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Before God Uses You_ He Will Give You These 7 Tests _ Christian Reflection · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: Have you ever wondered why some people are powerfully used
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  Speaker 1: by God while others seem stuck in their spiritual journey.
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  Speaker 1: The answer might surprise you. Before using someone in extraordinary ways,
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  Speaker 1: God always puts them through specific tests, not to punish them,
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  Speaker 1: but to prepare them. And the first of these tests
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  Speaker 1: is also one of the most intense, the wilderness. To
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  Speaker 1: understand this test, let's explore the journey of Jesus, who
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  Speaker 1: face the wilderness before beginning his public ministry. In Matthew
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  Speaker 1: chapter three, we see Jesus being baptized in the Jordan River.
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  Speaker 1: The heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended upon him like
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  Speaker 1: a dove, and the voice of the Father declared, this
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  Speaker 1: is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.
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  Speaker 1: It was a moment of great revelation and anointing. But
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  Speaker 1: what happened next is surprising. In Matthew chapter four, immediately
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  Speaker 1: after this glorious moment, we encounter a dramatic turn. Then
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  Speaker 1: Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to
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  Speaker 1: be tempted by the devil. Notice that it wasn't Satan
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  Speaker 1: who led him there, it was the Holy Spirit himself.
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  Speaker 1: The text continues after fasting forty days and forty nights,
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  Speaker 1: he was hungry. Jesus, the Son of God, was deliberately
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  Speaker 1: led to a place of extreme isolation and deprivation. Luke
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  Speaker 1: Chapter four provides additional details revealing that Jesus was full
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  Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit when he was led into the wilderness.
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  Speaker 1: This highlights something extraordinary. Being filled with the spirit doesn't
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  Speaker 1: always mean moments of glory and powerful manifestations. Sometimes it
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  Speaker 1: means being led to a place of solitude and testing.
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  Speaker 1: In Mark chapter one, the evangelist adds another striking detail.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus was among the wild animals picture the scene. The
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  Speaker 1: son of God, whom moments earlier had received public approval
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  Speaker 1: from the Father, was now alone in a hostile environment.
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  Speaker 1: The contrast couldn't be greater. From the crowded Jordan River
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  Speaker 1: to the absolute solitude of the Judean wilderness. For forty
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  Speaker 1: days and forty nights, Jesus experienced the deepest isolation imaginable,
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  Speaker 1: no food, no water beyond the bare minimum, no human companionship,
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  Speaker 1: Enduring the scorching heat by day and freezing cold by night.
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  Speaker 1: The Judean wilderness was not a friendly place. It was
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  Speaker 1: an arid rocky region with extreme temperatures and constant dangers.
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  Speaker 1: In Matthew chapter four, verse two, the text tells us
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  Speaker 1: that after this period he was hungry. This wasn't ordinary hunger.
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  Speaker 1: It was devastating hunger after forty days without food. It
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  Speaker 1: was at this moment of extreme physical weakness that the
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  Speaker 1: tempter approached. If you are the son of God, command
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  Speaker 1: these stones to become bred. The first temptation targeted the
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  Speaker 1: most basic human need, hunger. It was a seemingly reasonable proposition.
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  Speaker 1: After all, what harm could there be in turning stones
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  Speaker 1: into bread? Jesus had the power. He was hungry, he
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  Speaker 1: was alone. No one would know one. But here lay
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  Speaker 1: the heart of the matter. The wilderness wasn't about immediate satisfaction.
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  Speaker 1: It was about complete dependence on God. Jesus response, recorded
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  Speaker 1: in Matthew chapter four, verse four, reveals the true purpose
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  Speaker 1: of the wilderness. Man shall not live on bread alone,
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  Speaker 1: but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
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  Speaker 1: In the most barren and solitary place imaginable, Jesus demonstrated
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  Speaker 1: that God's word was his true sustenance. The isolation wasn't
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  Speaker 1: a punishment, It was a time of deep intimacy with
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  Speaker 1: the Father. In the wilderness, there were no crowds to impress,
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  Speaker 1: there were no disciples to teach, there were no miracles
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  Speaker 1: to perform. There was only me, Jesus and his Father.
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  Speaker 1: His screaming physical needs didn't make him abandon his spiritual dependence.
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  Speaker 1: The extreme loneliness didn't make him seek short cuts. The
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  Speaker 1: discomfort didn't make him question his identity. Each day in
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  Speaker 1: the wilderness was a day of choices, a choice to
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  Speaker 1: trust or doubt, to wait or act on his own,
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  Speaker 1: to remain dependent on God or seek immediate solutions. The
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  Speaker 1: wilderness tested every aspect of jesus character, not to prove
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  Speaker 1: something to God, but to demonstrate to humanity that it
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  Speaker 1: is possible to remain faithful even under the most extreme circumstances.
