Thank you for tuning in our Sunday School lesson in our Bible studies for life as we continue on. Today we talk about why do we suffer out of the book of Job. Job chapter 30. Take your Bibles with me if you would and join with us. We'll put the scripture up shortly. Job chapter 30 verses 26 through 31 and Job chapter 42 verses 1 through 6. Here we see that every one of us October the 29th, 2023, Chesvan the 14th, 5784, the Hebrew calendar, that we all see that each and every one of us go through different types of suffering, heart trouble, car accidents, family problems, diabetes. We have cancer. We have accidents that takes us to the emergency room. One of the best emergency rooms there is in the world sometimes is the church, the body of Christ. And so what we can learn about suffering from Job's story in the Bible is what will be our lesson for today. We may not know why we suffer, but God meets us in our suffering. Amen. And so we're going to talk about we all experience suffering, even those who seek God's good. in Job chapter 30 verses 26 down to verse 31. Also, we may not understand why we are suffering, but we can trust God in His sovereignty in Job chapter 42 verses 1, 2, and 3. And then as we finish up, we can experience the presence of God even in the midst of suffering in Job chapter 42 verses 4, 5, and 6. Now, no matter which direction that you turn, it won't take you long to discover that there's somebody suffering around you. If you're in church in a Sunday school lesson, in a Wednesday night, or you get a prayer list from the back of your church bulletin, or you're on a prayer chain or a prayer team, the common question asked in all of the midst of suffering is, you know, why me? And so so many individuals never move past those words. And while the Bible doesn't tell us specifically why they're suffered and why that we all experience it at some point in our lives, we do know that God has promised to meet us in our suffering. And we can trust and lean on him as he walks with us through those things. Here, this morning, we're going to consider our response to suffering as we examine the life of a man by the name of Job. In Job chapter 30, Job was prosperous. He was a good person. God allowed Satan to make Job suffer to test his integrity. Maybe you've been going through some testing and trials and tribulations. But like many believers who suffered at age Job, he wondered why he was suffering. Job knew God was sovereign, but he also suffered more and more, and he questioned God's goodness. And Job's three friends defended the traditional view that sin leads to suffering as punishment. Job, you've done some sin. You've done something wrong. That's why you're punished. That's what's happening to you, Job. But Job never claimed to be sinless, and he agreed with his friends about you know, this between sin and suffering, but Job rejected his friend's strict application of a truth to his usual situation because in chapter 30, Job described his current agony in some very graphic terms. When we get on down into Job chapter 42, the Lord granted Job's request to speak with him about his sufferings in chapters 38, 39, 40, and 41. However, when the Lord appeared to Job in a whirlwind. He did not get the answer from the Lord that he desired and expected. And the Lord challenged Job, asking who he was that he should question, that he should contend, that he should correct Almighty God. In verses, actually in chapter 38 and 39. And so the Lord then repeated his challenge to Job. Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God, let him answer it. According to Job chapter 40 verse 2, Job then repented of his words. He acknowledged his unworthiness before God and he repented in silence in verses 3, 4, and 5 of Job chapter 40. And so why do we suffer? We look And we're reminded by a quote that here from Albert Camus, the French philosopher and author, in The Death of Winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer. What can we learn about grief and suffering from Job's story? You know, Job's story tells us that he lost virtually everything that he had, his possessions, his children, his health. And his initial response was to rise up in shock, tear his clothes, shave his head. Job's wife told him to curse God and die. But Job's friends initially came to comfort him. But when they did not, when he didn't get over his grief quickly enough or admit to any wrongdoing, they added to his pain with their words. Sometimes friends mean well. but they don't always do what's good for you. And so Joe began to believe God had turned away from him. You ever been around somebody that sucks every bit of the air out of the room? Boy, they can really have a negative response. You need to get away from somebody that's so negative like that. and you need to get around some positive influence of people that are baptized in the spirit of God, that have the holiness and the anointing of God about them, that can shine some light on your situation, that can prayer partner with you. But no matter how anyone else responded to the terrible losses that Job experienced, Job resolved to praise God. Amen. Nowhere does the Book of Job say that Job denied his pain and suffering. Quite the opposite is true that he described his suffering verse after verse. But throughout the suffering, he had to choose to praise God, even when he did not understand what God had allowed to happen and he did not feel God's presence. Sometimes I've talked to many, many people being a pastor over the years, and there's a lot of them that they feel like they're all alone and God's with them. But you're never more wrong. No. You may not feel like God's presence is there, but it is, because his word assures us that he'll never leave us nor forsake us. But at this Job got up, he tore his rope, shaved his head, he fell to the ground in worship, and he said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I will depart. And