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Don’t Miss the Messages in Your Misfortune · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: When the chaplain mentioned Michael's voice, it reminded me of
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  Speaker 1: the conference I did on one occasion with Lloyd Ogilvie,
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  Speaker 1: the late Lloyd Ogilvie, who is now with the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: We were at Mount Hermon together, a conference center out
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  Speaker 1: in Northern California, and if you've ever heard the voice
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  Speaker 1: of Lloyd Ogilvie, like a The sound of many waters.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, this angelic, deep voice. I got up and
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  Speaker 1: felt like Mickey Mouse when it was my turn. Some
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  Speaker 1: voices are just made for a pulpit. So you'll put
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  Speaker 1: up with mine since it was not made for a pulpit,
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  Speaker 1: but I've adapted to it. I was shocked when I
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  Speaker 1: sat where you're sitting in Chafer Chapel, Back in the summer,
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  Speaker 1: or really the early fall of 1959, I was a
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  Speaker 1: first-year student sitting, not knowing what to expect from the
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  Speaker 1: chapel speaker. I was really in for a surprise. I
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  Speaker 1: think it was either his opening line or the major
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  Speaker 1: line of his message when he said, When God wants
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  Speaker 1: to do an impossible task, he takes an impossible person
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  Speaker 1: and crushes him. That put a chill down my back.
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  Speaker 1: Even though I had just recently come out of a
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  Speaker 1: tour of duty in the Marine Corps, even though I
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  Speaker 1: was at that time approaching my mid-20s, I had not
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  Speaker 1: been crushed. Cynthia and I were happily married. At that time,
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  Speaker 1: we had no children, though four would come along in
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  Speaker 1: the years to come. We had known the love of
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  Speaker 1: one another and of so many friends. Our arrival at
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  Speaker 1: the school was an answer to prayer, and my even
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  Speaker 1: having a place and a desk at the school was
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  Speaker 1: just an act of God for which I, to this day,
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  Speaker 1: do not cease to give thanks. But crushed? I wondered
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  Speaker 1: what that meant. In fact, I had that statement in
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  Speaker 1: mind when I selected the hymn we just sang. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: it's words are so familiar you have forgotten what Isaac
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  Speaker 1: Watts wrote. Am I a soldier of the cross? A
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  Speaker 1: follower of the Lamb? Shall I fear to own his
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  Speaker 1: cause or blush to speak his name? And get this line,
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  Speaker 1: must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds
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  Speaker 1: of ease? while others fought to win the prize and
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  Speaker 1: sailed through bloody seas? Are there no foes for me
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  Speaker 1: to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this
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  Speaker 1: vile world a friend to grace, to help me on
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  Speaker 1: to God? Those are powerful words, and unpopular in our
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  Speaker 1: self-serving era, where it's all about me, mine, myself, my comfort,
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  Speaker 1: my desires, my will, my plans, when in fact ministry
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  Speaker 1: is none of the above. We are not called with
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  Speaker 1: me in mind. He is the reason for our calling.
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  Speaker 1: His plan is the plan to follow. And it is
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  Speaker 1: often surprising, which ties in with the statement that the
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  Speaker 1: Lord breaks us down, as that speaker put it, crushes
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  Speaker 1: us to carry out his will. Through us. During the
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  Speaker 1: more than 60. Almost 60 years that have followed. That time.
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  Speaker 1: Of ministry. I have come to know. Something of the crushing.
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  Speaker 1: Though not nearly as much. As many of my brothers.
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  Speaker 1: And sisters. But I know of no one greatly used
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  Speaker 1: of God. Who has not also been. Wounded. Hurt. bruised, broken, lacerated, crushed.
