WEBVTT 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:09.279 All right. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:15.919 Let me invite you to turn your Bibles to Proverb chapter 3 verses 5 and 6. 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:20.879 And uh the average age in our room just went down quite a bit. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:22.800 Jimmy's here. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:24.160 Hey Jimmy. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:25.120 Hey Ryan. 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:26.160 Hey Kimberly. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:28.879 So baby Jimmy. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:29.679 It's good. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:32.560 No, you can't hold the baby. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:33.119 Okay. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:38.000 Just to make sure that's clear for everybody here. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:38.479 Okay. 00:00:39.759 --> 00:00:50.320 So we're looking at uh Proverbs 3, 5 and 6, and uh answering and asking a question, and then we're gonna kind of dig into it. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:58.719 Um how do I trust God when life is painful? 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:00.719 It's a big question. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:08.079 So let me read for us uh Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, and then we're gonna talk about that question for a bit. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:18.879 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:24.799 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your path. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:30.719 And ask God to make our path straight. 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:40.719 We have current pain. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:43.200 Some of us carry past pain. 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:48.079 Some of us don't know it, but the pain is on the horizon. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:02:02.640 We live in a broken and fallen world, as you well know, and that is why you came, Lord Jesus, to redeem your people, and someday, one day, to make the world right in all things. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:13.120 Uh for there to be no sadness, but for there to be joy, for there to be no pain, but but full health, for there to be no strife, but full peace. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:14.719 And we long for that. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:25.120 We'd love to see that right now, today, in our world, but the world is broken and fallen, and our hearts are broken and fallen, and the people around us and the world is full of pain. 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:26.800 So we ask. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:38.319 We ask that today you would teach us and help us to see how to trust you in the world as it is, as we as we long for the world as it will be. 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:40.400 Would you bless us and be with us? 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:41.680 And Lord, would you bless me? 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:43.840 This is a heavy topic. 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.840 It's too heavy for me to carry, um, certainly not on my own. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:55.840 So I pray that you, by your spirit, would guide and direct all of our hearts to see and hear the Savior's voice and what we talk about. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:58.159 Bless us and be with us, we pray. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:00.000 In Jesus' name. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:00.960 Amen. 00:03:02.080 --> 00:03:04.879 So last year, a friend of mine got doged. 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:14.240 Uh he uh he would tell you that he needed to be because the company where he worked, and I don't know any other way of saying this, it was um what's the word I put down? 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:15.919 It was a grant mill. 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:24.000 I don't know if that's really even a word or something I just coined, but that was in my head, is they did a lot of grants and they didn't really follow through on a lot of their grants. 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:28.479 And they made up, they were making a lot of money writing grants, and that's kind of what they ended up doing. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:31.680 And so he was laid off with a lot of other people. 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:38.000 And and he had been talking to us for a long time about getting out of that job because he didn't like it. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:53.680 But the timing was terrible because his son was in his senior year of high school, he's getting ready to go to college, and with the end of the job, they lost their health insurance, and you know, how are we gonna afford all the things that are going to be coming our way? 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:56.240 And it was terrible timing for them. 00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:00.240 And so he was without a job and without a job and without a job. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:07.520 And and that means that verses like this that go from memory verses to life verses eventually become a lifeline. 00:04:07.759 --> 00:04:12.000 It's like, I'm clinging to this every single day. 00:04:12.479 --> 00:04:15.919 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:20.800 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 00:04:21.040 --> 00:04:24.480 It gives encouragement, it gives comfort as we look out at the world. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:28.240 Uh, that knowledge certainly does calm an anxious heart. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:33.279 And that's what he's telling us to do is he's saying, trust in the Lord with all of your heart. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:40.639 And uh making it hard for our guys in the back today, because I'm kind of meandering through my outline, and I didn't give it straight up. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:43.920 So if there's a flaw on the screen, blame the guy who's speaking. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:45.120 That's who it needs to be like. 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:49.759 So I really like the word trust in this context. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:05:04.160 I like it because it's it's easy for us to say, I believe in God, and it to be this kind of nebulous idea, like a cloud at the back of our lives that follows us around, but does it really have any practical implications for our daily lives? 