Latest / Challenges of Faith Radio Program / R u in , coming out of or waiting for your Trial? Ep 3401

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R u in , coming out of or waiting for your Trial? Ep 3401 · Challenges of Faith Radio Program

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  Speaker 1: Dear Heavenly Gracious God, we thank you, we love you,
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  Speaker 1: we give you the honor and the praise for who
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  Speaker 1: you continue to be in each of our lives. As
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  Speaker 1: we enter today's message, we ask you to allow your
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  Speaker 1: Holy Spirit to take it and make it real. Continue
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  Speaker 1: to make it real for everybody, including me. Forgive us
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  Speaker 1: for each and every known sin, be it words, thoughts,
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  Speaker 1: or deeds we've committed against you or anyone else. Out
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  Speaker 1: of it all, may Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 1: be glorified. In his precious name we ask you and
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  Speaker 1: thank you. Amen. Welcome back to Challenges of Faith radio program.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Gary McCance. Thank you for joining. You know, wherever
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  Speaker 1: it was, us, UZ, they had a citizen that everyone respected.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe that's you, wherever you live. But the reason why
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  Speaker 1: they respected him It's because he was blameless. He was upright.
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  Speaker 1: He feared God. And he lived a clean life. He
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  Speaker 1: had ten children. I don't know if he was trying
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  Speaker 1: to start his own nation. Maybe that's you. He had
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  Speaker 1: lots of livestock, plenty of land, a lot of servants,
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  Speaker 1: and a lot of money. So no one would deny
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  Speaker 1: that he was the greatest of all the men of
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  Speaker 1: the East, like Job. Chapter 1, verse 3 talks about.
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  Speaker 1: But he had earned that reputation through, think about it,
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  Speaker 1: years of hard work and just being honest in all
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  Speaker 1: of his dealings. And the question you've got to ask
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  Speaker 1: and answer in your own life, are you and have
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  Speaker 1: you been? And his name, Job, really merit integrity and godliness.
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  Speaker 1: But you know what happened in his life? Maybe that's
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  Speaker 1: what happened in your life. Remember now. You're either in
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  Speaker 1: a trial, coming out of one, or waiting for one.
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  Speaker 1: I know you can identify with this message so far.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, within a matter of hours, without an announcement,
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  Speaker 1: adversity fell upon Job. He lost all of his livestock,
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  Speaker 1: his crops, his land, his servants, and if you can
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  Speaker 1: believe it, all ten of his children. And then soon afterward,
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  Speaker 1: he lost his health. Think about it. His last human
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  Speaker 1: hope of earning a living. Now, as we go through
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  Speaker 1: this message, I want you to really ponder, only if
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  Speaker 1: you choose, really ponder and try to identify with Job,
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  Speaker 1: you know, that good man who was crushed beneath the
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  Speaker 1: weight of adversity. Maybe that's where you are. And then
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  Speaker 1: turn to Job chapter 1 verse 21 to an entry
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  Speaker 1: that he made in his journal soon after the rock
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  Speaker 1: stopped falling. And I don't know if you have one
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  Speaker 1: or not, but I keep one and was given one,
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  Speaker 1: a new one recently. But with a quivering hand and
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  Speaker 1: a grieving heart, he wrote, I came naked from my
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  Speaker 1: mother's womb and I'll be naked when I leave. The
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  Speaker 1: Lord gave me what I had and the Lord has
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  Speaker 1: taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord. Now
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  Speaker 1: think about after this statement. The scripture adds, and all
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  Speaker 1: of this Job did not sin by blaming God. You
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  Speaker 1: can see that in verse 22. And the question you
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  Speaker 1: really got to ask and answer, how in the world
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  Speaker 1: could he handle so calmly all these challenging trials mixed
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  Speaker 1: with grief Think of it, bankruptcy, pain, ten fresh graves,
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  Speaker 1: and the loneliness of those empty rooms, yet we read
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  Speaker 1: that Job worshiped God. He didn't sin, nor did he
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  Speaker 1: blame his maker. And the logical question you've got to
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  Speaker 1: ask is, why didn't he? I mean, how could he
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  Speaker 1: keep it from me? What kept him from bitterness or
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  Speaker 1: even thoughts of suicide? Well, when you read the scripture
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  Speaker 1: and you look for Job's name, you see that Job
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  Speaker 1: claimed God's loving sovereignty, do you? He believed that the
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  Speaker 1: Lord who gave had every right to take away, like
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  Speaker 1: verse 21 talks about in chapter 1. But in his
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  Speaker 1: own words, Job stated such, should we accept only good
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  Speaker 1: things from the hand of God and never anything bad?
