Job 38:1

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, "Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man, and I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding."

Moreover, the Lord answered Job and said, "Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it."

Then Job answered the Lord and said, "Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer. Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further."

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind a second time and said, "Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Would you indeed annul my judgments? Would you condemn me that you may be justified?"

Then Job answered the Lord and said, "I know that you can do everything, and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. You asked, 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore, I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak. You said, 'I will question you, and you shall answer me.' I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes."

God, I pray that you would give us wisdom and insight as we open the Scriptures today. Not just that we would know what's being said here in this passage, but that we would know how to make it a part of our lives. And Lord, that you would continue the transforming work that you're doing in each of us—the work that starts in our hearts and in our minds, but then begins to transform the way that we interact with people, the way that we respond. God, do that work for your glory, Lord. Not just for your glory, but also for our ultimate good.

As we consider this, remember that you do have a purpose and a plan in our lives that God is seeking to accomplish. We pray that He would be able to fulfill that work in us. For we ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen." You may be seated.

We began this series in the book of Job six weeks ago to consider the servant of the Lord named Job. As we've been going through this, I hope you have seen and noticed that this story, Job's story, is one of the most fascinating stories in the Bible. It has a lot that we can learn from it and much to teach us. If you've been unable to be here every week as we've gone through it, I would really encourage you to listen to the messages online on our website, lifeinconnection.com. If you know someone who is currently going through a trial or some sort of difficulty, maybe recommend it to them.

I have received a lot of interaction and feedback as we have been going through this series of messages in Job. A big part of that feedback has come to me because each of us experiences suffering. We all experience suffering at some level. There is a sense in which the suffering we experience can seem relative. Sometimes it can appear to others as something insignificant, or it can seem very great to us based on how we perceive the suffering of other people.

Suffering can be somewhat relative, but we all experience it. If we don't personally experience suffering, we are all impacted by the suffering of others, especially in our day when we are constantly bombarded with information and news from locally or around the world about heavy things that people are going through. We are impacted by the suffering of others.

Now, maybe we are not affected by suffering in the same way or to the same extent that Job is, but we all do experience suffering at some level. The question is not whether or not we will suffer; the question is how we respond when we suffer. That is a really important thing to consider, and we have been...

Looking at the response to suffering by Job and those who were a part of his life in this passage of Scripture opens our eyes to the question of how we respond when we suffer. There are really only two ways to come out of suffering as one who walks with God or seeks to walk with God. You can either come out of that suffering being really angry or upset at God, hardened toward Him, or the suffering can draw you closer to Him. You may begin to see and realize that maybe there is something that God is working in the midst of that suffering.

One of the ways that people have expressed this is that you can either come out better or you can come out bitter. I have certainly met some people over the years who were hardened and bitter because of suffering. They felt that God either didn't intervene or was doing something to them. This is really fascinating because when you look at the story of Job, if ever there was a person who could have been angry at God, it would be Job. Not everybody who suffers suffers because it is coming from the hand of God, but in the story of Job, there is no other way around it; this was coming from the hand of God. Yet, as we will see in the text today, he does not end up bitter toward God. There is a transformation that takes place.

Everybody suffers; it is a reality in the fallen, broken world that we live in. However, not everybody emerges from suffering in the same way that Job did. Not everyone emerges in a better situation as Job did. In the New Testament book of James, we have a verse that deals with some of this. It is a verse that maybe some of you have read or heard before. If you wouldn't mind turning in your Bibles to the book of James, it's right near the end of your Bible. If you open to the very last book, Revelation, and just turn a little bit to the left, you will pass the books of Jude, First, Second, and Third John, and First and Second Peter before you get to James.

James chapter one begins at verse two. James, writing to the church, says, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials." How many of you have heard that verse before? How many of you do that really well? Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that, in verse three, the testing of your faith produces patience.

Some of you know those words; you've read these words. In fact, how many of you have heard someone say before, "Don't pray for patience"? They say that because of this verse: "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials." The testing of your faith produces patience. So, don't pray for patience. Sometimes people also say, "Don't read the book of Job," because if you read the book of Job, everything in your life is going to fall apart, as if there's some sort of connection to it.