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:08.879 So I like the word trust here because trust here is it's active. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:14.959 It's it isn't just an intellectual belief, it's an active, confident reliance on God's character. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:27.680 The most common word for trust in the Old Testament, uh Hebrew word, is used here, and it means to be bold, confident, or to place one's full weight on something. 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:31.680 In other words, this is where I stand, it's the only solid ground I have. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.720 This is your rock of Gibraltar that you're standing on. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:42.319 So trust was a firm belief in the reliability, the truth, the ability or strength of someone or something. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:43.680 And here it's God. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:54.560 To trust the Lord means to put one's confidence and hope of security in him because he's omnicompetent and so controls all situations. 00:05:55.040 --> 00:06:03.920 And so it means relying on God rather than our own finite understanding, our own strength, our institutions, or our own goodness. 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:11.279 Trust means to take what I know about God and apply it to the circumstances that I'm in and live according to it. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:13.360 And there are really two applications here from this. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:14.399 This is wisdom literature. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:24.560 So one of the things he's talking that Solomon, who wrote it, is talking to his son about in the original reception of it, was trusting in the word of the Lord. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:31.360 So that's what he would have meant in the original context, was mainly that was trusting in the Lord's word. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:37.759 And so if you trust in the word of the Lord, he'll make your path straight, even when things are difficult. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:50.959 Now, in that context, it doesn't mean that God's going to bless you with everything you've ever wanted, because you can follow what God says in his word, and things may not go exactly the way that you want all the time. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:53.920 But it will, in general, make things straight for you. 00:06:54.079 --> 00:07:07.519 For instance, if you follow the command, do not steal, well, you're going to avoid a whole host of problems in your life, having to do with your reputation, jail time, all sorts of things. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:10.240 You're going to keep the to the straight and narrow. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:15.839 But there are going to be other people who might steal from you, and you might have to deal with those consequences. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:23.519 So it doesn't mean, it doesn't mean that, you know, if you're doing right, every right and good thing is always going to happen to you. 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:34.480 But it is saying if you follow God's word, his wisdom, what he says, your way is going to be easier because this is the way the world works when God gives commands and tells us things. 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:38.000 But the second one, I think, is really the one that captivates us. 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:41.120 And it's trusting in his providence. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.680 Now, some of you may not know what providence means. 00:07:43.839 --> 00:08:04.800 It's a place in Rhode Island, I know, but but providence is this divine providence is the governance of God, meaning his reign and rule, is the governance of God by which he, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.800 And what that means is God is in control of the things that happen around us. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:12.160 And we know in all things God is working for our good. 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:17.839 So to trust his providence means that you believe he's going to do good to you. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:20.959 And much of life seems completely out of our control. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:22.800 Headlines, right? 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:29.120 Deadlines, Iran, gas prices, politics, AI, there are lots of things that we can't control. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:34.399 So if you look to the news, you ought to be looking to Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 all the time. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:37.279 Got to be looking at this because he's in control. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:45.360 And we believe that we can absolutely trust him because he's shown that to be the case. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:50.559 Jerry Bridges puts it this way in his book about suffering and pain. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:57.840 He says, God's unfailing love for us is an objective fact affirmed over and over in the scriptures. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.159 It's true whether we believe it or not. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:05.360 Our doubts do not destroy God's love, nor does our faith create it. 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:13.840 It originates in the very nature of God, who is love, and it flows to us through our union with his beloved Son. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:19.679 So God is good, and God is loving, and God is trustworthy, and he's invested. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:26.159 And he's working even when we don't think to pray, but he often is working in and through our prayers. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:28.960 And that's where we sometimes encounter this. 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:30.480 I can trust God. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:40.879 I can trust him, not just that he's working when I'm unaware of it, but he's working even to answer prayers that I'm praying. 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:48.320 And Rebecca and I have seen this in our lives, and many of you have seen this, and there's just three vignettes answered prayers that were unexpected. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:52.639 Some's one is silly, but the others are pretty intense. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:10:03.279 One was when Cat when Rebecca and I were doing campus ministry in Mississippi, we went on a paddle expedition down a river for a day with some of our students. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:14.559 So there are about 20 students, and for whatever reason, the person who had the least paddling experience and was the most uncoordinated ended up in Rebecca's canoe with her. 