the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised. And he sent this back over to Job chapter 1, verses 20 and 21. And so, hope and pray that each and every one of us that we learn something, because I'm glad when we look and realize why do we suffer? You know, I want to know that each and every one of you as we do this, we may not know why we suffer, but God meets us in our suffering. And while the Bible doesn't tell us specifically why there is suffering and why we're all experiencing at some point in our lives, we do not know that God has promised to meet us in our suffering and we can trust and we can lean on him as he walks with us through it. And so what we can learn about the grief and the suffering from Job's story in the Bible, excuse me, I'm glad that when we look and realize that we can pray and be honest with God about your suffering. Pray your pain to him in prayer. Bring it, bring it. Bring that pain to him in prayer. I know with a lot of my prayer partners over the years, and I say that over the years because they're already in the Lord's presence. I've had prayer partner after prayer partner. And when they pass on, I take on another prayer partner. I'm smart enough to know that I need somebody, especially someone older, that is a prayer warrior, that is my prayer partner. And I'm telling you, I have taken prayer and used it as the most powerful medicine. Bring your pain to him in prayer. Also memorize and remember that God's plan is the hope. and not harm when you face times of suffering. Memorize Jeremiah 29 11. Listen with me. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. Say it again with me. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord. thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you unexpected end. And so, we need to memorize some scripture that'll work good for you. Also, we need to listen. Check with your friends that you know who are suffering. Take time to listen to their answers that they offer, that they offer answers, but remember, but remind them of God's goodness even as you acknowledge it yourself. And so, Every one of us, when we look, we may not know why we suffer, but God meets us in our suffering. And so, I'm glad every one of us, Father, as we get to the scripture, we lift up and admit our need for you always, constantly hold our hand. We know that we're nothing without you. Father, Lord, I know pain reminds us that there's something wrong. Pain comes when there's cancer in the body. Pain comes with a skint knee that medicine has to be applied. And also to learn from our mistakes that if we did something that caused it, then we need to choose to do a different path. We need to have a turnaround. We need to change things in our life, Father. And Lord, we need to learn from those mistakes. Father, maybe it might be we smoked all of our life. one of these days, we know that we'll pay the consequences because this body gets old. Maybe because, Lord, that we have taken something that we've abused this body. Maybe we're just a workaholic. Maybe we have pushed this body to the limit. Lord, maybe we have done something that we've pressed and pushed so long that, Lord, that we've realized that we need to go another route. And Lord, you're desperately getting our attention. And only one of the ways that you get our attention is with pain, because we don't know how to stop. We don't know how to recognize sometimes, because when we are not where we should be in the Lord's will, then we take the wrong direction and we do what we think is right instead of listening to your knowledge and guidance and leadership. And so bless this lesson. Bless those that listen to it with our Bible studies for life that we share. Lord, this I share not only with our church family at Bethel Crossroads, but also our previous parishioners and friends and family that I've been doing this not just recently, but I do it. I have done it for years everywhere that I'm at because Lord, That's one of the things that we can do to share with our family and to remind them of your word. And so, Father, I pray that you'll bless the efforts that you give us to share this with the many that will take it in in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. All right. So why do we suffer? Remember, we may not know why we suffer, but God meets us in our suffering. When I looked for good, then evil came unto me. And when I waited for light, there came darkness. In verse 27, my bow bowed and rested not. The days of affliction prevented me. And verse 28, I went morning without the sun. I stood up and I cried in the congregation. In verse 29, I am a brother to dragons and a companion to owls, and my skin is black upon me. and my bones are burned with heat. My heart also is turned to mourning and my organ into the voice of them that weep. Here we see that we all experience suffering, even those who seek after good. Now, I'm glad that when we look at this, we're reminded that Job had lived an upright and a righteous life and he had looked for good. You hear that? He said, and I looked for good right here. He said, I looked for good. And so, but he experienced just the opposite because as he was going through this, in these verses, we find Job elaborating on the emotional, and the physical pain that he was going through. Here, these were just the tip of the iceberg of difficulties that came his way. Things that once brought joy now led to mourning and weeping. We all have times when life seems overwhelming, and we can feel paralyzed by everyday tasks. We look to others for help, but don't receive the support that we hoped for. I'm so thankful for our campus and our brother in Christ, as well, Brother Darrell, that came and helped out during our time that we're down. And of course, we're not back to 100%, but it's so good to have friends that come and help. And we have a God who is with us, no matter what's happening. Suffering is a part of life. I got a text