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  Speaker 1: The number forty was no coincidence. In the Bible. Forty
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  Speaker 1: is the number of preparation and testing. It rained for
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  Speaker 1: forty days and nights during the flood, Moses spent forty
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  Speaker 1: days on Mount Sinai, and Israel wandered in the desert
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  Speaker 1: for forty years. Jesus spent forty days in total isolation,
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  Speaker 1: and each one of those days had a specific purpose
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  Speaker 1: in his preparation. Luke chapter four, verse fourteen shows the
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  Speaker 1: outcome of this test. Jesus returned to Galilee in the
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  Speaker 1: power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through
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  Speaker 1: the whole countryside. The same spirit who led him into
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  Speaker 1: the wilderness now led him into public ministry. The time
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  Speaker 1: of isolation was over, but its lessons remained forever. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: wilderness experience teaches us that before every great commission, there
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  Speaker 1: is a time of preparation in solitude, before public ministry
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  Speaker 1: comes private testing. Before feeding the multitudes with bread, Jesus
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  Speaker 1: had to trust the Father for his own bread in
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  Speaker 1: the wilderness. Before teaching the crowds about the Word, he
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  Speaker 1: had to live by it in complete isolation. The second
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  Speaker 1: trial God uses to prepare someone is the test of waiting,
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  Speaker 1: and no one embodies this test better than Abraham. In
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  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter twelve we find the calling of this man
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  Speaker 1: who would become the Father of faith. Abram, as he
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  Speaker 1: was then known, was seventy five years old when he
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  Speaker 1: heard the voice of God. Leave your country, your people,
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  Speaker 1: and your father's household, and go to the land. I
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  Speaker 1: will show you. I will make you into a great nation,
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  Speaker 1: and I will bless you I will make your name great,
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  Speaker 1: and you will be a blessing without hesitation. Abram left
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  Speaker 1: or of the Chaldeans, taking with him his wife SARAHI,
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  Speaker 1: and his nephew Lot. Genesis twelve four records so Abram
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  Speaker 1: went as the Lord had told him. The promise was clear.
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  Speaker 1: He would become the father of a great nation. Yet
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  Speaker 1: there was one crucial detail that the text does not hide.
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  Speaker 1: Genesis eleven thirty reveals SARAHI was childless because she was
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  Speaker 1: not able to conceive. The years began to pass. In
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  Speaker 1: ji Jenesis fifteen, we see Abram in a moment of
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  Speaker 1: vulnerability before God. After this, the word of the Lord
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  Speaker 1: came to Abram in a vision. Do not be afraid, Abram,
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  Speaker 1: I am your shield, your very great reward. But Abram responded,
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  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remained childless?
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  Speaker 1: God's response was extraordinary. In Genesis fifteen five we read
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  Speaker 1: he took him outside and said, look up at the
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  Speaker 1: sky and count the stars. If indeed you can count them,
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  Speaker 1: then he said to him, so shall your offspring be.
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  Speaker 1: The passage continues with the foundational statement. Abram believed the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: and he credited it to him. As righteousness, but the
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  Speaker 1: waiting continued. In Genesis sixteen, we see Sarai taking matters
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  Speaker 1: into her own hands. Ten years had passed since the
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  Speaker 1: initial promise. The Lord has kept me from having children.
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  Speaker 1: Go sleep with my slave. Perhaps I can build a
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  Speaker 1: family through her. This was a common practice in those days,
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  Speaker 1: but it was not God's plan. Ishmael was born when
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  Speaker 1: Abram was eighty six years old. Yet in Genesis seventeen,
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  Speaker 1: thirteen years later, God appeared to Abram again. When Abram
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  Speaker 1: was ninety nine years old, the Lord appeared to him
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  Speaker 1: and said, I am God Almighty. Walk before me faithfully
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  Speaker 1: and be blameless. It was at this moment that God
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  Speaker 1: changed his name to Abraham, meaning father of many nations.
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  Speaker 1: The promise was renewed, but with an important clarification. The
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  Speaker 1: child of the promise would come through Sarai, now renamed Sarah.
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  Speaker 1: In Genesis seventeen seventeen, Abraham's reaction is revealing. Abraham fell
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  Speaker 1: face down. He laughed and said to himself, will a
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  Speaker 1: son be born to a man a hundred years old?
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  Speaker 1: Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety
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  Speaker 1: In Genesis eighteen three, visitors came to Abraham's tent one
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  Speaker 1: of them. The Lord himself made a specific declaration, I
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  Speaker 1: will surely return to you about this time next year,
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  Speaker 1: and Sarah, your wife, will have a son. Sarah, listening
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  Speaker 1: at the entrance of the tent, laughed to herself. The
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  Speaker 1: Lord's response was direct, is anything too hard for the Lord?
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  Speaker 1: The waiting continued, but now with a defined time line. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: in Genesis twenty one the moment arrived. Now the Lord
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  Speaker 1: was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the
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  Speaker 1: Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became
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  Speaker 1: pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age,
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  Speaker 1: at the very time God had promised him. Twenty five
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  Speaker 1: years had passed since the initial promise. Abraham was one
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  Speaker 1: hundred years old when Isaac was born. The boy's name,
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  Speaker 1: which means laughter, was a constant reminder of the journey
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  Speaker 1: of faith, from the life after of disbelief to the
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  Speaker 1: laughter of joy. In Genesis twenty one six, Sarah declared,
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  Speaker 1: God has brought me laughter, and every one who hears
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  Speaker 1: about this will laugh with me. During these twenty five
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  Speaker 1: years of waiting, Abraham was not idle. He built altars,
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  Speaker 1: moved multiple times, fought battles, formed alliances, and interceded for cities.