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  Speaker 1: It's an essential part of his plan. I call it
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  Speaker 1: the crucible that God puts us through. And you who
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  Speaker 1: have not yet entered into ministry can only imagine. And
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  Speaker 1: you may even wonder if that's going to happen in
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  Speaker 1: your life. And I will tell you, it will. Though
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  Speaker 1: I cannot tell you how or when, it will. He
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  Speaker 1: will break you. He will shape you into the image
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  Speaker 1: of his son, whatever that may take. And the crushing
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  Speaker 1: will often be very, very difficult to bear. This ties
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  Speaker 1: in with my theme during this academic year. I want
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  Speaker 1: to speak on the pros and cons of ministry. During
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  Speaker 1: this fall semester, I want to talk about what makes
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  Speaker 1: the ministry so challenging. And then the spring semester, I
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  Speaker 1: want to address what makes it so fulfilling. lest we
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  Speaker 1: think it is all crushing. It certainly is not. But
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  Speaker 1: some of it is. And it's that part that becomes
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  Speaker 1: disillusioning because we didn't expect it to happen. Even though
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  Speaker 1: people tell us, as I'm telling you today, we could
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  Speaker 1: never guess how it will impact us I've already talked
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  Speaker 1: about two areas that make the ministry challenging. On one occasion,
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  Speaker 1: when I was here earlier this semester, I talked about
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  Speaker 1: the people who are around us, who are difficult people
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  Speaker 1: to deal with. They cause a great deal of challenge
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  Speaker 1: for us when we serve our Savior. Difficult people. And
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  Speaker 1: then the next time I was here this fall, I
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  Speaker 1: talked about the human characteristics we bring into ministry, especially
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  Speaker 1: those fleshly, carnal characteristics that we don't leave behind. We're
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  Speaker 1: not rid of them when we enter the halls of
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  Speaker 1: learning or the ranks of ministry. You carry yourself with you.
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  Speaker 1: Your bad habits here are bad habits then, later on.
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  Speaker 1: Your ugly side remains your ugly side. And it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: go away just because you have earned a degree at
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  Speaker 1: a seminary. or because people refer to you as doctor
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  Speaker 1: this or reverend that, you're still who you are, and
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  Speaker 1: sometime it'll embarrass you, it'll often disappoint you how it
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  Speaker 1: comes out. We simply cannot rid ourselves of the old
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  Speaker 1: nature It's with us until we breathe our last and
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  Speaker 1: we are in that glorified state where we no longer
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  Speaker 1: have that nature to hound us and haunt us. And
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  Speaker 1: so today I want to talk about the unexpected things
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  Speaker 1: that happen to us. Now get this, they are rarely
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  Speaker 1: our fault. They happen to us. And they impact us deeply.
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  Speaker 1: As I said earlier, they hurt us. They can crush us.
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  Speaker 1: And unless we realize they are all for our good
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  Speaker 1: and for our God's glory, we'll resent them. We'll even
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  Speaker 1: resist them. We may even try to deny them. But
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  Speaker 1: there they are nevertheless. Before I turn to the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: and illustrate these things from God's word, let me turn
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  Speaker 1: first to a very interesting commencement speech. It's delivered by, well,
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  Speaker 1: an unusual source. First of all, the audience is a
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  Speaker 1: group of ninth grade graduates. Rather modest gathering. And the
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  Speaker 1: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the commencement speaker,
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  Speaker 1: John Roberts. Now he's the commencement speaker because one of
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  Speaker 1: the ninth grade graduates is his son. That's how that happened.
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  Speaker 1: But I'm sure not even his son expected his daddy
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  Speaker 1: to talk on what he spoke on because commencement speakers
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  Speaker 1: usually tell you what you long to hear, how great
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  Speaker 1: you are, how marvelous your accomplishment is, how good things
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  Speaker 1: will be and great wishes for you. Just all the
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  Speaker 1: great things. that pour forth from a commencement speaker, not
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  Speaker 1: with John Roberts, not that day. He called his speech,
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  Speaker 1: I wish you bad luck. But he did so with
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  Speaker 1: good intentions. I'll cut to the chase and not give
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  Speaker 1: you all of his speech, but listen to his wishes
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  Speaker 1: for the graduates. And be sure you hear all of them,
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  Speaker 1: not only the event, but what follows. because that's where
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  Speaker 1: the lesson is. That's where the message is. He told
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  Speaker 1: his audience, from time to time, in the years to come,
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  Speaker 1: I hope you will be treated unfairly so that you
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  Speaker 1: will come to know the value of justice. Second, I
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  Speaker 1: hope that you will suffer betrayal from someone you trusted
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  Speaker 1: because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. His
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  Speaker 1: unusual wishes went on. So he adds, sorry to say
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  Speaker 1: this to you, but I hope you will be lonely
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  Speaker 1: from time to time. so that you never take your
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  Speaker 1: friends for granted. And he added, and when you lose,
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  Speaker 1: as you will from time to time, I hope every
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  Speaker 1: now and then your opponent will gloat over your failure.
