Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Penetrating Reproof from the Almighty, Part 2 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

A Penetrating Reproof from the Almighty, Part 2 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: When we're hurting, we long for answers. We want God
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: to explain himself, to justify the pain, to make sense
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: of the struggle. But what if he has something better
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: in mind than answers? Well, today on Insight for Living,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Chuck Swindoll continues Job's remarkable encounter with the living God,
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: a God who responds not with explanations, but with the
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: view of himself that changes everything. Along the way, we'll
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: discover what it truly means to surrender our will to His.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Picking up our study in Job 38, Chuck titled his message,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: A Penetrating Reproof from the Almighty.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: Here's a man covered with boils, waiting for comfort and
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: needing help. And along comes the living God who has
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: known the whole story from start to finish. He doesn't
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: give Job any answers to his questions. He doesn't apologize
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: for having been silent so long. He doesn't give a
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: hint about the whole thing between himself and Satan way
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: back when, when it all started. He doesn't acknowledge that
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Job has been through deep struggles.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: When he finally speaks, he speaks in a reproof.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: Have you ever in your life commanded the morning and
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: caused the dawn to know its place?
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: Now he moves to the sun. This greater light by day.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: That it might take hold of the ends of the
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: earth and the wicked be shaken out of it.
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: Verse 16.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Have you entered into the springs of the sea or
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: gates of deep darkness? Have you understood the expanse of
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: the earth? Tell me if you know all this. Quite
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: a set of questions, isn't it? If that isn't enough,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: he introduces him to the animal kingdom. Verse 39. He
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: moves there next.
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: This is good.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Can you hunt the prey for the lion? Can you
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: satisfy the appetite of the young lions when they crouch
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: in their dens and lie in wait?
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: 41.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Who prepares for the raven its nourishment when its young
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: cry to God and wander about without food? Do you
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: know the time the mountain goats give birth? You observe
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: the calving of the deer. If you love animals, you'll
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: enjoy this section. It's here that he talks about the lion,
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: the raven, the wild goat, the deer, the wild donkey,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: the wild ox, the ostrich, the horse, the hawk, and
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the eagle. They're all paraded before Job in this most
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: creative reproof. Job is watching one animal after another go by,
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: and the one who made them is is introducing him
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: to each one, asking questions Job can't answer. Verse 5,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: the wild donkey. Verse 9, the wild ox. Verse 13,
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: this is.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: One of my favorites, the ostrich. What a funny creature,
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: the ostrich.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: Wings flap joyously with the pinion and plumage of love,
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: for she abandons her eggs to the earth and warms
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: them in the dust. And then she forgets that a
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: foot may crush them or that a wild beast may
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: trample them. You know, she's not really bright. The ostrich
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: is not that bright. I made her like that. She
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: treats her young cruelly as if they were not hers.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Some guy listening to me in the early service said,
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: two ostriches walking in the bushes noticed a couple of
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: larger ostriches behind them. One says, let's hide. They bury
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: their heads in the sand. One of them says to
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: the other at that point.
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: Where'd they go? Why are they like that?
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Verse 17, because God has made her forget wisdom.
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: Made them a little dull. By the way, that's a
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: great verse for you when you don't have an answer.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: You can say, God made me forget wisdom and has
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: not given me a share of understanding.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: How about the horse? Verse 19. How about the hawk?
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: Verse 26. This is a great section.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, stretching
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: his wings toward the south? Is it at your command
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: that The eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: By the way, see the comment about stretching its wings
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: toward the south? Maybe referring to the migratory instinct of
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: the fowls.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: All part of Job's account. Now, why?
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: I can just hear some of you because that's my
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: first reaction when I read this.
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: What in the.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: World does a trip to the spaces or a trip
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: to the zoo have to do about boils.
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: All over my skin? All I ask is that you
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: go zip and take them away.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Then we can talk, and I'll walk wherever you want
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: to walk, and I'll listen for... But no, I'm going
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: to give you all of this while you've still got
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: the boils.