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  Speaker 1: Yet the central promise, the child through whom the great
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  Speaker 1: nation would come, remained unfulfilled. Each passing year made the
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  Speaker 1: promise seem more humanly impossible. The waiting tested every aspect
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  Speaker 1: of Abraham's faith. It tested his patience. Twenty five years
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  Speaker 1: is a long time to wait for a promise. It
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  Speaker 1: tested his trust. The longer the wait, the more impossible
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  Speaker 1: it seemed. It tested his character. The temptation to help
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  Speaker 1: God through Hagar showed that even the Father of faith
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  Speaker 1: was vulnerable to taking short cuts. In Romans four, the
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  Speaker 1: apostle Paul reflects on this journey of faith without weakening
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  Speaker 1: in his faith. He faced the fact that his body
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  Speaker 1: was as good as dead since he was about a
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  Speaker 1: hundred years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead.
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  Speaker 1: Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise
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  Speaker 1: of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave
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  Speaker 1: glory to God. Hebrews six fifteen summarizes the entire journey
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  Speaker 1: in a powerful phrase. And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham
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  Speaker 1: received what was promised. The word patiently here does not
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  Speaker 1: imply passive waiting, but active perseverance, maintaining faith alive even
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  Speaker 1: when everything seemed to contradict the promise. The third test
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  Speaker 1: God uses to shape his chosen ones is humility, and
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  Speaker 1: no one exemplifies this journey better than David. In Verse
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  Speaker 1: Samuel chapter sixteen, we find the prophet Samuel visiting the
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  Speaker 1: house of Jesse in Bethlehem, following divine guidance to anoint
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  Speaker 1: a new king for Israel. What happened that day would
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  Speaker 1: forever change the life of a young shepherd. When Samuel arrived,
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  Speaker 1: Jesse presented his sons, starting with the eldest. In First
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  Speaker 1: Samuel sixteen six, the prophet looked at Eliab, the first born,
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  Speaker 1: and thought, surely, the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: But God corrected him with words that would echo through
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  Speaker 1: the centuries. Do not consider his appearance or his height,
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  Speaker 1: for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look
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  Speaker 1: at the things people look at. People look at the
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  Speaker 1: outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. One
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  Speaker 1: by one, seven of Jesse's sons passed before Samuel. But
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  Speaker 1: in First Samuel sixteen ten we read Jesse had seven
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  Speaker 1: of his sons passed before Samuel, but Samuel said to him,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord has not chosen these. Then came the pivotal question,
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  Speaker 1: are these all the sons you have? Jesse's response was
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  Speaker 1: telling there is still the youngest, but he is tending
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  Speaker 1: the sheep. David wasn't even invited to the ceremony. He
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  Speaker 1: was out in the fields tending his father's sheep, considered
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  Speaker 1: too young or insignificant to be part of such an
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  Speaker 1: important moment. In First Samuel sixteen twelve, when David was
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  Speaker 1: finally brought in, the text describes him as glowing with
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  Speaker 1: health and having a fine appearance and handsome features, and
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  Speaker 1: the Lord said, rise and anoint him. This is the one.
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  Speaker 1: The anointing oil was poured over David's head that day,
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  Speaker 1: but he did not immediately ascend to the throne. In
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  Speaker 1: First Samuel sixteen nineteen we find David being called to
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  Speaker 1: serve King Saul as a musician. Then Saul sent messengers
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  Speaker 1: to Jesse and said, send me your son David, who
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  Speaker 1: is with the sheep. Noticed that even after his anointing,
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  Speaker 1: David continued his humble role as a shepherd. In Verse
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  Speaker 1: Samuel seventeen, we see David alternating between serving in the
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  Speaker 1: palace and tending his father's sheep. It was during one
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  Speaker 1: of these periods that Goliath, the Philistine giant, challenged the
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  Speaker 1: armies of Israel. When David arrived at the battlefield bringing
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  Speaker 1: supplies to his older brothers, who were soldiers, he heard
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  Speaker 1: the giant's challenge. The reaction of his eldest brother, Eliab
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  Speaker 1: in First Samuel seventeen twenty eight reveals how David was
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  Speaker 1: viewed by his own family. Why have you come down
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  Speaker 1: here and with whom did you leave those few sheep
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  Speaker 1: in the wilderness. I know how conceited you are and
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  Speaker 1: how wicked your heart is. Even as the lords anointed,
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  Speaker 1: David faced scorn within his own household. When David volunteered
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  Speaker 1: to face Goliath, King Saul doubted him, saying in First
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  Speaker 1: Samuel seventeen thirty three, you are not able to go
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  Speaker 1: out against this philistine and fight him. You are only
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  Speaker 1: a young man, and he has been a warrior from
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  Speaker 1: his youth. But David's response showed how his humble experience
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  Speaker 1: as a shepherd had prepared him. Your servant has been
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  Speaker 1: keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear
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  Speaker 1: came and carried off a sheep from the flock. I
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  Speaker 1: went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from
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  Speaker 1: its mouth. After defeating Goliath, David rose to a position
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  Speaker 1: of leadership in the army. In First Samuel eighteen, we
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  Speaker 1: see that he succeeded in everything Saul asked him to do.