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  Speaker 1: It's a way for you to understand the importance of
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  Speaker 1: sportsmanship And I hope you'll be ignored so that you
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  Speaker 1: know the importance of listening to others. I will hope
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  Speaker 1: and I hope you will have just enough pain to
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  Speaker 1: learn compassion. Whether I wish these things or not, adds
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  Speaker 1: Justice Roberts, Whether I wish these things or not, they're
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  Speaker 1: going to happen. And whether you benefit from them or
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  Speaker 1: not will depend on your ability to see the message
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  Speaker 1: in your misfortune. That's the title of my talk today.
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  Speaker 1: Don't miss the messages in your misfortune. There are many
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  Speaker 1: of them you have yet to learn. You've not learned
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  Speaker 1: them because you've not suffered the crushings of those misfortunes.
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  Speaker 1: And they will crush you. They will break you down.
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  Speaker 1: They will cause you to wonder, should you be doing
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  Speaker 1: what you're doing? Should you keep on doing it? Should
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  Speaker 1: you ever trust anyone else when a really good friend
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  Speaker 1: betrays you? Should you ever try to select another elder
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  Speaker 1: when an elder you have endured has made your life
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  Speaker 1: miserable for years? You're going to be crushed. So don't
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  Speaker 1: miss the messages. That's my point. Now, the scriptures. 2
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  Speaker 1: Corinthians chapter... verses 8 and 9 give a sort of
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  Speaker 1: a well difficult job description. We are afflicted in every way.
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  Speaker 1: We are perplexed. The passage goes on to say it
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  Speaker 1: means not knowing which way to turn. Several render this
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  Speaker 1: In paraphrases, we are at wit's end. You'll be there.
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  Speaker 1: You'll be there. We are afflicted. We are at wit's end. Third,
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  Speaker 1: we are persecuted. And fourth, we are struck down, knocked down. Now,
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  Speaker 1: each of them has a contrast. The benefit, the message,
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  Speaker 1: and the misfortune I'll not get into from this passage.
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  Speaker 1: The point is, you will be pressed on every side.
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  Speaker 1: You will be bewildered. You will be at a loss
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  Speaker 1: to explain why this happened. And you will be knocked
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  Speaker 1: flat down, wondering if you'll ever get back up. Yes? Yes? Yes? Yes,
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  Speaker 1: that will happen. Right now, it doesn't seem possible. I
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  Speaker 1: understand that. That's where I was in the fall of 1959.
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  Speaker 1: I thought, well, he must be talking to some of
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  Speaker 1: these guys around me because crushing is not in, that's
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  Speaker 1: really not part of my MO. I made it through
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  Speaker 1: the Marines. I'd make it through anything. The stuff I've
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  Speaker 1: had in ministry would make the Marines look like a
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, knitting daisy chains in the Scouts. You
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  Speaker 1: ain't seen nothing yet until you enter the ranks of ministry.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm here to warn you. I'm here to help
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  Speaker 1: you enter those ranks realistically. So many times in your
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  Speaker 1: ministry you'll ask, I wonder what could happen next. And
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  Speaker 1: here's the really confusing part. What's happened isn't your fault.
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  Speaker 1: So you'll ask, what did I do to deserve this?