We think these things, but just so you know, you're going to encounter trials regardless of whether you pray for patience or read the book of Job. You will have trials. However, you're only going to enjoy the benefit, and that may sound like a weird way of saying it—enjoy the benefit. Yet, James says, "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials," because there's a benefit that he talks about. You're only going to enjoy a benefit in and through the trials that we face, and all of us will face them in one way or another.

There's only one way to experience or enjoy that benefit, and the Apostle James goes on talking about this. It's a theme in his short letter. He opens with those words: "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." Then, if we skip down to verse 12 of the same chapter, James chapter 1, verse 12, the Apostle James says this: "Blessed is the man; blessed is the one who endures." That word "endures" there is the same word in the Greek as the word "patience" in verse 3.

So, blessed is the person who is patient in temptations, and that word "temptations" is the same word as in "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials." Oh, how happy—that's what "blessed" means—oh, how happy is the one who is patient in trials. Why would that person be happy and blessed? For when he has been tested, approved, or tried, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

So, the blessing is not in the trial, but the blessing is in the outcome for the person.

Who patiently endures in the midst of that trial? So count it all joy. Why? Because there's a potential blessing. This is how James opens his letter, and as I said, this is a recurring theme in James' small letter.

Look at how he closes the letter four chapters later in James chapter 5. We will begin reading at verse 7: "Therefore, be patient, brethren. Be patient until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and the latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand."

Do not grumble against one another. In verse 9 of chapter 5, it says, "Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the judge is standing at the door." My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience. Consider the prophets of old as an example for you of suffering and patience. Indeed, we count them blessed who endure.

Then there is this: "You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful." It's fascinating that this is the one reference to Job in the New Testament. I think it's appropriate that we land here as we come to the close of this series in the book of Job. James says, "You have heard of the perseverance of Job," and that is true.

As we have gone through this series, we see the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. So James says, indeed, we count them blessed who endure. In chapter 1 of James, we saw, "Blessed is the man who endures trials." Oh, how happy is the person who continues in perseverance and endurance through trial! That person will receive a blessing from the Lord. And so we count them blessed who endure.

Well, who are "the them" in James chapter 5, verse 11? In verse 10, we're given the answer. The "them" are the prophets. My brethren, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering and patience.

Some of you have read through the prophetic books of the Old Testament. They begin with the prophet Isaiah, followed by Jeremiah, and then we have Ezekiel and Daniel. After that, we come to what are called the minor prophets, individuals like Micah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Hosea. Maybe you've read through those passages. A lot of times, people who aren't necessarily Christians or churchgoers will read through the prophets because they think there's something very special in them.

I remember checking out at the newsstand at Vaughan's and seeing a headline about the "12 prophecies that the government doesn't want you to know." When I opened it, it was about Isaiah. People often go and read the book of Isaiah because they believe there is something in there for them today about the end of the world. Many are drawn to this sort of material.

We read the prophets sometimes to find information about the first coming of Jesus or the second coming, or to learn about the end of the world, the Antichrist, and eschatology. We get into the prophets for those reasons. However, what's fascinating to me is that some of the earliest Christians, James being one of them, suggest that this may not be the best way to read the prophets. He says to remember or consider the prophets of old, as they are an example for us of suffering and patience.

I have found, through my studies of the prophets, that they provide valuable insights. I teach both Isaiah and Jeremiah at the Bible College up in Marietta, and I have done so for many years. One of the things you discover when you read through a book like Isaiah is that Isaiah and the people of his day were living through the end of their world. Their nation was under siege. The northern ten tribes of the nation of Israel were completely annihilated, obliterated, and effectively destroyed by the Assyrian Empire in the eighth century BC during the time of Isaiah.

In his day, the Assyrians came and destroyed 46 major cities of Judah and Israel. They surrounded Jerusalem, marking a critical moment in their history.

He was there in the midst of Jerusalem, and he was pretty convinced it was the end of the world. With all the people, they suffered and endured. James says we should take them as an example of suffering and patience.