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:21.519 And so there's this one part where the river kind of like funnels down and you go through kind of a loose thing where you have to kind of like navigate your way through. 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:25.200 And basically you just get your paddle out of the way and let the water do the work. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:33.519 Well, they were on their way through the little gully, and uh he lost his balance and they went out. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:40.559 And Rebecca, as she's going down, she's looking at the rocks, and the paddle goes and she's like kind of like catching herself as she's going in. 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:48.559 The canoe capsize, we're at the bottom, we like get it out, we turn it over, and we can find his paddle, but we cannot find Rebecca's. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:51.279 And she's kind of like, How are we gonna get down the rest of the river? 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:52.799 And it's a borrowed paddle. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:10:53.919 I don't know what we're gonna do. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:55.440 And she said, Let's pray. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:11:00.799 So by the banks of the river, we held hands and we prayed. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:02.240 And she said, Amen. 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:03.279 Oh, there it is. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:09.279 It was like as soon as she opened her eyes, it was across the river in a bush. 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:18.480 I don't know how far she threw this thing, like the javelin in high school or something, where it's like it's in the bush, and we went and got it. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:19.200 That's simple. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:20.080 That was one of the things. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:24.720 If um, but I'm gonna tell you, praying for your car keys if you lose them. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:25.440 That's okay. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:28.000 We've that's that's been very helpful. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:43.440 Second, and I mentioned this for just a little bit last week, uh, when Catherine was uh middle school age-ish, early high school, she had some sort of skin thing that we didn't, and we went to doctor after doctor, and it was painful and bright red. 00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:44.480 I mean, you couldn't notice. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:53.759 She walked in and her face was you couldn't help but see this young girl had bright red skin, it was inflamed, it was painful, nothing was working, it was getting worse. 00:11:53.919 --> 00:12:00.399 And so we did decide, and I made it sound like it wasn't as miraculous last week as it had a miraculous element to it. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:09.279 But we went to see the elders of our church who prayed over us, laid hands on her, and anointed her with oil. 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:14.480 And this is what Catherine, she'd been in pain for weeks, low-grade pain for months. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:26.000 And she's sitting there with the elders having their hands praying over her, and she said, the pain stopped while they were praying, and she it never came back. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:34.399 And she went home, and the cream that she had tried to use, but it was too painful even to put onto her face and her arms and legs, she went and tried it again. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:39.519 And that is the beginning of the end of that skin rash, whatever it was. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:41.200 Prayer. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:45.440 God is faithful, he loves us, he takes care of us. 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:58.240 And then uh even in the darkest of things, so for the past ten years, I would say that has been the hardest on the Speaks family. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:01.279 We moved several times, we've had a lot of things that are been going on. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:06.879 And there there was this one, you know, both we had we both had a parent pass away during all of this. 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:10.960 We moved, it was in a pandemic, like the rest of you were in a pandemic. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:12.879 And it was hard. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:35.279 And there was this one moment where there's this one we we've we have gone through tragedy and almost tragedy, and there was this one moment where we were just uh at the end, at the end of our ability to carry anything, and we said, Lord, just send help. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:36.720 Just send help. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:40.559 So that week, like that day, even was it that day? 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:47.600 That day we found a person online that was the exact help that we needed. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:49.919 It's like okay. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:51.679 That was an answer to prayer. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:57.039 I think that was the first, and only time we said just send send help that kind of desperation, and he did. 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:04.559 God meets us in our brokenness and our hurt and our sorrow send help. 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:07.360 Trust in the Lord with all your heart. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:09.279 It's a memory verse, right? 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:11.519 It's a memory verse, but it's true. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:14.639 It's true, it's a lifeline for those who need it. 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:21.840 And I find that when I'm when I pray that prayer and I can entrust it to God, there's a peace that I've I've experienced. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:24.559 And for some of you, it's the opposite. 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:26.960 And for some of us, it's the opposite. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:29.759 Because we've prayed and it hasn't gone the way we wanted. 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:33.440 So instead of peace, we feel pain in the midst of that. 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:38.080 It it's painful to many who have gone through or are going through something painful. 00:14:38.159 --> 00:14:41.759 How can you trust God when life hurts? 