from my boss, man. And man, after this had happened, Lita had hit a big giant deer. It tore the front of the car up and he said, man, what's going on? And I told him, life, because it rains on the just and the unjust alike. Thank God Lita was unharmed. Amen. But boy, did she, she took out a deer, a big one, and it can do some taking out on the car. Have you ever been around someone who was a chronic complainer? The chances are pretty good you have. They tell you everything that's going on wrong in their lives. They tell you more than you want to know. They tell Facebook more than Facebook even wants to hear. They believe they deserve better and struggle to know why it's only happening to them. Job might have been considered one of those chronic complainers, but he might have thought life was only rainbows and good things. But he found out otherwise in his discourse in the book of Job chapter 30. Job said that when he was hoping for some good things to happen in his life, that was only bad. No matter which direction that he turned, there was no light at the end of the tunnel. And I'm telling you, if you, verse 27, we know that here he talks about, he says, listen, my bow bore and rested not the days of affliction prevented me And so, you know what? The King James, the bowels were regarded as a seat of deep feelings. Job was wrenched with grief over the suffering that he had endured with losing his children, losing his possession, losing everything that he had, losing his health. And the only comfort that he had was to scrape the places where the potsherd that was there and a wife that was negative, sucking all the air out of the room. It was never ending. Job's suffering was deep within his gut. He could see no way out. And all of us, we can learn from Job's life. He was a good man going after all the right things, and still he went through some very rough days of suffering. It doesn't matter how good a person is. Suffering is a part of life. We can't just shrug it off and try to believe that it isn't going to happen to us because it is. Listen, would you be considered a chronic complainer? Someone that wants everybody around you to know you're suffering? Oh me and agony on me. You know, I'm telling you, every one of us have a little bit of complaining in us. Boy, we need to look and realize that as we handle suffering, Maybe God will help us to handle it better in the future. And so I'm glad that we, Job says, I looked for the good, you know? And so I'm glad that God's people always try to look for the good. Job had been faithful to the Lord and how he lived his life. And he hoped for and expected God to bless him, presumably in part because he had blessed him before. But you know what? When I look for the good, then evil. The Bible never explains why evil exists or why God allowed it. Rather, it recognizes evil as a part of living in a fallen world. And evil does not come from God. However, God has allowed evil to exist. in his divine providence, using evil in ways that serve to accomplish his good and to pervert will, according to Isaiah 45. Now while Job didn't accuse God of being evil, he recognized that for reasons he could not understand, God had allowed him to suffer evil instead of good. And he goes on and he says, when I waited for light, you know it, there came darkness. And so here, While darkness is seen as a curse in the absence of God, Job likened his death to darkness. And he said, my bowels boiled, in verse 27. My bowels, other words, rested not. Oh, I'm telling you, everything, his intestinal, his anxiety, his unrest, a suffering that was chronic, that we all endure of a short-term physical pain, a psychological challenge, a prolonged suffering like Job's presence, as much as anything, it was a difficult challenge. And he said, in verse 27, he said, rested not. And so, you know what? I'm glad that it's often the case when someone's in severe pain, Job could find neither rest nor relief from his suffering. The days of affliction that prevented me, he said in verse 27, that suggests Job was getting better, but rather his condition was worsening and all that he could see in his future was pain and affliction. And he goes on in verse 28, I went morning without the sun. The unidentified skin disease that Job was suffering from had darkened his skin and mourning over the mood, the gloom that had turned to. The option is that Job may have been referring to the clothes that sometimes express the grief and the suffering that he had on of dark clothes. And he said, I stood up in verse 28 and I cried. in the congregation. Job's discussion debates how his friends had not been any help to him whatsoever. Job wanted someone to listen to him. He frequently mentioned his desire to confront God with the questions and sufferings of the end of the story that we read, amen. Because I'm glad in verse 29 he said, I am a brother to dragons and a companion to owls. You know what? Every one of us, there's a lot of things that we look forward to in serving others, maybe as pastors, as Christians, the things that I don't look forward to as well. I tell you, I'm not, I'm not happy about having to go do a funeral, man, but I've done so many over the years. You know what? I ain't happy about it. You know, watching others suffer. How many times I've been there when death came and I saw somebody pass away and the life completely went out of that body. But you see, that body is going to return to the dust of the ground. This body wasn't designed to live forever. Watching someone suffer. Oh, I tell you, the call from an elderly member who's crying unconditionally. and how that I would meet with them and sing the songs of thine because they were in so much pain. Oh, Dot Allison. Oh, I tell you. Oh, man, what a saint of God. I tell you of all the people that, you know, we look and realize that we go through so many things. Job compared his wailing and crying to that of an animal. the skin disease