Then there is the prophet Jeremiah, who lived about 150 years after Isaiah. God protected and saved the city of Jerusalem during the eschatological obliteration that Isaiah witnessed. However, in Jeremiah's day, that would not be the case. The Babylonians came and completely destroyed everything, including the city of Jerusalem and the temple. Jeremiah experienced all of that and endured great suffering. James reminds us to remember the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as examples of suffering and patience.

Next, we have Ezekiel. Isaiah experienced the Assyrian judgment, and Jeremiah faced the Babylonian destruction. Ezekiel was an exile, a prisoner of war in Babylon, and he too experienced suffering. James emphasizes that we should take these prophets as examples of suffering and patience.

But it is not only the prophets of old that we should consider. James also mentions Job, saying we have heard of his perseverance. We need to recognize that there is a lesson in this for us. Point number one on your outline is that Job's patience and suffering is an example we should remember and follow. James tells us that we count individuals like Job and the prophets as blessed because they endure.

Why do we count them blessed? Because in the end, after the testing, there is a blessing that James speaks about. He identifies this blessing as the crown of life. Those who endure through suffering until the end will receive this blessing. Blessed is the person who endures, for they will receive from the Lord the crown of life, which He has promised to those who love Him.

Now, let's jump right to point number two. Hopefully, you have point number one down. God promises a blessing to those who patiently endure trials. This is what we see from James: there is a promised blessing, identified as the crown of life, which begs the question, what is the crown of life?

What is this thing? To answer that question, I think we need to look at the one other place in the Bible where the term "crown of life" is used. It's found in the last book of the Bible, in the second chapter of Revelation. If you're in James, just turn five or so books to the right to Revelation chapter two.

In Revelation chapters two and three, there are seven letters written to seven churches by Jesus. We call these the seven churches of Asia. Today, the ruins of these seven churches exist in modern-day Western Turkey. In Revelation chapter two, beginning at verse eight, Jesus is writing a letter to a church called Smyrna, located in the city of Smyrna, which today is modern-day Izmir. He writes this letter to a church that is known as the suffering church.

He says this: "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things says the First and the Last, the One who was dead and came to life." Who is the One who is the First and the Last, who was dead and came to life? You passed the pop quiz! Good job. You'll do great on the final; it's going to be no problem. Yes, yes, I'll make sure just for you, Tater.

Jesus is speaking: "I know your works, and I know your tribulation, trials, and poverty, but you are rich. I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan." There are people who are blaspheming you; there are people who are speaking derogatorily about you.

Do not fear, verse 10 of Revelation chapter two says. "Do not fear those things which you are about to suffer." You mean, Jesus, you're not going to stop the suffering? You're not going to keep them out of the difficulty? You're going to allow them to go through this suffering? All you have for them is a word: "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer." Indeed, the devil himself is about to throw some of you into prison. Well, that's good news, isn't it? That you may be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days.

Be faithful unto death, and I will give to you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. The crown of life is given, as we read here in Revelation and as we see the allusion to it in James chapter one. The crown of life is given to those who remain faithful unto death. It is given to them by the one who was dead and came to life.

It is for those who remain steadfast in the face of trials and difficulty. It is for those who experience the testing of the enemy. The enemy is coming against them and they are treated blasphemously by others. People speak negatively of them. The crown of life is given to them. What is the crown of life? The crown of life is eternal life. It's life after death. It's life because of the resurrection of the one who was dead and came alive, who is alive again. It is life given to us, the crown of life from the one who wore the crown of thorns for you. Indeed, we count them blessed to endure suffering.

Now, in that letter to the church at Smyrna, He says, "You are going to suffer 10 days." Most commentators and Bible teachers, including myself, would likely agree that it is probably not 10 literal days. It serves as an example of temporariness. It is temporal; it is not forever. This is a real challenge for us because when we suffer—and all of us have suffered—have you ever experienced that in the midst of it, you start to think with those very burdensome words, "This will never pass. It's never going to get any better"?

But we have this promise: it is temporary. Even if you were to suffer every day of your life, throughout all of your life, it is temporary. That is the message that the Scriptures bring to us. It is not forever; it is temporary. So we count them blessed to endure suffering, even if all of their life is suffering, because this life and all the suffering that we could experience in it is temporary.