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  Speaker 1: You really did nothing. It's happening to you. Like a
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  Speaker 1: really good friend of mine I had lunch with. Let's see,
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  Speaker 1: it was I think early this week. He's involved with
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  Speaker 1: us at Insight for Living. While engaged in ministry, he
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  Speaker 1: gets a phone call from home. His wife is in ER.
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  Speaker 1: She can't see very well out of one eye. She
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  Speaker 1: was able to get to ER and she doesn't know
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  Speaker 1: what the problem is. And they're calling to let him
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  Speaker 1: know he needs to come home quickly. After testing, they
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  Speaker 1: found a a tumor in her brain about the size
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  Speaker 1: of a tennis ball. Just stop right there. Just stop
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  Speaker 1: right there. This is the woman he loves, the mother
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  Speaker 1: of their three children, godly couple, finest couple you'd ever
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  Speaker 1: want to meet, going blind in one eye from a tumor,
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  Speaker 1: and their words were, it's got to be taken out.
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  Speaker 1: It wound up being a cut from here down to here.
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  Speaker 1: and they got it all but they didn't know the
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  Speaker 1: details of this when I heard the story again from
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  Speaker 1: him I said you know all of us had our
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  Speaker 1: hearts go out to your wife but I got to
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  Speaker 1: tell you I identified with you how that must have felt.
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  Speaker 1: And by the way, the ministry goes right on. I
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  Speaker 1: forgot to mention that. It just goes right on. Sunday
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  Speaker 1: comes next Sunday. Sound like Yogi Berra here. Next Sunday,
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  Speaker 1: Sunday happens. Yeah. And next Sunday. And the following Sunday.
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  Speaker 1: As the tumor has been growing, as surgery has happened,
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  Speaker 1: as the neurosurgeon says, who is so qualified, he's known
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  Speaker 1: as the artist. Excises the tumor. It's benign. Is there
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  Speaker 1: a better word to use ever in life than benign?
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  Speaker 1: And as he puts it, you can't even see where
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  Speaker 1: she was cut. And she is recovering. But during that
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  Speaker 1: period of time, who knew? Could have been you. Could
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  Speaker 1: have been your spouse or mine. Things happen to us
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  Speaker 1: and they crush us. And we're reading the Bible in
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  Speaker 1: a whole new light. Suddenly, it's talking to us about
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  Speaker 1: our lives. So when we read words like verses 8
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  Speaker 1: and 9, we're not reading about Paul living through this,
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  Speaker 1: though it's true. We're reading our autobiography. Our biography. Our
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  Speaker 1: knowledge is limited to bits and pieces. We can't figure out.
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  Speaker 1: The work of the ministry goes on. So what do
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  Speaker 1: you do? Well, I'm going to turn to a verse
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  Speaker 1: of Scripture you have memorized, and I'm going to use
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  Speaker 1: it on purpose so that you will have a whole
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  Speaker 1: new appreciation for it, I hope. I'm referring to Romans 8.
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  Speaker 1: What verse? Right, 28. And we know that all things
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  Speaker 1: work together for the good to them who love God
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  Speaker 1: to those who are the called according to his purpose.
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  Speaker 1: You could just give those words out. You just preach
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  Speaker 1: those words. Just write those words. But I want you
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  Speaker 1: to see them deeply and how they apply. By the way,
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  Speaker 1: we need to see the context. Look at the context.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you've never checked it before. Romans 8, 28 is
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  Speaker 1: preceded by verse 24, which includes the words, we do
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  Speaker 1: not see. And verse 25, no, it's 24. What's the
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  Speaker 1: matter with me? It's verse 25, and then verse 26,
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  Speaker 1: we do not know. We do not see, we do
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  Speaker 1: not know. We do not see what's coming. We do
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  Speaker 1: not know how to pray as we should. We don't.
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  Speaker 1: How does he pray for his wife? How does the
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  Speaker 1: 17 year old pray for their mother? How do you,
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  Speaker 1: facing Sunday service, go on? You don't see with any
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  Speaker 1: sense of perspective and you don't know how to pray.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, it is so difficult, the Spirit of God
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  Speaker 1: prays for you with groanings that cannot be uttered. Isn't
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  Speaker 1: that an amazing way to put it? Since we don't see,
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  Speaker 1: and since we can't know, then there's only one place
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  Speaker 1: to look, and that's up, and there's only one to
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  Speaker 1: turn to, And that's the one who sees and knows.