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  Speaker 1: The text says all Israel and Judah loved David, but
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  Speaker 1: instead of letting success inflate his ego, David remained humble.
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  Speaker 1: In First Samuel eighteen twenty three, when offered the king's
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  Speaker 1: daughter in marriage, he replied, who am I and what
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  Speaker 1: is my family or my clan? In it Israel that
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  Speaker 1: I should become the King's son in law. Even when Saul,
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  Speaker 1: consumed by jealousy, began to pursue him, David maintained his humility.
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  Speaker 1: In verse Samuel twenty four, when he had the chance
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  Speaker 1: to kill Saul in the cave of Engedi, he merely
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  Speaker 1: cut off a corner of Saul's robe. His conscience even
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  Speaker 1: troubled him for this minor act against the lord's anointed.
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  Speaker 1: In verse Samuel twenty four fourteen, David humbly said, against
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  Speaker 1: whom has the King of Israel come? Out, who were
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  Speaker 1: you pursuing a dead dog a flea? Saul's persecution forced
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  Speaker 1: David to live as a fugitive for years. The anointed
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  Speaker 1: king had to hide in caves, live among the Philistines,
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  Speaker 1: and even feign madness to escape death. In Firse Samuel
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  Speaker 1: twenty two we read that all those who were in distress,
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  Speaker 1: or in debt, or discontented gathered around him. David became
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  Speaker 1: the leader of a band of outcasts and misfits. In
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  Speaker 1: Second Samuel seven, even after finally becoming king and establishing
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  Speaker 1: his kingdom, David's humility shines in his prayer, Who am I,
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  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord? And what is my family? That you have
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  Speaker 1: brought me this far? And as if this were not
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  Speaker 1: enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken
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  Speaker 1: about the future of the house of your servant. David
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  Speaker 1: never forgot his humble beginnings. In Psalms seventy eight seventy two,
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  Speaker 1: seventy two, it is written he chose David his servant
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  Speaker 1: and took him from the sheep pens, from tending the sheep.
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  Speaker 1: He brought him to be the shepherd of his people.
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  Speaker 1: Jacob of Israel his inheritance and David shepherded them with
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  Speaker 1: integrity of heart, with skillful hands, he led them. In
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  Speaker 1: Second Samuel six, when the Ark of the Covenant was
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  Speaker 1: brought to Jerusalem, we see David dancing with all his
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  Speaker 1: might before the Lord, dressed in a linen ephod. When
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  Speaker 1: his wife Michhal scorned him for acting undignified, his response
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  Speaker 1: in Second Samuel six twenty two revealed his unwavering humility.
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  Speaker 1: I will become even more undignified than this, and I
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  Speaker 1: will be humiliated in my own eyes. David's humility was
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  Speaker 1: tested at every stage of his journey. As a shepherd,
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  Speaker 1: he learned to care for the weakest sheep. As a
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  Speaker 1: musician in the palace, he learned to serve the one
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  Speaker 1: occupying the throne promised to him. As a warrior, he
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  Speaker 1: learned to give glory to God for his victories. As
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  Speaker 1: a fugitive, he learned to depend entirely on the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: and as king, he saw himself as a servant of
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  Speaker 1: God's people. In Psalm one thirty one, David captures the
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  Speaker 1: essence of this lesson in humility. My heart is not proud, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: my eyes are not haughty. I do not concern myself
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  Speaker 1: with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But
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  Speaker 1: I have calmed and quieted myself. I am like a
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  Speaker 1: weaned child with its mother. Like a weaned child, I
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  Speaker 1: am content. The fourth trial that God allows in the
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  Speaker 1: lives of his chosen ones is that of adversity, and
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  Speaker 1: no one in the Bible personifies this test better than Job.
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  Speaker 1: In the first chapter of the book bearing his name,
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  Speaker 1: we are introduced to a man whose life seemed perfect.
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  Speaker 1: In Job one one we read there was a man
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  Speaker 1: in the land of Us whose name was Job, and
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  Speaker 1: that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away
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  Speaker 1: from evil. The biblical text gives a detailed account of
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  Speaker 1: his prosperity. In Job one two three, we find he
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  Speaker 1: had seven sons and three daughters. His possessions were seven
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  Speaker 1: thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen,
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  Speaker 1: five hundred female donkeys, and a very large number of servants.