So James says, "You have heard of the perseverance of Job." Not only have you heard of the perseverance of Job, but you have also seen the end intended by the Lord. However, we actually haven't seen the end intended by the Lord.

So, go back to the book of Job, specifically Job 42. If you read the first six verses of Job 42, you will find that at the end of that conversation, Job says, "I have heard of you by the hearing of my ear, and now my eye sees you, God; therefore, I abhor myself." When he comes into contact with the living God, he expresses his feelings of self-loathing. This is very similar to what Isaiah says in Isaiah chapter six, where he states, "I saw the Lord high and lifted up." When he saw Him, he exclaimed, "I am undone." Job experiences the same realization: "I abhor myself; I repent in dust and ashes."

Then, in verse seven, it is noted that after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath, Eliphaz, is aroused against you and your two friends." This is bad news, for the Lord continues, "You have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has." This is quite fascinating. If you read through all of Job's words, even amidst his suffering, God acknowledges that Job has spoken what is right, while Eliphaz and his two friends have spoken things that are wrong.

Now, therefore, in verse eight, the Lord instructs them: "Take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. My servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your foolishness, your folly, because you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has."

So, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord commanded them, for the Lord had accepted Job. The Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends, which is a very fascinating thing to meditate upon. Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances came to him.

Before Job became sick and lost everything, his family and friends came to him. They ate food with him in his house and consoled him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and a ring of gold.

Now, the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He called the name of the first daughter Jemima, the name of the second Geziah, and the name of the third Keren-hapuk. These names are significant and will come back into play. In all the land, there were no women as beautiful as the daughters of Job, and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

After this, Job lived 140 years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So, Job died old and full of days. It seems like a good resolution that Job experiences. Interestingly, James, inspired by God, says, "You have seen the end intended by the Lord." What does that mean? According to James, this was God's plan all along to bring about a resolution.

Although there is a lot of nuance in what is happening in Job 42, it teaches us an important lesson. Point number three on your outline is that God has an intended end and purpose in suffering. At the very least, we can take away from what we read in Job 42 that God is doing something—an intended plan and purpose in suffering.

We may not always see the intended plan in our suffering, and we may not fully comprehend what God is doing. Perhaps you have been in a place where you prayed, "God, I don't understand what you're doing in this situation." However, we can and should trust that God has a purpose and a plan that He is seeking to accomplish.

You may even question, in the midst of suffering and the challenges we face in this life, whether this purpose intended by the Lord is a good thing to wait patiently for. But consider how James finishes what he says.

He says three things. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and you have seen the intended plan that the Lord brought about, the end that God intended. Third, he says that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. Those words need to be held close in our hearts: that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Why do we need to hold those words close in our minds and our hearts through the difficulties that we go through in this life? Because I am convinced that the enemy, and the Bible makes it very clear that we have an enemy who opposes the work of God, has been present from the very beginning, as seen in Genesis chapter three. I am convinced that the enemy, the devil, would love nothing more than for you and for me to question the goodness of God, His compassion, and His mercy. This is what the enemy has been doing since the very beginning.

In Genesis chapter three, there is that somewhat strange interaction between Eve and the serpent. The implication that the serpent makes is that God is holding something back from you. He is not being as good to you as maybe He could be. The enemy constantly bombards us with the idea that the Lord is not compassionate and merciful. Yet, throughout the Scriptures, from the very beginning to the very end, we see this truth hammered home constantly: God is very compassionate and merciful. We need to be reminded of that, and we need to remind other people of that.

In remembering God's mercy and His compassion, I want to finish this series on Job by pointing out some important things regarding the story of Job as it all comes to a resolution here in Job chapter 42. First, it's worth noting and important to understand that the ancient Hebrews, at the time the story of Job was recorded, did not have a clear theology surrounding death, life after death, and the resurrection. It was unclear; it was fuzzy; it was dark for them. The afterlife was a very fearful thing, which is true for a lot of people today. The concept of death and anything that might come after it is a very fearful thing for many people. When surveys are done about the greatest fears that people have, death is normally right at the top.