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:44.320 How do you trust him when life hurts? 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:48.879 Why is it so hard to trust God with all of our heart the way he talks about here? 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:56.879 And he tells us, he tells us right here, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:58.000 And there it is. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:08.960 That's why we have trouble understanding because we see from our perspective, we have an understanding that is ours, that has been shaped by a lot of things that may not be true. 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:14.960 Alistair Begg uh found a great quote from him this week talking about just struggling. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:33.679 He says, Despite the obvious emphasis of Scripture in regard to suffering, we are bombarded by suggestions that the success, that the successful Christian living takes place in the realm of constant victory, health, wholeness, and financial prosperity. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:40.720 That's very American, and it is very uh it's very media, like our social media. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:42.720 You see that all over the place. 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:49.200 And the assumption is if I trust in God, he will make my life go well, as I define well. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:51.200 And I encountered it yesterday. 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:55.919 I was uh like YouTube or something, and this is what somebody, this is a quote. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:04.639 The more you believe and trust God, the more limitless your possibilities become for your family, your career, for your life. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:08.000 But life hurts, even for Christians. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:13.120 And the Bible is very honest about the suffering of those who believe in Jesus and the things we go through. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:15.840 And so it doesn't make sense to us. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:20.000 What good is faith if it doesn't get me what I want? 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.039 I had a college student ask me that years ago. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:29.679 You've heard stories of God doing good for others, and you believe it so deeply that it will, and then it doesn't happen for you the way it seems to have happened for other people. 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:31.600 Is he powerful? 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:32.559 Does he care? 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:34.159 Does he not love me? 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:42.879 And that's why Solomon counsels do not lean on your own understanding. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:43.759 It's faulty. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:57.360 You have your own understanding, you would, your own attempt to understand, to make sense of the world, but it's full of those cultural influences and assumptions and expectations and hopes and experiences and usually oversimplifications. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:00.559 I hated algebra. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:05.200 Give me a simple occasion, one uh equation, one plus one equals two. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:06.640 I can do that one. 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:09.119 I can even do a plus one equals two. 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:10.640 I got that one. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:14.799 But in terms of the equations we have, we it's very simplistic. 00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:18.799 If God loves me and God is all powerful, then nothing bad should ever happen to me. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:20.880 And that's a very simplistic equation. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:26.480 And we don't we become disillusioned when we think the answer to that is God is going to do what I want him to do. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:30.559 And we don't understand the interconnectedness of everything that's around us all the time. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:35.440 And that God is not just aware of your life, he's aware of all how all the lives fit together. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:40.640 He knows the full equation for everything and the interconnectedness. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:48.559 You don't have enough variables in your head for your own life to know how it should go in relation to everything that's happening in the world. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:56.079 So Solomon says, do not lean on those assumptions, on your own understanding. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:00.880 Instead, he says, and in everything, acknowledge him. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:02.400 Acknowledge God. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:10.720 Now that acknowledged word is a bit soft, so somebody else has translated it a different different way to talk about as drawing as close to God as you possibly can. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:12.640 I bring God into it. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:16.079 Like acknowledge him is like you tip the hat and you keep going with your life. 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:21.519 But you, what he's saying is that the Hebrew word is actually, I bring him in as close as I can. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:26.160 So everything I'm doing, I am making him a part of my mental equation. 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:27.519 This is what I want. 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:29.759 But God is in this too. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:31.920 Jerry Bridges said this as well. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:42.000 He said, God's plan and his ways of working out his plan are frequently beyond our ability to fathom and understand. 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:46.720 We must learn to trust when we don't understand. 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:49.839 So he's acknowledging that there's a plan. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:57.119 The plan is perfect, the plan is exhaustive, it includes everything, and the plan is secret. 00:18:57.359 --> 00:18:58.160 We don't know it. 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:00.960 So you don't know what the plan is. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:03.359 So how do we move forward with this? 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:06.640 Well, what does the Bible tell me about the person who made the plans? 