that he pointed to that was flaking off, the body was ridden with fever, things that used to bring Job joy no longer did, and the mourning and the weeping that led Job into a deep state of depression. Job had been prosperous, fully long, joyful life, but what he came to experience was evil, darkness, affliction, and mourning. But in verse 31, My harp also is turned to mourning and my organ into the voice of them that weep. What did the Babylonian captives say? I done hung my harps on the willow trees. I can't sing in a strange land. Oh, I tell you, Job was a man that sought to do what was right. Not just for himself, but for others. Boy, I tell you, he had been able to bring encouragement and hope to those around him. But now he was alone. Now he was unable to find encouragement in his own heart. But I tell you, we live in a world where suffering is a given thing. At the same time, suffering isn't the end of the story, though. God's always with us, even in the midst of our suffering. Even Christ, we can experience the comforting presence of God. And so what are some of the ways that you can share hope with those that feel hopeless? Who needs to be reminded that God is always, always with them? I'm glad, I'm glad that it's not over. Brother, I tell you, he said, you know what? He said, a brother of the dragons, a companion of the owls, but Job's main point was, His situation is some wild animals that live solitary lives often as they're in the desert. But while the King James has dragons, many translations use the word jackals. And Job felt abandoned in his suffering like these animals. My skin is black upon me. Boy, he was suffering with a terrible skin condition. And boy, I'll tell you, his skin was peeling off. Boy, what the devil was trying to put him through. My bones are burned with heat in verse 30. And you know what? He was parched due to the drought and the decay of being desolate and destroyed. But Job's body burned with a severe fever. He felt like his body was decaying and wasting away in the front of his eyes. But I'm glad. that, in verse 30, he talked about the word heart. We don't know what musical experience Job might have had, but he mentioned two instruments here, the harp, the lay, and the harp often used to accompany singing. In Job chapter 21, verse 12, David played the harp for King Saul to relieve his suffering when Saul was overcome by the evil spirits, amen. And so the mourning that he talked about here in verse 31, mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep." Boy, I'm going to tell you how he grieved the loss of these loved ones when he was expected all of the things that he had went through. Why do we suffer? We may not know why we suffer, but God meets us in our suffering. I'm glad I'm reminded of Oswald Chambers, a man that was well known for writing the devotional, My Uttermost, for his highest. And he said, and I quote, we all know people who have been made much meaner and more irritable and more intolerable to live with by suffering. It's not right to say that all suffering perfects, it only perfects one type of person. the one who accepts the call of God in Christ Jesus. Amen. And so he goes on and he tells us over in Job 42 because we see the lamenting of the lamentation that was present in Job chapter 30. Amen. But in Job chapter 42, as we turn our Bibles there and look, Job, the sinner, Job had said some rash things during his discussion, but unlike his friends, he had spoken the truth about a God. Amen. Job had a new understanding of God's power and purpose, and he realized that he had to repent, and Job's suffering gave him a new vision of himself and of the glory and the goodness of God. Amen. I'm glad that here we may not understand why we're suffering. But I'm glad that we can trust God in his sovereignty. And that is exactly what we see here, that we may not understand why we're suffering, but we can trust God in his sovereignty. Job confessed that he had been questioning things beyond his understanding and his experience. And in Job chapter 40, Job had a conversation with God. Listen, in verse one, Then Job answered the Lord, and he said in verse two, I know that thou thou can't do everything and that no thought can be withholding from thee. But listen to verse three. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore, have I uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me, which I knew not? Here, he admitted his insignificant compared to the incredible things God had made both on earth and above the earth, but he never admitted that God was sovereign. And so in verse 2, Job acknowledged the sovereignty of God when he said, I know that thou canst do everything. Amen. You know, I know that thou canst do everything. And when he said that, he said, you know what? After all he had been through, Job figured out that he couldn't change or alter God's plans. God pushed his pride out of the way and admitted that he was wrong. Job did. And so even though he didn't understand why the suffering that he had experienced took place, Job knew that God was in complete control. Amen. And so the right perspective brings clarity that we can remember the first time that we went to some movie Maybe it was a movie that was unique. Maybe it was a 3D movie. And you know what? We didn't pick up the pair of special glasses that we needed to experience the movie as the filmmakers intended it to be experienced. And before the movie started, nobody was wearing their glasses. So I didn't suspect that I was missing anything. But as the movie began, All of a sudden, the hard time focusing on the big screen, we couldn't figure out why. Was something wrong with my eyes? Did I need the eye doctor? Hey, these questions are all about our eyesight. We're running through our minds, you know. And so, I thank God, we begin to realize, well, we need to put our glasses on. What glasses? You know what? We need to look at the movie correctly. We need to put