Up near the top, the kind of funny part about it is that oftentimes public speaking comes before death. For most people, they'd rather be the one in the casket than the one sharing at the funeral because many people fear death. However, for the ancient Hebrews, they did not have a clear understanding of death and resurrection.

When we come to Job chapter 42 and read the poetic language throughout the entire book, we see the restoration that James refers to as the intended plan of God. It reveals God's mercy and compassion amidst all the events in the story. What we have here is a very poetic type of resurrection. The restoration, where Job receives everything double in return, better than before, is a picture of resurrection. In a sense, Job experiences a death and resurrection situation as he goes through suffering and then receives this great restoration. Therefore, Job's restoration is a type of resurrection.

We know that not everyone who suffers in this life on this fallen earth is rewarded in this life. Not everybody gets back what Job receives in this story. However, the Bible reveals to us that God has an expected good end for those who love the Lord. This is exactly what James says in James chapter 1, verse 2: "Blessed is the person who endures temptation patiently and goes through that trial, for they shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."

God has a promise of restoration and resurrection for those who love the Lord and trust in Him, which helps put into perspective all the things we could face in this world. In fact, if you wouldn't mind turning your Bibles to the New Testament again, we're kind of bouncing back and forth here today. Go to the book of Second Corinthians. The New Testament is the last third of your Bible, starting with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Then you'll hit Acts, Romans, First Corinthians, and then Second Corinthians. Please turn to Second Corinthians chapter 4.

There the Apostle Paul writes this in verse 16 of Second Corinthians 4: "Therefore we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day." How many of you feel like the outward man is perishing? There were more hands in the first service for some reason; I can't understand why.

Therefore, we do not lose heart, even though the outward man is perishing. The inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are, what's that word? Eternal.

You might think, in reading through the 42 chapters of Job, that the book of Job is a story about one man's suffering and his response to it, as well as the response of other people to that suffering. But I want to suggest that the book of Job is about God's ability to resurrect and raise one up out of suffering, which is the hope that the Christian has.

I mentioned at the open of this series a book that was written in the early 1980s, around 1981, by a Jewish rabbi named Harold Kushner, called "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." He wrote that book after experiencing a devastating trial for himself and his wife. They had a son named Aaron, who at two years old was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that ended up being terminal. It took his life when he was 14.

After that, he wrote this book, trying to wrestle with the issues of bad things happening in the world if there is a good God, which is what Jews and Christians believe: God is good. In wrestling with that, his ultimate conclusion—how he bears under that trial and tries to encourage other people—is that our concept of God is flawed and that God is not all-powerful. He believes that if God were all-powerful, He would stop these things from happening. That's his conclusion, and I don't believe that is what you can take from the Scriptures.

Not as God has revealed in the Scriptures. But what is fascinating to me is that about a third of the way through the book, he quickly mentions the concept of eternity. He says that some people believe that after death, there is a resurrection and life after this, and that there will be joy in that place. But who can know? He just sets it aside. There is no ultimate hope in what he presents, but that is not what is presented in the Bible. However, that is a very ancient Jewish way of seeing things. We just don't know; who can know? It is very dark, that whole thing after death.

The New Testament tells us, in I believe it's Second Timothy chapter one, that Jesus brings to light life and immortality through the gospel. That which was unclear in the Old Testament is revealed in the New. The mystery of the Old Testament is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He brings to light life and immortality through the gospel. This is why Paul could write to the Thessalonians in First Thessalonians chapter four. He talks about people in their church who had died and says, "We do not sorrow as those who have no hope." We are sorrowful when we suffer loss, especially the loss of a loved one, but we do not sorrow as those who have no hope. Paul says, "Comfort one another with these sayings." These words are a comfort to us.

The book of Job is about God's ability to resurrect and raise one out of suffering, which is the ultimate hope that we have. Point number four on your outline: the end that God intends is not the end of this life, for that is just the beginning. We live in an increasingly naturalistic, materialistic culture that believes all there is, is this life. If all there is, is this life and this life is rife with suffering, then you have every reason to be depressed, especially if you look at the apparent success and blessing of other people.