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  Speaker 1: And may I add that his ways are not our ways.
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  Speaker 1: Neither are our thoughts his thoughts. His thoughts are higher
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  Speaker 1: than our thoughts. His ways are better than our ways.
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  Speaker 1: In light of that we look to him with some
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  Speaker 1: sense of confidence and that's where verse 28 plays its
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  Speaker 1: vital role. First we know. Look at that. This is
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  Speaker 1: a promise that's to be claimed and never ignored. We
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  Speaker 1: know this. We don't hope this is true. We don't
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  Speaker 1: guess this is true. We don't just think this is true.
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  Speaker 1: We know it. We know it. Everything in this verse
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  Speaker 1: starts with something we know. We have absolutely unshakable faith
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  Speaker 1: in the words that are going to follow. We know
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  Speaker 1: this is true. What's true? God causes. Not because he's cruel,
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  Speaker 1: but because he's wise. He either makes it happen or
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  Speaker 1: permits it to happen. But he's behind it. He okays it.
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  Speaker 1: The plan and the project, these are God's, not ours.
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  Speaker 1: It's all in his hands. He is fulfilling his will
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  Speaker 1: in his time and in his way. In all this
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  Speaker 1: mess and misery, he is at work. His plan is
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  Speaker 1: relentlessly unfolding. He's causing his plan that he doesn't stop
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  Speaker 1: to explain to you. To you it's a storm. George
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  Speaker 1: Herbert wrote on one occasion, storms are the triumph of
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  Speaker 1: his art. He specializes in storms. Nahum 1.3 speaks of
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  Speaker 1: He has his way in the whirlwind and the storms
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  Speaker 1: and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He
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  Speaker 1: causes these things. He permits these things. He okays these things.
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  Speaker 1: They have his approval. What is he? He causes all
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  Speaker 1: things to work together for good. For his glory, for
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  Speaker 1: our good. So I'll remind myself when such things occur.
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  Speaker 1: This is for your glory, Lord, and for my good.
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  Speaker 1: Remind me of that. Drill that home in my brain.
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  Speaker 1: Remind me of it. These are profound words, and they
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  Speaker 1: have gaps, my gaps of ignorance in them. Romans 11, 33. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and
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  Speaker 1: the knowledge of God. Get this. How unsearchable are his judgments.
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  Speaker 1: How unfathomable are his ways. Unsearchable. Unfathomable. All for his
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  Speaker 1: glory and for our good. Because they are according to
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  Speaker 1: his purpose. You enter ministry, you enter into his plan
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  Speaker 1: and purpose for your life. And God immediately goes to
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  Speaker 1: work shaping you into the image of his son. It
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  Speaker 1: isn't an easy shaping. It includes, as I've said, painful,
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  Speaker 1: unexpected changes. times when we think we can't go on.
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  Speaker 1: And so in light of that, just as the Chief
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  Speaker 1: Justice brought a message to that group of graduates, I
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  Speaker 1: want to give you five wishes that I have for
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  Speaker 1: you along the same line as John Roberts gave at
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  Speaker 1: that little commencement address. First, I hope you will not
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  Speaker 1: know early success. Let me repeat that. I hope you
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  Speaker 1: will not know. early success in your ministry. Rather, I
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  Speaker 1: hope you will encounter difficulties that will drive you to
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  Speaker 1: your knees. That will teach you the value of vulnerability
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  Speaker 1: And it will enable you to keep success from ever
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  Speaker 1: going to your head. Early success can make people awfully proud.