the pair of 3D glasses on. What difference it made when I put on the glasses, hallelujah, I could see the movie as the creator intended it to be seen. And so, Job didn't need a pair of 3D glasses. His conversation with God is he opened his eyes so that he could see clearly and he confessed that he had been wrong to question God's ability to govern his creation. And Job realized that nothing that he did or tried to do was going to change God's plan. And so Job quoted the question that he asked, who is he that hath counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. The things that Job had spoken of and accused God of were things he knew nothing about. They were things that only God could know and understand, amen. And so I'm glad that every one of us, as he said, Job answered the Lord, Yahweh. Oh man, I don't know. I'm glad that here The Hebrew does not have vowels that exact pronunciation of the consonants. That's unknown. But I'm telling the Jews that God's name was holy to pronounce. And so they use the term Adonai for Lord. That was substitute in Yahweh's place. And so I'm glad every one of us, as we look and realize how powerful God is for every one of us today. Amen. There's 10 types of biblical suffering. that we go through. When I was reading over in 1 Peter chapter 10, let me turn my Bible over there, amen, in 1 Peter. If you want to, you can turn along with me. Even though that we're in the book of Job, I want to put a little New Testament in front of you, praise God. And I'm glad that as we turn over to 1 Peter and begin to read some scripture from 1 Peter, amen, we can realize that the Lord loves us with all of his heart and all of his mind. Keep going, go on past the book of James. When you get past the book of James, you'll find first Peter, chapter five, first Peter, chapter five, verses 10 and 11, that the word of God says, but may the God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect establish, strengthen, and settle you to him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. I'm glad that we know the devil is our adversary, not a friend. He's a roaring lion, not a playful pet. He wants to devour you and better, you better be on guard. Peter thought that he was well able to defeat the enemy and so he did not need the Lord's warning. But the results were failure and shame and you can resist Satan. by faith if you're wearing the armor of God and trusting the spirit according to Ephesians chapter 6. Now there's 10 types of biblical notice I say biblical suffering amen that we go through because remember as Peter said but the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus after that ye have suffered a while make you perfect established strengthened settle you to be Glory and dominion forever and ever amen and so you know what the emperor moth is a beautiful creature The transition from a caterpillar to moth it begins in a cocoon Preparation for that moth to emerge they start with a very small opening in the cocoon and can stay that way for several hours And while it may appear that no process is being made the moth inside the cocoon is working and struggling to open that cocoon for that moth to emerge from the cocoon as a beautiful creature that is intended to be Struggling is a part of the process. In struggling, the moth forces fluid from its body into its wings so that when it finally emerges from the cocoon, it's ready to fly. And if you were to cut that cocoon and make it easier for the moth to emerge, that moth would never be able to fly. Because Peter's telling us the same thing. A life without struggles, a life that has endured no suffering, won't realize its ability to fly, just as God designed that moth to emerge and to fly despite its struggles. we're able to do the same thing because of God's grace, hallelujah, in our lives. Peter's message of encouragement is the suffering that we experience in this world is only temporary. No matter what we face, we can rest assured that Christ will personally bring about restoration, give us strength to walk ahead, provide a hand to hold and a shoulder to lean on. And so when we look and we're reminded of the 10 types of biblical suffering. The conception suffering. This is a category that every inch of God's creation, that at the moment of conception, you're born into a creation that has been basically with sin and its effects, natural disasters, terminal diseases, the sting of death. Amen. And so all of the suffering can be explained with nothing more than that's what it's like to be living in a broken world. Listen, we heard with conception of creation itself, which groans while it It waits to be renewed, amen, according to Paul, chapter 8, verses 19 through 22. Then, we also see, secondly, grief-suffering, because every one of us, as we look and realize that grief-suffering is a painful reality, that we're all going to see sin take a lot of things away from us, this old fleshly nature. Sin and death and suffering has a traumatic impact Oh, man, when my mother passed away, when my Aunt Lee, when my Uncle Bradford passed away, man, those that are really close to me, my aunts and uncles, man, I want to tell you all of our family members, our friends and loved ones, amen, what an impact on the human soul, the grief, maybe it's your husband or your wife, a heart-wrenching sadness of anger that people we love die and relationships fall apart and we fight, we struggle, and we grieve, amen. And so we see the third type that we encounter, substantial suffering. All sin has collateral damage, both in our souls and people around us. And when we actively sin, when we make bad choices, we're going to experience the moments, and those often are very, very painful. And the Bible clearly states that we're one of the main sources of pain in our lives in Romans 6.23. Man, because you know what? That's exactly what life is all about. And so we're reminded that it's because of sin that we're going through