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:11.519 What does it tell us about God so we can trust God with all of our hearts? 00:19:11.920 --> 00:19:13.519 This is a quote I came across this week. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:15.279 I think it's uh really helpful. 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:23.440 And he says, the problem for us is the problem of God's silence when things are hard. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:29.680 And what he says is, I think this is the hardest part of all, is the silence of God and suffering. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.400 You can take just about anything if you know why. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:40.079 Everywhere I go, every meeting I'm asked why, I'm going to tell you something. 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:44.160 God will very seldom answer your question of why. 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:51.200 It's not that there are no answers, it's just that you and I probably wouldn't be able to comprehend the answer if God were to tell us. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:56.720 And besides that, we have to learn to trust him without knowing why. 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:06.079 We ask him questions, and what we're usually doing is saying, Lord, explain yourself calling God into account. 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:07.839 Why God, why? 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.039 That's why we do it. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:15.440 If I only knew why God did it and was satisfied with his reason, then I could face it. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:20.079 But you don't know often why God has allowed or sent the trial you're facing. 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:21.759 So we trust him. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:33.440 The Bible reveals a lot of things about God that anchor us in the moment where we're suffering. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:35.039 It does. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:38.079 Paul David Tripp talks about one. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:47.200 He says the Bible never minimizes the harsh experiences of this life in this terribly broken world. 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:55.039 Scripture never looks down on the sufferer, it never mocks his pain, it never turns a deaf ear to his cries, and it never condemns him for his struggle. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:21:09.200 The Bible presents to the sufferer a God who understands, who cares, who invites us to come to him for help, and who promises one day to end all suffering forever. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:12.640 So we know some things. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:14.880 We know that God loves us. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:16.319 We know that he cares for us. 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:20.079 The Bible talks about this throughout, and we also know how this all ends. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:21.119 It ends happily. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:23.839 This is in Revelation chapter 21, verse 4. 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:33.119 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying, nor pain any more. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.960 For the former things have passed away. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:45.119 And the Bible speaks about the pain that we may experience as light and momentary trouble that we face here. 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:46.400 Romans 8 18. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:52.559 I consider our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 00:21:53.519 --> 00:21:55.440 And I can see Jimmy in the back back there. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:57.279 I'm going to use Jimmy for an illustration. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.200 Since y'all are here, so I'm going to use Jimmy. 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:01.200 Jimmy, you're getting Called out from the front up here. 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:02.240 You don't even know it yet. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:02.640 Okay. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:11.279 When Jimmy is going to be about three or four, Jimmy's gonna fall and he's gonna get a boo-boo. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:16.160 And it is going to be the worst day of his life. 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:21.039 And he's gonna cry and he's gonna come and show Ryan. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:21.759 He'll show Ryan. 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:22.559 Ryan, you'll be the one. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:24.160 He'll show Ryan his bu-bu. 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:26.079 I've got a bu-bu, I've got a bu-bu. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:32.640 And then Ryan's gonna get some cake and put it into Jimmy's hand, and Jimmy will no longer have a bubu. 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:34.960 I'm just gonna have cake. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:35.519 Right? 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:40.079 In some ways, that's what Jesus is telling us here in these verses. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:43.440 You're going to face really hard things here. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:49.920 But when you get there, all the boo-boos will be forgotten. 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:51.599 They won't be there. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:57.920 They'll be as forgotten as a boo-boo when cake is presented, and he's taking us all to something really good. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:00.000 So he's telling us the context. 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:10.000 Whatever you go through here, the end will be so joyful that what you feel right now, you're gonna have, you're not even gonna have a tinge of sadness about it. 00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:12.240 No regret, no grief, nothing missing. 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:16.160 You will see then as God sees now, and it will all make sense. 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:17.359 All of it. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:27.759 What is in the dark will be brought to light, and you will second guess no situation, no question will haunt you, no pain will follow you, no decision will keep you up at night. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:30.480 You'll be free. 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.440 And there'll be joy the way that we want. 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:35.119 Second is this. 