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: I know what I'm doing. David Atkinson.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Writes wisely, Why, we need to ask, does God spend
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: all this time talking about skies and stars and the animals? Surely,
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: there is a more appropriate topic of conversation for someone
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: who for many weeks has been going through an appalling
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: sense of isolation. It is, of course, only when the
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: depressed person has the safety and reassurance of another's presence
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: that conversation can happen. Now that Job knows he's not alone,
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: it is appropriate for God to talk. and perhaps to
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: distract Job from his misery, certainly to give him new
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: perspectives on his situation. It may be that there is
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: a gentle irony to the tone, and the questions are
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: not threatening but rather educative. The sort of questions a
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: good teacher may ask a child in order to elicit understanding.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: It is as though the Lord God is taking a
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: walk through his creation, A walk through the garden, perhaps,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: as the storm becomes still and is inviting Job to
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: accompany him.
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: You see this? Do you recognize that?
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Let me amaze you, says God, by the complexity and
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: intricacy of it all. From the foundation of the earth
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: when the morning stars sang together and all the sons
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: of God in the heavenly court shouted for joy. That
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: joyous celebration of the creator has been sung ever since.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Consider the sea.
• 6:38
  Speaker 3: What about the rain?
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: And the Pleiades and Orion to the clouds, the lightning
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: and the mist. You see all of these things. Think
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: of the animals too. Can you hunt prey for the
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: lioness who provides for the ravens?
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: What about the life-giving power of birth for the mountain goats?
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: The wild asses, the wild oxen. Then comes one of
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: God's jokes, the ostrich.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: The silly bird flapping her wings proudly but getting nowhere.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Leaving her eggs in the earth, not thinking someone may
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: step on them. God did not give her a share
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: of good sense. That's a good way to put it.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: Even those parts of God's creation which seem deficient in
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: wisdom are still part of the divine wild ordering of things. Indeed,
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: the ostrich is a picture of Job himself, a paradox,
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: a mixture of strength and foolishness. Yet in spite of
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: all its failure to understand, it has a valued place
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: in God's creation. Come round with me, Job. See these things,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: wonder at them, enjoy them. You cannot control them.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: Then he adds this.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: The ash heap may be an appropriate place on which
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: to sit if we are in mourning, but it is
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: no place to stay if we wish to feel better.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: Sometimes we will most help distressed people, help them draw
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: nearer to their God from the depths of depression, not
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: by teaching them doctrine or preaching them our best sermon
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: or by showing them the error of their ways, but
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: by walking with them around the garden, taking them to
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: see a waterfall or a sunset, by helping them recover
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: an enjoyment in the world around them. Such steps are
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: not always practicable, of course, but insofar as we can
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: enable depressed people to see themselves in a new setting
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: and to recover a place of security belonging within the
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: rich panorama of God's creation, we are helping them as
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: they see God's handiwork before their eyes.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: Job gets it. We may not, but Job does.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: Matter of fact, if you take the time to analyze
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: verses 3, 4, and 5 of chapter 40, you'll see
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: that he has three responses. One is a response of humility.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: The second is a response of relief. And the third
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: is a.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: Response of surrender. That's exactly what God wanted to hear.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: And what a great change for Job there. who has
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: become this determined apologist defending himself thinking that he understood
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: the providence of God. His first response is verse four,
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: I am insignificant. Now we who have been schooled in
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: psychology will never be told to repeat that because we
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: are encouraged to realize how important we are, how valuable
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: we are, what a significant place We have. But I'm
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: showing you in verse 4, it's a statement from the Bible.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: And God doesn't reprove him for saying it. The Hebrew, interestingly,
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: means light and weight, as opposed to kavod, which is heavy.
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: I'm a lightweight.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: I think that's appropriate in light of what you have
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: shown me, God, in light of the world around me
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: that I don't understand. I wasn't there when it happened.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: I can't explain the boundaries. I don't understand gravity. I
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: can't put together in my mind the laws of physics.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: I can be schooled in them, but I do not
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: understand how they began or what holds them in place.
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: I can't grasp it.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: I'm a.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: Of needed humility.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: And the second statement is, what can I reply to you?
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: That's a statement of relief. God didn't want answers. He
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: knew the answers. He wanted Job to acknowledge, I don't
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: know them. And if I don't know about those things
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: as objective as they are, how could I possibly ever
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: fully understand my things?