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  Speaker 1: I hope you are beginning to show a few gray
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  Speaker 1: hairs before you begin to taste any measure of success
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  Speaker 1: in ministry. I hope it comes later on. Second, I
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  Speaker 1: hope you will experience obscurity and anonymity after you leave
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  Speaker 1: these halls of learning, especially if you are greatly gifted
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  Speaker 1: and intellectually bright. The result will be great lessons in humility,
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  Speaker 1: keeping you surprised that God would be pleased to use
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  Speaker 1: you in the years to come. May that always be
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  Speaker 1: a surprise to you. I hope you will experience obscurity
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  Speaker 1: and anonymity. Remember Paul, shortly after he gained his eyesight back,
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  Speaker 1: following his conversion, he went away to Arabia and for years.
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  Speaker 1: We never know what he did there. No one knows. Obscure, anonymous,
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  Speaker 1: probably for many people forgotten. That was where the revelation
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  Speaker 1: of God's plan for his life and for the future
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  Speaker 1: which included, by the way, the thorn in the flesh,
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  Speaker 1: whatever that was. It was severe. It was painful. The
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  Speaker 1: Greek term thorn means a sharp stake. So whatever it was,
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  Speaker 1: it was physically painful. And he lived with it until
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: he died. Easy to forget that. It helped him become
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  Speaker 1: the man he was as he was crushed by the thorns. Third,
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  Speaker 1: I hope you will fail because you relied on your
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: own flesh to reach certain personal goals. Those failures will
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  Speaker 1: be a healthy part of your personal growth toward maturity.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: You will learn far more from your failures than you
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: will ever learn from your great accomplishments. Fourth, I hope
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  Speaker 1: you will be forced to deal with a difficult elder
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  Speaker 1: or a fellow staff member who gives you fits. Even
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: one who, like Demas, who forsakes you. I could keep
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: you busy for the rest of the morning telling you
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: stories from my own life where I really relied on
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: certain individuals only to find out they had deceived me.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: One man carried on a sexual encounter with other women
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: while serving on the staff quite effectively until he was
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: found out. Speaking of that, I know of another individual
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: now gone who at the time was a very effective
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: Bible teacher, taught a large adult fellowship class at a church,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: was the chair of a Bible department at a fine
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: Bible college while carrying on with one of his students sexually.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: I got a call in the middle of the night
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  Speaker 1: from a detective who said he had to meet with me.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: It was pouring down rain. I said, I've I'm not
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: coming out tonight. He said, yeah, you will. You need
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: to be meeting with me, because if you don't, and
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: he named the man, he'll be dead in less than
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: two days. The husband of this woman that he's having
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: the affair with already has a hit man, and he'll
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: be dead. He's going to kill him. Well, I went
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: out that rainy night. And we had quite a conversation
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: the next day. I confronted the man. He denied it.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: They usually do. And then I said, you see this
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: fellow sitting at the end of the room over there?
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: We were in an empty room except for the detective
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: with a brown envelope. I said, before you lie any further,
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: see this man over there? Yep. See that envelope? Yep.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: In it are photographs of you with her in bed.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: You want to look at the photographs with me? No,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: I don't. You need to know something. Tomorrow you'll be
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: dead if you don't break this off. It's a man
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: I trusted. It's a man hundreds of people believed in.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Living a lie. I hope you'll know that experience. It'll
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: break your heart. It'll disillusion you. You'll probably lose your
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: way home that day, wondering how in the world could
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: this have happened right under my eyes. You're crushed. You're broken.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: You realize the heart of man is desperately wicked. You'll
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: learn to hold people accountable You'll learn not to be
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: so gullible. You'll take your time in selecting leadership. You'll
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: be very, very cautious about the choice of elders. You
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: won't just get a couple of good friends, your buddies,
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: as you form the church. Please don't. You need qualified, godly,
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: capable men to serve in that capacity. I hope you'll
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: be forced to deal with difficult people. Fifth, I hope
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: you will be hindered by unexpected obstacles that will keep
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: you from reaching your goals in your ministry so that
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: you will discover what God's goals are. By the way,
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: this has a great ending. even though right now you
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: feel like taking your life, I want to tell you
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: that God knows what he's doing. He's not wiping you out.