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  Speaker 1: And that man was the greatest of all the men
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  Speaker 1: of the east. His family life was exemplary. In Job
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  Speaker 1: one four we see that his sons used to go
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  Speaker 1: and hold a feast in the house of each one
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  Speaker 1: on his day, and they would send word and invite
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  Speaker 1: their three sisters to eat and drink with them. In
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  Speaker 1: his piety, Job would even offer burnt offerings on behalf
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  Speaker 1: of his children, thinking perhaps my sons have sinned and
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  Speaker 1: cursed God in their hearts. Then in a single day
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  Speaker 1: everything changed. From Job one thirteen onward, we see a
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  Speaker 1: devastating sequence of messengers arriving, each with worse news than
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  Speaker 1: the last. The first reported that the Sabinians had attacked,
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  Speaker 1: taking his oxen and donkeys and killing the servants. The
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  Speaker 1: second messenger told of fire from heaven that consumed his
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  Speaker 1: sheep and shepherds. The third brought news that the Chaldeans
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  Speaker 1: had raided, taking his camels and killing more servants. But
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  Speaker 1: the worst news came last. The final messenger reported that
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  Speaker 1: a mighty wind had struck the house where his children
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  Speaker 1: were gathered, and all of them died. In one day,
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  Speaker 1: Job lost his possessions, his servants, and most painfully, his
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  Speaker 1: ten children. Job's response in Job one twenty twenty one
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  Speaker 1: reveals his extraordinary faith. Then Job arose, tore his robe,
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  Speaker 1: shaved his head, and fell to the ground and worshiped.
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  Speaker 1: He said, naked, I came from my mother's womb and naked,
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  Speaker 1: I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord
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  Speaker 1: has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: But the trials did not end there. In Job too,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Satan was permitted to afflict Job's body. So Satan went
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: with painful sores from the soles of his feet to
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: the crown of his head. Job's condition was so terrible
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: that he took a piece of broken pottery to scrape
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: himself while he was sitting among the ashes. Even Job's wife,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: who had also lost everything, could not understand his persistent faith.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: In Job two nine, she questioned him, do you still
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: hold firm to your integrity? Curse God and die. Job's
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: response demonstrated unwavering faith. You speak as one of the
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: foolish women's speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: and not accept adversity? Then came Job's three friends, Eliphas, Bildad,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: and Zophi. In Job two thirteen, we read that they
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: sat down on the ground with him for seven days
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: and seven nights, with no one speaking a word to him,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: for they saw that his pain was very great. However,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: when they began to speak their words brought more pain
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: than comfort. Eliphas in Job four suggested that Job's suffering
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: must be due to hidden sin. Consider now, who, being innocent,
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed? Bildad
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: in Job eight implied that Job's children had died because
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: of their own sins. If your children have sinned against him,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: he gave them over to the penalty of their sin
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: so far. In Job eleven went as far as to
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: suggest that Job was receiving less punishment than he deserved.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Know this, God has even forgotten some of your sin.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: The accusations continued for many chapters, with each friend trying
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: to convince Job that his suffering was a result of
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: wrong doing. Amid his physical and emotional pain, Job expressed
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: his anguish with brutal honesty. In Job three, he cursed
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: the day of his birth. In Job seven, he described
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: his sleepless nights. When I lie down, I say, when
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: shall I arise? But the night continues, and I am
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: continually tossing until dawn. Yet even in his deepest suffering,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: Job held on to his faith. In Job thirteen fifteen,
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: he declared, though he slay me, I will hope. In him.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: In Job nineteen twenty five, he uttered one of the
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: most profound declarations of faith in the Bible. I know
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: will stand on the earth. The adversities tested every aspect
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: of Job's character. They tested his faith. Would he continue
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: trusting God when everything seemed lost? They tested his integrity?
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Would he maintain his righteousness when falsely accused? They tested
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: his love for God? Would he continue to worship even
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: without understanding the reason for his suffering? In Job twenty three,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: he expressed the frustration of not being able to find
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: God in his suffering. If only I knew where to
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: find him, If only I could go to his dwelling.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: If I go to the east, he is not there.
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: If I go to the west, I do not find him.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: When he is at work in the north, I do
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: not see him. When he turns to the south, I
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: catch no glimpse of him. Yet, in the same chapter,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: he affirmed, but he knows the way that I take.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. Finally,
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: in Job thirty eight, God responded not with explanations, but
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: by revealing his majesty and sovereignty through a series of
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: questions that highlighted the limits of human understanding in the
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: face of divine wisdom. Job's reply in Job forty two
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: five is profound. My ears had heard of you, but
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: now my eyes have seen you. At the end of
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: the book, in Job forty two God restored Job, giving
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: him twice as much as he had before. He had