You read Psalm 73 and see the Psalmist looking around and saying, "This is not fair." There are a lot of really stupid, dumb, idiotic, sinful, wretched, wicked people who have their own airplanes. It's just not fair.

It's not right. Here I am suffering, and it's a bad perspective. Job helps us gain a better perspective.

The first thing to note in looking at the book of Job is that the ancient Hebrews did not have a well-established doctrine of resurrection, and Job gives us a picture of resurrection. The second thing to consider is God's merciful compassion and the ultimate end intended by Him. Seeing all that Job went through and the ultimate end that God intends should help us gain perspective in the suffering that we experience or in the suffering we walk with others through. All of us suffer.

Again, it may be relative suffering. Your suffering may seem really great in comparison to someone else whose TV broke, or it may seem very little to a person who has been a missionary dealing with people who are dying in Liberia. It seems relative, but it doesn't feel relative to us in the midst of suffering until we gain the eternal perspective.

It was not planned, but I don't think it's an accident or a coincidence that right before we started this series, Pastor Mark taught for me on eternity and the importance of setting our minds on things above, as mentioned in Colossians 3, where Christ is seated at the right hand of glory. Our culture is constantly trying to get us to live in the moment. We've been told that by many different cultural influencers for the last couple of decades: you have to live in the moment.

While there may be some truth to being present and not being distracted by everything, there is also a necessity to step back and see God above all these things. That's exactly what Isaiah describes in Isaiah 6. The chapter begins with the words, "In the year that King Uzziah died," which, when you understand the backstory, reveals that the nation was in chaos. In the midst of all that chaos, Isaiah says, "I saw the Lord high and lifted up," and it gave him perspective. Hopefully, Job helps us gain some perspective as well.

The Apostle Paul provides an important meditation in Romans chapter 8. You don't have to turn there; I'll just read from Romans 8, beginning in verse 15. He says, "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption whereby you cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" God is your Father. That word "Abba" is like "Daddy."

You're a child of God. Romans chapter eight states that the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. If we are the children of God, then we are heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with Him, we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). If you have not memorized it, I challenge you to do so.

Ten verses later, Paul says, "And we know that all things work together for the good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose." Point number five, and we'll close with this: a proper perspective of suffering will help us maintain hopeful endurance in any and every trial. This has been my own personal experience just in the last six weeks of going through the book of Job.

When I mentioned to the staff that we were going to go through the book of Job, Pastor Mark jokingly said, "Oh, come on, things are just going to get terrible." There is that thought that goes through people's minds—that if we read through Job, things are going to go bad. However, one of the other ways to think about it is this: things are going bad all the time. But when you read through the book of Job, you gain a different perspective.

That has been my experience over the last six weeks, especially in the last couple of weeks, because we all go through challenging things. Some of them are just irritations, while others are heavy burdens and difficult situations. Last week, we had to put one of our dogs down. Just a few days before that, we had to rebuild the transmission in the Suburban, which cost $3,800. A week ago last night, identity thieves got into my savings account and almost wiped out $5,000. I am grateful they didn't.

In the same period of time, my homeowner's insurance company informed me that they would no longer insure me because I am in a fire danger area. Then I received another quote back, and it was literally five times as much as my previous insurance. Additionally, I got Dan McAllister's Christmas letter sent to me.

If you're a homeowner, you know who Dan McAllister is. He's such a great guy. I still need to send him a card here before December 10th. In all of these things, I have had a different perspective. There is a peace the Bible talks about that surpasses all understanding. For I consider that the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. We know that He works all things together for the good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? God, I thank You for Your Word. It is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It is able to divide between joint and marrow, and soul and spirit. It is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of our hearts. I pray, God, that as we come to Your Word, we would have our eyes lifted to see eternity.

The outward man is perishing, but the inward man is being renewed day by day, being prepared for the day when we come into Your presence. In Your presence is fullness of joy, and at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. You have promised to wipe away every tear.

So, God, I pray that You would help us to endure by Your strength, by Your Spirit, by the encouragement of Your Word, and by the uplifting of the body of Christ. Help us to walk through the challenges that we face, knowing that the testing of our faith is producing something, even if we can't see perfectly what it is. Lord, help us to have that conviction, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.