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:37.200 Here's another context for you. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:39.920 God is not a helicopter parent. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:45.519 We have a God who lets us ride our bicycles, fall off our bicycles, and then kisses our boo-boos. 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:53.119 We have a God who meets us when we're broken and fallen, but He lets us, He lets us do those things that sometimes can be hurtful. 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:58.880 I oh whenever the Olympics are on, kind of like the World Cup, uh, we watch. 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:04.960 And there are there are certain things I watch and say, I would never in a gazillion years try that. 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:18.240 And one of those are the trick skiers, those those guys that come, guys and gals who come down these ramps, and then there's a ramp, there's a kind of a jump off of the end, and they're spinning as they go through the air. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:19.440 And you've seen them. 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:31.440 And it was fascinating during one of the last, I guess it was the last Winter Olympics, they interviewed one of the people who does this and gets golds, medals, and those kind of things, and they asked, How do you, how did you learn to do this? 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:34.240 It's like, how do you learn to do something like that? 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:40.640 And he said, Well, when we were young, we would jump off the chimney onto like, you know, stuff at the bottom. 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:43.839 But my dad decided that was too injurious, so he actually made us a ramp. 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:48.079 And like, it's like his dad jumped right into helping them get to that point. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:25:00.160 And it's amazing because you know they fell, you know they broke things, you know that they were injured on many occasions, but dad let them do that because on one day, someday, there's going to be this gold medal. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:12.960 And this kid who's jumping off the chimney and doing all these things is gonna jump in front of the whole world, spin through the air, and then land, and then go down the hill. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:16.720 And then they're gonna get on the podium and get a gold medal. 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:23.839 God lets us get boo-boos because he can see where we're heading, he knows what we need. 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:26.319 So, how do we know? 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:31.039 We can trust him is because he's in it, he knows where it's going. 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:38.480 And then number three, uh, we know because God did not exempt himself from the pain. 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:41.279 We ask, couldn't God just? 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:44.559 And apparently not, in some cases. 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:50.480 Because in one particular case, 2,000 years ago, Jesus prayed in a garden. 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:54.480 Father, if it is possible, may this cup pass from me. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:59.279 And in that particular moment, the cup did not pass from him. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:00.480 This is what C.S. 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:01.359 Lewis wrote about that. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:08.880 He said, In Gethsemane, the holiest of all petitioners prayed three times that a certain cup might pass from him. 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:10.559 It did not. 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:15.839 And Jesus is saying, We're going to go through hard things. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:22.880 In John 16, 33, Jesus said, In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:28.559 And what he didn't say was, take heart, because you're never going to have any kind of trial or tribulation or pain in this life. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:29.920 That's not what he said. 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:33.119 He said, You're not exempt from that. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:37.759 You're going to go through that, but I will be in that with you. 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:46.079 But what he also did not say is, I'm not going to exempt you from the pain, but he also didn't exempt himself from the pain. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:49.279 He entered into our pain to bring about our rescue. 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:51.039 And the Bible says it was for love. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:55.440 And the suffering of Jesus brought about the salvation of everyone who believed. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:27:04.720 So when Jesus was dying on a cross 2,000 years ago, he wasn't dying because he had done something wrong and because he had done something for which he needed to be punished. 00:27:05.039 --> 00:27:09.519 He was dying because God loved his people. 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:15.039 And this is the only way that you could be saved. 00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:34.160 And the only way that I could be saved is for Jesus to die and to take my sins and pay for them 2,000 years ago, so that a summer camp, 2,000 years later, roughly, I would hear this and believe, and all of my sins would be taken away from me. 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:39.200 I would experience the forgiveness of my sins at that point. 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:52.640 If God is using Jesus redemptively in that way, he certainly can use our suffering for redemptive things in our lives. 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:57.599 And that brings us to our last is God is always working for our good. 00:27:57.920 --> 00:27:59.680 The plan is for our ultimate good. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:01.119 Romans 8.28. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:09.279 And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:11.200 If God is for me, who can be against me? 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:12.319 Is what the scripture asks. 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:17.680 So the gracious purpose of God will certainly be accomplished in my life. 00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:27.759 And the gracious purpose of God in other people's lives will be accomplished, sometimes, through me. 00:28:28.079 --> 00:28:35.200 If Jesus' suffering was redemptive, that means that my suffering and your suffering and others can be redemptive. 