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: seven more sons and three more daughters, and he lived
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: to see four generations of his descendants. The text concludes
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: by saying, and so Job died an old man and
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: full of years. Yet Job's true victory was not in
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: material restoration. It was in his unwavering faith through the
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: most extreme adversities. The fear test Guard uses to shape
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: the character of his chosen ones is forgiveness, and no
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: one exemplifies this journey better than Joseph, the son of Jacob.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: In Genesis chapter thirty seven, we are introduced to a
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: seventeen year old young man who unknowingly was about to
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: embark on one of the most remarkable stories of forgiveness
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: recorded in the Bible. The text reveals that Joseph was
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: his father's favorite son. In Genesis thirty seven three, we
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: read now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: other sons because he had been born to him in
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: his old age, and he made an ornate robe for him.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: This parental favoritism, combined with the dreams Joseph had and
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: naively shared, stirred deep hatred in his brothers. In Genesis
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: thirty seven four the text states plainly, when his brothers
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: saw that their father loved him more than any of them,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: they hated him and could not speak a kind word
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: to him. The situation worsened when Joseph shared his dreams,
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: in which his brothers and even his parents bowed before him.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: The opportunity for revenge arose when Joseph was sent by
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: his father to check on his brothers who were tending
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: the flock. In Genesis thirty seven eighteen, we read, but
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them,
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: they plotted to kill him. Their hatred was so intense
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: that they conspired to kill their own brother. Reuben the
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: eldest tried to prevent the murder by suggesting they throw
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Joseph into a cistern instead, secretly planning to rescue him later. However,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: before he could carry out his plan. The other brothers
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: saw a caravan of Ishmaelites passing by. Judah then proposed,
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: what will we gain if we kill our brother and
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: cover up his blood? Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: In Genesis thirty seven, twenty eight, Joseph's life changed forever.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: to Egypt. His own brothers sold him into slavery, plunging
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: him into a spiral of suffering that would last for years.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: In Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: In Genesis thirty nine, we learned that the Lord was
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: with Joseph, and he prospered in his master's house. Yet
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: even there in justice found him. Potiphar's wife, after failing
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: to seduce Joseph, falsely accused him of attempted rape. In
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: Genesis thirty nine, twenty Joseph was thrown into prison. Joseph's
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: master took him and put him in prison the place
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: where the king's prisoners were confined. Remarkably, there is no
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: record of Joseph harboring resentment or bitterness. Even in prison,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: he maintained his integrity and character. Years passed in Genesis
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: forty one, after interpreting Pharaoh's dreams about seven years of
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: abundance followed by seven years of famine, Joseph was elevated
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: to the position of governor of Egypt. At thirty years old,
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: he became the second most powerful man in the most
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: influential empire of the time. When famine struck Canaan, Joseph's
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: brothers came to Egypt seeking food in Genesis forty two,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: Joseph recognized them immediately, but they did not recognize him.
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Now he had power, he could have easily taken revenge,
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: ordering their execution or imprisoning them as he had been
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: unjustly imprisoned. Instead, Joseph initiated a careful process to test
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: his brother's character and prepare them for reconciliation. In Genesis
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: forty two, he accused them of being spies, kept Simeon
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: as a hostage, and demanded they bring their youngest brother,
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: Benjamin on their next visit. When when they returned with Benjamin,
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: Joseph hosted a banquet for them. In Genesis forty three
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: thirty we see the depth of his emotions. Deeply moved
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: at the sight of his brother Benjamin, Joseph hurried out
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: and looked for a place to weep. He went into
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: his private room and wept there. The final test came
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: when Joseph planted his silver cup in Benjamin's sack and
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: threatened to keep him as a slave. In Genesis forty four, Judah,
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: the very brother who had suggested selling Joseph years before,
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: offered himself as a substitute for Benjamin. This demonstration of
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: a transformed character profoundly moved Joseph. In Genesis forty five,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: Joseph could no longer hold back. Then Joseph could no
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out,
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: have everyone leave my presence. So there was no one
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: The moment of revelation was intensely emotional, and he wept
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh's household
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: heard about it. Joseph's words revealed the depth of his forgiveness.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: In Genesis forty five five, he said, and now do
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: not be distressed, and do not be angry with yourselves
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: for selling me here, because it was to save lives
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: that God sent me ahead of you. Joseph not only
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: forgave them, but also recognized God's hand in the painful
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: circumstances of his life. Years later, after Jacob's death, Joseph's
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: brothers feared he might finally seek revenge. In Genesis fifty seventeen,
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: they pleaded, I ask you to forgive your brothers the
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Joseph's response showed that his forgiveness was genuine and enduring.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: In Genesis fifty nineteen to twenty one, we find one
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: of the most beautiful expressions of forgiveness in the Bible.