in this old world. The fourth thing is victim suffering that we go through, praise God. And because of that victim suffering, even when we're not sinning, even when we're not suffering our own consequences, we're going to suffer as other people sin against us, sometimes in really harmful ways. Did you know that sin doesn't just affect you? It affects your whole family. And because of that, there's going to be victims suffering. Because when a husband makes bad decisions, it'll affect his children. It'll affect his sons and daughters. It'll affect the people around him. It'll affect his prosperity. It'll affect his marriage. It'll affect your church. And all forms of evil that are painful realities throughout the world, amen, that we go through out there right now. We see also the sympathetic suffering, watching someone else that we know, that we love so much, suffer in one of the most painful experiences on earth. God calls his people to identify with the hurting, to mourn with those who mourn, as well as those who work in helping their professions through the counselors that are out there, the teacher counselors, the social workers, the medical people, the x-ray technicians that are dealing with cancer on a daily basis, that will walk with you, that will be with you consistently, praise God, there doing jobs every day, doctors that see death in the operating rooms, that are the first responders, the firefighters, the police officers, everyone that comes in contact with it. We also see, number six, the shared suffering, and that's when you suffer because you belong to a larger group of people who are suffering. We're part of families, a church family, a nation. Boy, when 9-11 took all of those lives, amen, All of these groups out there, our folks hurt when we hurt. The collective suffering that we see with children recently while these folks are taking the heads of babies over the enemies around Israel right now. God, I pray God's divine intervention upon those enemies that are taking innocent lives. My prayers have been non-stop. for the nation of Israel. Oh, I'll tell you, man, boy, I'll tell you, it brings hardship when we see things like that that are coming and taking place. That's way over there. I can't do nothing, but I can pray. Hallelujah. And so in verse 7, preventive self-restraint, suffering that is taking place somewhere, some pain that's a small pain that wards off a greater pain that if we don't heed that pain, that abdominal pain that has appendicitis, that pain where there's cancer if you don't go look at it, a cut that needs to be stitched up, amen. Listen, a sinus attack that needs doctoring, praise God. All of when loving parents give their children yet the painful consequence of how to prevent much greater pain in their life than a teacher. Don't touch that hot stove. It will burn you, but they'll go ahead and try it out anyway. And so they'll meet and find out that preventive self-strain suffering that's been put there because when it's hot and you ain't supposed to touch it, you'll never forget it when you do. And so, listen, we see the consecration suffering, amen, and that is when we follow Jesus, amen, and no matter what because it's the holiness that every one of us go through in our life that when we begin to look at that consecration that God has consecrated us, he's made us holy, and he's given us the ability to overcome with His strength that we'll get through. It's the holiness of God that it gives us to us, amen, and it's through those times that we're going through. And so, I'm glad that through that consecration, when we follow Jesus for the sake of walking in God's steps, we're going to experience the suffering of laying down our fleshly desires, fighting our sin, the battle with the flesh, it's going to hurt. Suffering for righteousness sake reveals what's incredible treasure that Jesus is. Amen. And so I'm glad that we'll also see the hostility, suffering. Jesus warns his followers that just following him is going to lead to suffering at times. Historically, God's people have frequently suffered at the hands of those who oppose God, those that hate Jews just because they're Jews. Oh, that's so wrong. You know what? A lot of folks out there with race problems out there that have done something. You've even had your Black Lives Matter that are communists and Marxism that are involved in taking lives in opposition. You've even had religious groups that are out there doing horrible things. How in the world can they do things like that and be a part of God? That's not true. But I'm going to tell you, when you do belong to the Lord, hostility suffering for him, it'll range from taunting to made fun of to extreme physical persecution and martyrdom that will take place because you're doing something for the Lord. And there's others out there that cannot stand you because you're a Christian. But lastly, evangelical suffering. Jesus endured the suffering to show off how much God loves those who are far from Him. We're going to sometimes be called to do the same, sacrificially to love people that are far from God. Amen. It's important to remember that this list isn't even close to the exhaustiveness, the suffering that rarely cuts so clean as to everyone's categories that they go through out there. multiple categories that many people will go through but Peter gives us the praise to Christ that we've got the power hallelujah to be able to overcome with his strength those that suffer when we don't know Christ we go through times of suffering and it's easy for those to lose all hope when believers go through times of suffering those times can increase not just our hope but our faith and trust in God who's promised to always be there amen and so he goes on why do we suffer here In Job chapter 42 verses 4, 5, and 6, Here I beseech thee, and I will speak, and I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. Amen. We can experience the presence of God