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: He's just breaking your heart. He's just interfering with your will.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: He's just cutting your legs out from under you so
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: you'll quit walking in your own strength. Paul really wanted
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: to go to Rome. He really wanted to make the
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: gospel known to the seat of power. And he stated that.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: This was his plan, his hope. He never dreamed how
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: he would get there. He would wind up being under
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: house arrest, of all things. He couldn't even move out
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: of that house, chained to another Praetorian guard member And
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: he realized while he was there, those two years, hey,
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: this is a captive audience. So he led him to Christ.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: And tomorrow he led the next one to Christ. And
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: before long, he led a whole barracks full of them
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: to Christ. And the whole Praetorian Guard talked about Christ.
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: And guess who they talked to? Well, they had access
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: to the emperor himself. He never dreamed it would come
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: through an imprisonment. And he said, it's fallen out to
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: me for the greater expanse of the gospel. That's a
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: strange evangelistic plan. Don't miss the message, okay? Don't get
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: hung up in the misfortune. It'll be dreadful. There'll be
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: some that are miserable. Don't forget you were warned. Don't
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: forget you heard it. Don't forget it may be your spouse.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: It may be your elders. It may be in your
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: community where the flood happens. It may be into your
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: home the thief breaks. It may be one of your children.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: It'll crush you. Don't miss the message. There's a great
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: passage in Deuteronomy You shall remember all the way the
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: Lord your God led you these 40 years in the wilderness.
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: Get this, to humble you, to test you, to show
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: what was in your heart, whether you'd keep his word
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: or not. 40 years to humble you, to put you
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: through the tests, to reveal to you what's in your,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: God knows what's in your heart. You need to see it.
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: And then you will turn to him and you'll give
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: him praise for walls that crumble down by just walking
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: around them. You'll give him praise for being able to
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: conquer the strong enemy, the Canaanites. As you move into
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: homes you didn't build and eat from trees you didn't
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: plant and drink from cisterns you didn't dig. And blessings
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: will come and you'll go, Lord God, you get all
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: the glory for this. Thank you for the years, the years,
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: when you broke me down and cut me down to size.
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: Thank you. John Oxenham once wrote these fine words. He
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: writes in characters too grand. for our short sight to understand.
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: We catch but broken strokes and try to fathom all
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: the mystery of withered hopes of death, of life, the
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: endless war, the useless strife. But there with larger, clearer
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: sight we shall see His way was right. There's a
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: great hymn in our hymnals that unfortunately most churches don't
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: sing anymore. Written by a man who lost four daughters
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: at sea. They were traveling with their mother to get
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: to England. Having left Chicago, they went to New York
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: and then set sail and Of all things, there was
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: a collision at sea and their ship sank. The mother
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: lived through it and sent a wire back that said
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: to the dad, her husband saved alone. Shortly thereafter, the
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: dad mourning the death of his precious girls, went to
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: sea and took a ship across to be with his wife.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: When he came to what was figured to be this
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: area where that ship had sunk, he stood on the
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: deck of that ship and wept and later wrote, when
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: peace like a river attends my way, When sorrow like
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: sea billows roll. Whatever my lot. Whatever my lot. Thou
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: hast taught me to say it is well. It is
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: well with my soul. Horatio Spafford did not miss the message.
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: Though he lost all four of his daughters. Let's pray. Father,
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: I have no idea what you're saying to different ones
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: in this meeting. I don't know most of these men
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: and women. But I do know this. I know you.
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: And I've trusted you throughout my ministry, even when I
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: didn't know which way to turn. Thank you for never
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: leaving me in the lurch. Thank you for teaching life's
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: hardest lessons when I couldn't even explain why they had happened.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: We do pause now asking you to get us ready
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: for whatever you have for us. Knowing that when you
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: want to do an impossible task, You take an impossible
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: person and you crush him. May you find it well
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: with our soul following the crushing. In Jesus' name. Everyone said? Amen.
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: The preceding message. Don't miss the messages in your misfortunes.
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: was copyrighted in 2021 and 2023, and the sound recording
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: was copyrighted in 2023 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: use is strictly prohibited.