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: But Joseph said to them, don't be afraid, am I
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: in the place of God. You intended to harm me,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: but God intended it for good to accomplish what is
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: now being done, the saving of many lives. So then
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph's
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: forgiveness was not superficial. He didn't just say the right words.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: He demonstrated his forgiveness through concrete actions. He provided the
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: best land in Egypt for his family, supported his brothers
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: and their families, and treated his nephews as his own children.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: Joseph's story teaches us the true forgiveness goes beyond merely
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: saying I forgive you. It involves recognizing God's hand even
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: in the most painful circumstances, choosing to bless those who
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: have hurt us, and using our position not for revenge,
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: but to do good to those who wronged us. The
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: sixth test God uses to prepare his chosen one is integrity,
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: and no one demonstrates this virtue better than Daniel. In
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: Daniel chapter one, we encounter a young man who taken
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: from his homeland during the Babylonian captivity, faced challenges that
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: tested his faithfulness to God in a culture utterly hostile
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: to his values. Early in his journey in Babylon, Daniel
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: faced his first test of integrity. In Daniel one five,
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: we read that the king assigned them a daily portion
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: of the King's delicacies and the wine that he drank. However,
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: in Daniel one eight we find a pivotal decision, but
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: Daniel resolved in his heart that he would not defile
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: himself with the king's food nor with the wine that
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: he drank. This decision could have cost him not only
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: his privileged position, but potentially his life. In Daniel one ten,
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: the chief of the eunuchs expressed his fear. I fear
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: my lord, the king who has appointed your food and drink,
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: for why should he we see your faces looking worse
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: than the young men who are your age. Daniel's proposed
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: solution demonstrated both his integrity and his wisdom. In Daniel
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: one twelve, he suggested, please test your servants for ten days,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: and let us be given vegetables to eat and water
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: to drink. The result was remarkable. After ten days, Daniel
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: and his companions appeared healthier than all the other young men.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: In Daniel chapter two, his integrity was tested again when
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: King nebucud Nezza demanded that his wise men not only
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: interpret his dream, but first recount the dream itself. This
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: was a humanly impossible task. While the other wise men
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: confessed their inability, Daniel, instead of pretending or fleeing sought God.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: In Daniel two nineteen, we read, then the mystery was
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: revealed to Daniel in a night vision. His first response
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: was to praise God, showing that his integrity was rooted
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: in in his relationship with the Lord. When brought before
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: the King, Daniel did not claim credit for himself. In
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: Daniel two twenty eight, he declared there is a God
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: in heaven who reveals mysteries years past, and Daniel's integrity
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: continued to be tested in Daniel chapter three, although the
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: text does not mention Daniel's presence, his friends Shadrach, Meshach
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: and Abednego faced the fiery furnace for refusing to bow
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: to a golden statue. They had learned from Daniel that
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: integrity means remaining faithful to God even under the threat
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: of death. In Daniel chapter five, we see an aged
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: Daniel whose integrity was still unshaken. When summoned to interpret
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: the writing on the wall during Belshazzar's feast, He refused
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: the offered rewards. Let your gifts be for yourself, and
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: writing to the King and make known to him the interpretation.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: But the greatest test of Daniel's integrity came during the
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: reign of Darius the Mead. In Daniel six 'y four,
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: we read then, the presidents and satraps sought to find
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: ground for complaint against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: could find no ground for complaint or fault, because he
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: was faithful and no error or fault was found in him.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: Frustrated by their inability to find any fault in Daniel,
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: his enemies devised a wicked plan. They convinced King Darius
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: to sign a decree prohibiting anyone from praying to any
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: God or man except the King for thirty days. The
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: punishment for disobedience was to be thrown into the lion's den.
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: Daniel's response revealed the depth of his integrity. In Daniel six',
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: ten we read, now When daniel knew that the writing was,
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: signed he went home and in his upper, room with
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: his windows open Toward, jerusalem he knelt down on his
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: before His, god as was his custom since early. Days
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: notice That daniel did not alter his prayer. Routine he
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: did not close the windows seek a hidden place to
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: pray or reduce the frequency of his. Prayers his integrity
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: would not allow him to pretend to be, different even
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: under the threat of death when thrown into the lion's.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: Den daniel's integrity had even Impressed King. Darius In daniel six,
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: sixteen the king said to, him Your, god whom you serve,
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: continually he will deliver. You the next, morning When daniel
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: was found, unharmed he declared In daniel six twenty, two
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: My god sent his angel and shut the lion's, mouths
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: so that they have not hurt, me BECAUSE i was
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: found innocent before. Him daniel's integrity was not merely a
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: matter of outward beaing. Behavior In daniel, nine we see
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: his deep prayer life and intercession for his. People In
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: daniel ten we glimpse his spiritual discipline as he spent
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: three weeks in fasting and, prayer seeking understanding From. God
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: even in his old, Age daniel maintained his. Integrity In
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: daniel one twenty one we read That daniel continued until
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: the first year Of King. Cyrus he served faithfully under
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: several kings and, Empires, Nebucad, Neza, Belshazzar darius And cyrus
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: without ever compromising his principles or. Faith The book Of
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: daniel shows us that true integrity is not just about
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: doing the right thing when everyone is. Watching it is
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: doing the right thing even when it could cost. Everything
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: it means holding the same principles in public and. Private
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: it means staying faithful To god even when the surrounding
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: culture pressures us to. Compromise daniel demonstrated integrity in both
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: small and significant, decisions from choosing his food at the
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: beginning of his life In babylon to continuing to pray
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: despite the threat of. Death he showed that integrity is
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: a daily choice that must be maintained consistently over. Time
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: the seventh and final Test god uses to prepare his
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: chosen ones is that of total, surrender and few biblical
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: figures demonstrate this as radically as the Prophet. Hoseia In
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: hosea chapter, one we encounter a man who received one
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: of the most surprising and challenging commands ever recorded in.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: Scripture the text begins with a shocking directive In hoseia one,
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: two when The lord began to speak Through, hosea The
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: lord said to, him go marry a promiscuous woman and
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: have children with. Her for like an adulterous, wife this
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: land is guilty of unfaithfulness to The. Lord this divine
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: command must have deeply shaken the. Prophet notice that it
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: wasn't just a command to marry any, woman but specifically a.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: Prostitute in the society where family honor was highly valued
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: and adultery punishable by, Death god was asking his prophet
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: to marry a woman of disreputable. Character it was a
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: request that went against all social and religious norms of the.