even in the midst of suffering. Amen. Ain't you glad that we don't know how long Job's suffering lasted? But I'm going to tell you something. What a relief it is. It must have been when he finally surrendered it all to God who never directly answered Job's question of why that he had to suffer. We can learn a lot from Job's journey through suffering that he responded to God and he repented and Job also embraced a new relationship. with God as a result. Regardless of why we suffer, we can trust one constant through all and through it all, the presence of God, because God's ways are always perfect, even if we don't understand them. Amen. And so I thank God as It might be it's a time to have to tiptoe, knee to knee, kind of talk with Jesus, amen. Imagine the kind of talk Job had with God. Job confessed that he had been influenced by traditional, but the incorrect understanding, but Job now, my eyes seeth thee. Job meant that he had experienced God's presence, understood God better. Job admitted that he had known about God before, but now he was able to see Him in totally a different light, a new view of God that Job was experiencing physically, but also spiritually. Job had met God personally, and as a result, he was able to see God for what He really was, amen. In dust and ashes, when Job abandoned self in full dependence on God, throwing dust in the air so that it came down on his head and sitting with ashes on their bodies bore the testimony of being humbled. Amen. To the point of repentance and grief over sin. Amen. As we encounter the suffering in our lives today. Listen, as you're going through a lot of things. Amen. You know what? It's about like Tony Evans one time. He was going through the airport and he had a luggage and he was carrying it and it was getting heavy. And someone looked over at his bag and they said, hey, that bag's got wheels on it. Why don't you put that bag down and roll that bag, hallelujah. And you know what? When he began to do that, it took the heaviness out of his hand. And soon as he put it down and he began to roll instead of have the burden to carry, You know what? The weight hadn't changed. Rather, he interacted with the weight and with the bag changed that the burden eased. What once had caused him to sweat and struggle now glided easily on the floor. and the wheels enabled him to handle the weight in an easier fashion. Jesus' promise in Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 and 30 isn't a promise that you won't have any problems. He doesn't promise a world of peace and prosperity, but he does promise that how you feel, it will be very different. How you interact with a burden and the weight will be very different. But how far that you can go while still having it will be very different. You won't get tired out from the load that you've gotten in this life. Jesus promises rest for the soul and all we need rest for our souls in a world where there's a list of things to worry about even before you can open your eyes in the morning. Rest is becoming more and more of a luxury for people, but despite having more time on our hands, anxiety and stress are skyrocketing. The rest that Jesus offers means calm, peace, internal stability during the storms of life. Praise God. I'm glad each and every one of us that's one of the things that we can reach. Christians had been born again to a living hope and to a lasting inheritance and to that reason they would be holy and not forget the word of God. How does Jesus heal our hurts amen? What kind of bandages does Jesus use to heal our emotional wounds when people hurt us, amen. He uses fellowship in church. When you get together with other Christians, you'll find support. When you're able to share your hurt, you get emotional support. The first thing you need to do when you've been hurt by somebody, you need to share it with a Christian friend. Don't isolate yourself. You need fellowship. You need to be in a support group, amen. God uses prayer when you're hurt. You need to talk it out. If you don't talk it out to God, you're going to take it out on your own body. Tell God how you feel. Unload it. David in the Psalms was very honest about his feelings. He unloaded to God. That's okay that he accepts our prayer, praise God. God uses worship, as I've said too, that I've experienced it many, many, many times when you've got pain. There's a healing power in praise. Have you ever come into the church service when you were down and the music began to start? Hallelujah. And it began to spring something up inside of you that begins to bring tears and the emotional healing that God uses that praise and his word to build us up. Hallelujah. Praise his mighty name and to bind up our wounds. Praise his name. God uses ministry. He helps others who've been hurt. And when you help others who have been hurt, it'll help you. the recovery program that we take to. Brother Darrell Pruitt and I, man, many years that we put the article out on the paper to get people, and Bud Zumach, amen, to get people on drugs and alcohol to come in over into our fellowship hall. And man, we begin to help some people, but I'm going to tell you, they need to help themselves. They've got to depend on the great strength. We can only put Jesus in their hand and point them to the cross, amen, and share what they've been through. but we help them in doing so that we find healing ourselves that we're the hospital for the hurting and the church gives fellowship and prayer and worship and the ministry praise God that's how Jesus heals our hurts and so we realize that what do we suffer we may not know why we suffer but God meets us in our suffering And so I'm glad all the things that we look at, we look at how that we confess all suffering. Amen. It's not a result of sin sometimes, but sin can lead us to suffering. Ask God to reveal any sin in your life. Confess that sin and thank him for his grace and for his forgiveness. Honor, ask God to show