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:37.920 This is Jerry Bridges again. 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:42.000 God does not willingly bring affliction or grief to us. 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:46.480 He does not delight in causing us to experience pain or heartache. 00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:52.319 He always has a purpose for the grief he brings or allows to come into our lives. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:29:02.160 Most often we do not know what the purpose is, but it is enough to know that his infinite wisdom and perfect love have determined that the particular sorrow is best for us. 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:04.559 God never wastes pain. 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:09.839 He always uses it to accomplish his purpose, and his purpose is for his glory and our good. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:17.279 Therefore, we can trust him when our hearts are aching or our bodies are racked with pain. 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:19.279 You don't know. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:21.839 You don't know how God's using your pain. 00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:33.039 You don't know how your pain is shaping you and molding you and making you somebody that is incredibly useful in God's hands. 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:35.759 This is a quote I came across this week. 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:45.279 It said, your struggles are not because you didn't pray the right way, or because you didn't pray enough, or because you have weak faith or insufficient intercessors. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:52.559 It is because God is using you in ways that you may not understand now, but one day you will. 00:29:52.960 --> 00:30:01.039 One day you will see how God used your affliction to prepare for you an incomparable weight of glory. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:03.519 He's shaping you. 00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:05.279 Follow-up quote from somebody else. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:12.960 The places you've often been deeply hurt the most are the same places God will use you the most. 00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:19.119 He is a God that takes us from ruin to redemption every single time. 00:30:20.559 --> 00:30:27.119 The fire of affliction can help ignite the dormant fires of affection. 00:30:27.839 --> 00:30:32.079 Those who have been wounded are the best at tending the wounds of others. 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:33.039 We know this. 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:37.519 Those who have suffered most have often seen heaven most clearly. 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:40.960 The hidden hurts often display the most obvious trust. 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:47.200 God redeems our bruises, and God can redeem your bruises. 00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:49.440 Do you trust that? 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:55.279 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. 00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:59.279 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:16.720 But by accepting them and offering them to him, throwing away all defensive armor. 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:23.039 If our hearts need to be broken, and if he chooses this is the way in which they should break, so be it. 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:28.480 And that is not pleasant at the time. 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:30.880 But there's something behind it. 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:33.119 Have any of you ever heard of William Cowper? 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:35.440 William Cowper was a hymn writer. 00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:40.240 He wrote some fantastic hymns, but he himself struggled his whole life. 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:41.599 Couldn't hold a job. 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:45.680 He was taken care of by other Christians, but he was an amazing hymn writer. 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:49.440 And one of his hymns that he wrote was one called God Moves in a Mysterious Way. 00:31:49.599 --> 00:31:50.880 Have some of you older people heard of that one? 00:31:51.039 --> 00:31:52.720 God moves in a Mysterious Way. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:32:03.039 And there's a line from the hymn that goes like this Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:08.480 Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:12.720 God never drops the ball on anything. 00:32:12.960 --> 00:32:15.440 It's impossible for him to be mistaken. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:18.319 He's never overstepped a line. 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:21.839 We may not understand, even that phone going off right now. 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:25.279 God has never overstepped the line. 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:32.079 We may not understand or even like what he does sometimes, but that's often because we don't see the big picture. 00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:42.799 And at the end of time, when we stand before him, we will see it all spread out, and we will see his smiling face no longer behind a frowning providence. 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:45.279 We're going to see his full work. 00:32:46.079 --> 00:32:51.920 We'll be in his presence and we will applaud and we will cheer. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:57.279 It may not make sense at the moment, but it will make perfect sense then. 00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:03.119 And sometimes, sometimes, it makes sense here now. 00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:05.359 So my friend that got doged. 00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:06.000 Remember him? 00:33:06.160 --> 00:33:08.559 I hope so, because I just talked about him a few minutes ago. 00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:12.799 We had been praying. 00:33:12.960 --> 00:33:22.720 I had prayed with him several times for him to find another job that fit his gifts, that fit his who he was, his mission, what he was good at. 00:33:23.039 --> 00:33:25.759 Because he didn't like his job, but it paid the bills. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:30.319 And so we prayed numerous times, and he wasn't ever going to pull the trigger on that. 00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:31.839 So guess what God did? 00:33:32.720 --> 00:33:34.160 God fired him. 00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:36.480 God doged him. 00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:38.880 And he was out of work for months. 00:33:38.960 --> 00:33:40.079