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: Time In hoseiah one three we see the prophet's. Response
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: so he Married, gomer daughter Of, diblem and she conceived
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: and bore him a. Son there is no record of, hesitation,
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: questioning or attempting to negotiate With. God joseiah's obedience was
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: immediate and. Complete the text even mentions the woman's, Name,
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: gomer making the story all the more real and. Personal
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: hoseiah's marriage To gomer was meant to be a living
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: representation of the relationship Between god And. Israel In hoseiah
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: two five we read About gomer's. Infidelity their mother has
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: been unfaithful and has conceived them in. Disgrace she, SAID
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: i will go after my lovers who give me my
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: food and my, water my wool and my, linen my olive,
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: oil and my. Drink even after marriage and having children With,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: Hoseia gomer continued her life of. Prostitution hoseiah's suffering must
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: have been. Immense it wasn't just the pain of marital,
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: betrayal but also the public shame of being known as
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: the prophet who married a prostitute who remained. Unfaithful In
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: hoseiah three, one we encounter an even more surprising. Command
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: The lord said to, me go show your love to
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: your wife. Again though she is loved by another man
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: and is an. Adulteress love her as The lord loves The,
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: israelites though they turn to other gods and love the
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: sacred raisin. Cakes god was Asking hosea to Seek gomer
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: again despite all her. Infidelities the following verse reveals the
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: depths to Which gomer had. Fallen In hoseiah three, two we,
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: read SO i bought her for fifteen shekels of silver
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: and about a homer and a lethic of. Balley gomer
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: had sunk so low that she had become a, slave
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: And hoseiah had to pay to redeem. Her this story
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: transcends the personal drama Of hosea And. Gomer In hoseiah three,
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: one the text explicitly explains love her as The lord
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: loves The. Israelites hoseiah's marriage was a living parable Of
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: god's love for his unfaithful. People every act of forgiveness
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: and restoration By joseiah Mirrored god's heart For. Israel the
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: entire prophetic ministry Of hoseiah was marked by this personal.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: Experience In hoseiah eleven, eight we Hear god's broken heart
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: through the prophet's, words how CAN i give you Up?
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: Ephraim how CAN i hand you Over? Israel how CAN
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: I i treat you Like? Adma how CAN i make you
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: Like Zebu? Yim my heart is changed within, me all
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: my compassion is. Aroused the Message god wanted to convey
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: Through jseiah's life was. Powerful just as the prophet loved
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: and pursued his unfaithful, Wife god continues to love and
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: pursue his people despite their repeated. Infidelities In hoseiah two nineteen,
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: twenty we find this, PROMISE i will betrothe you to me.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: FOREVER i will betrothe you in righteousness and, justice in
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: love and. COMPASSION i will betrothe you in, faithfulness and
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: you will acknowledge The. Lord hoseiah's total surrender went beyond
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: merely obeying a divine. Command he had to surrender his, heart,
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: reputation and. Dignity he had to love when love seemed,
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: impossible forgive when forgiveness seemed, unreasonable and restore when restoration seemed.
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: Unattainable In jseiah fourteen four we Find godd's promise of.
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: RESTORATION i will heal their waywardness and love them, freely
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: for my anger has turned away from. Them Through jseiah's radical,
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: Obedience god demonstrated his unconditional love and willingness to restore his,
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: people no matter how far they had. Strayed The book
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Of hoseah ends on a note of. Hope In hoseiah
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: fourteen five to, seven we, READ i will be like
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: the dew To. Israel he will blossom like a, lily
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: like a cedar Of. Lebanon he will send down his,
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: roots his young shoots will. Grow his splendor will be
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: like an olive, tree his fragrance like a cedar Of.
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: Lebanon people will dwell again in his. Shade they will
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: flourish like the, Grain they will blossom like the. Vine
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: israel's fame will be like the wine Of. Lebanon hoseah's
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: story teaches us that total surrender To god may require
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: sacrifices that seem beyond our. Capacity it may mean giving
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: up not just our possessions or, comfort but even our
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: dignity and. Reputation it means being willing to be, misunderstood,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: ridiculed and rejected if necessary to Fulfill god's. Purposes you've
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: just learned about the seven Tests god uses to prepare
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: those he wants to use. Powerfully now let me ask
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: you which of these tests are you going through. Today
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: could it be That god is leading you into the
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: wilderness for a time of deep, intimacy or perhaps you
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: find yourself in the valley of humility learning precious lessons about.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: Service maybe you're facing adversities like job or being challenged
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: to forgive Like. Joseph no matter which test you're experiencing right,
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: now remember, This god doesn't waste any. Suffering every, test every,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: challenge every difficult moment has a divine purpose in your.
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: Life you are not being, Punished you are being prepared
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: if this video touched your, Heart if if you identified
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: with any of these, stories share it with someone who
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: might also be going through a time of. Testing sometimes
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: all a person needs is to know they're not alone
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: on their. Journey would you like to keep learning About
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: god's ways and How he works in our. Lives subscribe
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: to the, channel turn on the notification, bell and comment
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: below which of these tests resonated most with your. Heart
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: your testimony might be exactly what someone else needs to
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: hear to. Day see you in the next. Video May
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: god continue to shape and prepare you for his eternal.
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: Purposes