you how that he wants to strengthen you during a time of suffering. And while dealing with that difficulty, look for the ways to honor Christ. And then lastly, encourage everyone to experience where suffering is different. But share with someone how God has helped you, strengthened you, brought glory to himself during a time of hardship or suffering, praise God. And so I'm glad it was almost like the two men, they were in a competition to see who could cut down the most trees in one day. And one of them men was much older. and had more things wrong and he was looking at the two men and one assumed the younger man would win without much of a battle at all. He had a youth on his side. He had strength on his side. It didn't appear even to be a question as to who would win the competition. With every hour or so of the chopping the trees, the older man would get a drink of water and he'd sit down for about 10 minutes and rest. The younger man, he just kept on chopping, He kept on chopping them trees. Boy, he was moving with the momentum, believing the prize money was already in his pocket. But at the end of the day, the older man had chopped down twice as many trees as that younger guy. Listen, younger generation. Listen for the wisdom of God and learn from those that are wise. Boy, he just didn't understand. You kept on stopping to rest. How on earth did you chop down twice as much as I did? To which the older man replied, every time I took my break, I was sharpening my axe and when you got the right tool you can afford to take a rest and you can sit down for a while and when you take Jesus as yoke upon you so that he can carry the burden of your hurt and your pain you've been carrying for so long you can relax you can go further you can last longer. You can contribute more and I'm glad that that is exactly the thing of the personal application for every one of us. Come unto me all you are weary and burdened and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and humble and heart meek and lowly and I'll find rest for your soul for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Boy I'm glad Jesus offers rest. Boy, I'll tell you that he gives every one of us, praise God. And so don't just leave, but I'm glad every one of us that when we look, as I close out, we remember the teaching series, The Biblical Tradition of Lament from Michael Carr, a great singer, of his day of many many years hallelujah the great singer and songwriter and performer in a career that spans 34 years michael card had recorded over 37 albums authorized over 25 books hosted a radio program written for a wide range of magazines hallelujah and while that he had penned some of the most beautiful favorites l should i love crucified a rose. Emmanuel, he never imagined selling more than four million albums and writing over 19 number one hits. The popularity of his work seemed a stark contrast to his goal in life to simply and quietly teach the Bible. But in his teaching series on biblical tradition of Lament, Michael Carr tells the story about his friend. a friend from Knoxville, and his name was Alex Woodhull, who was paralyzed from the neck down after a collision with a drunk driver in the 1990s. In his quest to understand the why of it all, Alex struggled through seasons of doubt and confusion, sometimes shaking his fist in anger, other times attempting to bargain for a miracle. He spent much time pouring out his heart before God. And so, out of all the things One afternoon, in the midst of his prayers, he began to experience a presence of Christ in a profound and a powerful way. And of course, Alex already knew that Christ is always present in our lives, but this time he experienced Christ's presence like never before. He could feel it. Jesus was there in the room by his side. Alex said that in response, To his experience of the nearness of Christ, his prayer became, you don't have to heal me. Just don't leave me. And that's the nature of lament. Sometimes circumstances don't work out the way that we want, but we discover that God is presence in the midst of our suffering and his presence is more powerful. and more meaningful than any change of circumstances could ever be. Praise God. Thank God, as that's what he said. Amen. Lord, you don't have to heal me. Just don't leave me. Father, thank you. You know all about our pain and our suffering. You know everything that we're going through. Across this nation, you know the problems that are causing all of our headaches in life people that are full of greed People that are full of themselves people father that are in control of other people's life that they're so greedy Lord as if they were a dictator as if they want to control everything they're willing to make everybody in America suffer just so that they can keep the power in their hands and But Lord, I'm also praying for this coming election, and I'm praying for a leadership that will bring that rescue. Because Lord, we know that when we have things like this that transpire, like the things of the past, Lord, when we have COVID, that doors are locked, businesses are shut down. There ain't a thing not a one of us can do, but you can. Lord, when we have things that hurt and ache that no one, even the doctors can't resolve, no medicine can do it. But Lord, we also believe in the miraculous healing of Christ, if it's your will. But Lord, as we said, Father, you don't have to heal me. Just don't leave me because your presence, your fellowship, your hand in hand, your love is the greatest blessing in all of our lives. We send it out to the many that are hurting those that are dying, those that are on their last leg, may they remember why we suffer. And Lord, that we have an eternal hope and presence that when we're from this old walks of life, we'll be with you forever and ever and ever in the presence of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. You don't have to heal me. Just leave me. God bless you.