. I don't believe we are to be sign seekers. But I believe there are times when God, in a wonderful display of his comfort and grace, gives us something that we just simply can't explain. Say, what do you mean? Well, I'm gonna tell you a story. We were at the beach. You've got to understand how this house is set. It's set right over the beach. There's a sand dune, and then there's the beach. So you see the ocean from the deck. There are no lights in this area. It's dark. You have to use a flashlight to walk the streets. That's how dark it is. And so the stars and the myriad of the stars are very majestic at nighttime. You can see it's a very beautiful place to be. It's really not that beautiful when you're a grieving parent, because the only thing you want is to see your son. The only thing you want is to hold him in your arms again. But our children and their friends were laying down on the beach at nighttime with their blankets spread out, looking up into the stars. Came to one of their minds that uh Genesis talks about the covenant promise that God made to Abraham, that I will make your offspring as the stars of the heavens. And one of them rhetorically asked whether or not God has numbered the stars the way he's numbered the elect. Is it possible that each star represents one of God's elect? Interesting concept. I don't think there's anything in scripture to back it up, but their focus was upon the stars. Their focus was upon what the stars represent. Now, at the very same time, Sharon was out on the deck. I was inside, probably doing something very spiritual like watching ESPN or something like that. But Sharon was out on the deck having a rough time, and she said, Now, Lord, I know I am not supposed to seek signs. I know I am not supposed to look for mystical experiences. I believe with all of my heart I'm not to put you to test that way. But God, if you wanted to, I know you could unhook a star. I know you could tell me through the unhooking of that star that our son is okay and that we're going to be healed. I know you can do that, Lord. And she looked up, and nothing happened. But at the same time that she was saying that, and that the kids were down on the beach wondering about the significance of the stars at that very moment. The kids saw a star. And they all saw it at the same time. You say, Well, that's a coincidence. Well, probably you're right. But then they came back to the house and joined me in the worship center. And began to tell their mother this story. She had not told them what she had done. And just at that very moment that they were telling this story, she told them about what she had prayed. I'm sitting there watching and listening to this whole thing, and I stood up and I walked out onto the deck. I did not say to anybody where I was going. My son asked his mother, where's dad going? She said, He's going looking for a star. And I've got to tell you, honestly, at that point, I thought in my heart, Lord, if you could unhook a star for them, you could unhook a star for me. But I didn't tell anybody that. What do you think? Well, in Dobson's book, he has a picture. I don't know how many of you have seen this book or this picture. But in this book, he has a picture of four of his friends and himself, five men, all about my age, godly men, men who have served the Lord, men who were a part of the mission outreach of Dobson's ministries. This picture's in that book. The five men are sitting together around a fire in a lodge, happy as larks. The caption of the picture says, and he names the four men, this photo was taken just hours before these four men were killed in the plane crash. Four men with wives and children, four men with all of their ministries hanging out in front of them. It didn't make sense. You turn the page over, and on the other side of that photograph is another photograph. It was taken during the funeral service of these four men, which was held in the same church. And over that church, when the funeral service began, was a rainbow. But there was no rain. And the rainbow appeared when the service began, and the rainbow disappeared when the service was over. Somebody went out and snapped the photograph, which is in the book. Unknown to them when they've developed the photograph, and you look at the rainbow hovering over this church, flying right in the middle of that rainbow is a small private airplane. What do you think? What do you think? Is God capable of giving to people who are experiencing immense, intense pain that kind of confirmation? Not seeking it, not looking for mystical experience, not looking for revelation beyond the book, not looking for signs and wonders, but can God indeed calm us through the still small voice of his spirit? Intense sorrow. God's timing is perfect even when his timing appears to be catastrophically late. Always perfect. You remember the story of Lazarus? How Jesus waited until he knew Lazarus was dead for four days before he responded and went back to Martha and Mary, who then told him, if you had been here, our brother wouldn't have died. Do you remember how God was right on time? Raising Lazarus from the dead.

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Now may the grace of God, the love of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus the Christ, the very presence, person, and power of his Holy Spirit abide with each of you now until Christ comes again and forevermore. And all God thank you.

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You have been listening to In His Grip entering the preaching and teaching ministry of Dr. Chuck and Betters and produced by Mark Anger Ministries. Mark Angel Ministries exist to offer help and hope to hurting people by pointing them to the promises of God and the comfort of his word. Through In His Grip, Ask Dr. Betters, Daily Treasure, and Help and Hope, we provide free, faith-based resources for those walking through suffering, grief, confusion, and seasons of deep need. To learn more about Dr. Betters, explore our resources, or contact us, visit M-A-R-K-N-C.org. May you rest today in the assurance that God can be trusted even when we do not understand his plan.