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  Speaker 1: Chapter 2, verse 10. And then he looked up, claiming
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  Speaker 1: his Lord's right to rule over his life. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: who is this fool that says God has no right
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  Speaker 1: to add sand to our day or marks to our
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  Speaker 1: vessels or fire to his workmanship? Think about it. Who
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  Speaker 1: dares to lift a clay fist heavenward and question the
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  Speaker 1: potter's plant? Not Job. Because he knew God's sovereignty is
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  Speaker 1: interwoven with his love. And if you keep reading about Job,
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  Speaker 1: do you see how he counted on God's promise of resurrection?
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  Speaker 1: Remember his immortal words? I know that my Redeemer lives.
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  Speaker 1: And he'll stand upon the earth at last. And after
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  Speaker 1: my body has decayed, yet in my body I will
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  Speaker 1: see God. You can see that in chapter 19, verse
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  Speaker 1: 25 through 26. You see how Job looked ahead, counting
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  Speaker 1: on his Lord's promise to make all things bright and
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  Speaker 1: beautiful in the life beyond? Are you looking ahead? Job
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  Speaker 1: knew that eventually all that pain, that sorrow, those tears,
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  Speaker 1: that adversity and death would be removed. And knowing that
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  Speaker 1: hope would not lead to disappointment like Romans chapter 5
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  Speaker 1: verse 5 talked about, Job endured the brokenness of the
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  Speaker 1: day by envisioning the beauty of tomorrow. How about in
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  Speaker 1: your own life? And you notice how Job confessed his
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  Speaker 1: own lack of understanding? You know, each time I read
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  Speaker 1: the Word, the Word, the Word of God, you think
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  Speaker 1: about the unfathomable ways of God. You know, I used
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  Speaker 1: to tell people, if you try to put God in
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  Speaker 1: a test to know all about God, he wouldn't be
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  Speaker 1: God anymore. It's kind of like if you took a
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  Speaker 1: cup Put it in the ocean. It wouldn't be an
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  Speaker 1: ocean anymore. It would be just a cup of water.
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  Speaker 1: But what a relief this brings that Job didn't feel
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  Speaker 1: obligated to explain why. Listen to his honest, his genuine,
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  Speaker 1: his for real admission. I know that you can do
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  Speaker 1: anything and no one can stop you. I was talking
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  Speaker 1: about things I knew nothing about. Things far too wonderful
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  Speaker 1: for me. Job 42 verse 2 through 3. Job looked
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  Speaker 1: inside himself. When was the last time he looked inside
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  Speaker 1: of you and you and you? But he looked inside,
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  Speaker 1: confessing his inability to put it all together. You know,
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  Speaker 1: he rested his adversity with God without feeling forced to
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  Speaker 1: answer why. And when you really think about Job's story,
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  Speaker 1: think about all the people that you've come in contact
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  Speaker 1: with who have had their own challenging trials. And they
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  Speaker 1: had to rely on that biblical foundation that they needed
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  Speaker 1: when those challenging trials arrived in their life. Just trying
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  Speaker 1: to survive and draw strength from God's righteous hand like
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  Speaker 1: Isaiah chapter 41 verse 10 talks about. And maybe you
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  Speaker 1: begin to Get bruised by those falling rocks because you
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  Speaker 1: are in that trial. Now maybe not. Maybe you've come
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  Speaker 1: out of one and the next one maybe thousands of
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  Speaker 1: miles away. You know, like the land of Uz, U-Z.
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  Speaker 1: But that's the way Job felt. Think about it. A
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  Speaker 1: few minutes before he lost it all. And you've got
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  Speaker 1: to remember just in case that God's power in Joe's
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  Speaker 1: life is the same power that you and you and
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  Speaker 1: you and me too can rely on in our life.