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: And that's relieving.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: You see, the point is, when we are broken and
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: brought to the end of ourselves, it is not for
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: the purpose of gathering more answers for our journal. It's
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: for acknowledging that the Lord God has plans and reasons
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: that are higher than mine, and I relieve myself from
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: having to give answers or even defend them. And the
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: third is a statement of surrender. I put my hand
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: on my mouth. Verse 4 concludes. Statement of surrender. I
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: don't dare say anything more. I've said enough already. Now
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: let me give you three principles from this, if I may,
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: that I think bear a timeless element, each one of them. Furthermore,
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: the goal in all of this is to so change
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: our lives that we begin to think more like God
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: and we begin to respond correctly to God's unusual workings.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: The first.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: If God's ways are higher than mine, then whatever he allows,
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: I bow in submission. If God's ways are higher than mine,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: then whatever he allows, I bow in submission. And if
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: you will add, and that makes me humble. That results
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: in humility. And all of us could use a bigger
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: dose of that. How needed a humble spirit is in.
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: A person like Job.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: If God's ways are higher than mine, then whatever He allows,
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: I bow in submission.
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: That makes me humble. Here's the second.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: If God is in full control, then however He directs
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: my steps, I follow in obedience.
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: And that relieves me. That relieves me. I don't have
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: to be in charge. Isn't that relieving? No one put
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: you in charge.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: I was at a pastor's conference at Moody Bible Institute
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: several years ago and there was a huge sign up front.
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: Somebody had painted and stretched it across the front behind
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: where all the speakers stood to speak. And the sign read,
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: relax everybody for once you're not in charge. It was
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: full of pastors, 1,500 pastors. All of us are in charge,
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: we think. And we go to the conference and we're
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: reminded we're not in charge. That's God's placard that he
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: Stretches in front of Job.
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: You're not in charge of this. This is my responsibility.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: I know what I'm doing, my son.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: If God is in full control, however he directs my steps,
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: I follow in obedience.
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: And that relieves me. Here's the third one.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: If God has answers I lack, then whenever he speaks,
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: I listen in silence.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: And that instructs me. That instructs me.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: If God has the answers I lack, then whenever He speaks,
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: I listen in silence, and that instructs me. Now let
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: me drive this home. You and I are not by
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: nature humble, submissive, and quiet. You and I like to
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: be in charge, in control, and calling the shots. We
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: don't even like surprises. We don't really even like God's surprises,
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: nor do we enjoy having to wait for anything. I
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: read this past week the cute story, true story, a
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: little four-year-old Timmy who was sitting in the back seat
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: with his older brothers and sisters, and they were making
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: a long trip, and every other mile he would ask,
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: are we almost there? Daddy, have we almost gotten there?
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Are we almost there? And finally the mother says to Timmy, Timmy, no,
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: we're not almost there. It'll take a long time.
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: Time passed, and Timmy's next line was, Mommy? Mommy?
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: When we get there, will I still be four years old? Oh,
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: our prayers, if they were absolutely honest, would begin with.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: Lord, hurry up! Come on now!
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: We'd rather get forgiveness than permission. We'd rather resist than obey.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: We would rather talk than listen. We would rather be
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: in charge than submit. It's like the Puritan in his prayer.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: When thou wouldest guide me, I control myself. When thou
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: wouldest be sovereign, I rule myself. When thou wouldest take
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: care of me, I suffice myself. When I should depend
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: on thy providings, I supply myself. When I should submit
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: to thy providence, I follow my own will. When I
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: should study love, honor, and trust Thee, I serve myself.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: I fault and correct Thy laws to suit myself. Instead
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: of Thee, I look to man's approbation, and I am
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: by nature an idolater. Show me that none of these
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: things can heal a wounded conscience or support a tottering
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: frame or uphold a departing spirit. Then take me to
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: the cross.
• 16:09
  Speaker 3: And leave me there.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: This is all so much hot air if we don't
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: respond to it in a positive way. And I'm telling
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: you today, men and women, it will take conscious effort
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: on our part to change. Some of you have become
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: extremely difficult to live with. And it is my unhappy
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: responsibility to tell you that. because you're not getting it
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: from those nearest you who have run out of ways.
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: Of saying it.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: And I do need to warn you, if you do
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: get serious about change, you're going to shock them. Writer
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: Tom Anderson describes what I'm getting at. I made a
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: vow to myself on the drive down to the vacation
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: beach cottage. For two weeks, I would try to be
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: a loving husband and father, Totally loving. No ifs, ands,
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: or buts. The idea had come to me as I
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: listened to a commentator on my car's tape player. He
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: was quoting a biblical passage about husbands being thoughtful of
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: their wives. Then he went on to say, love is
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: an act of the will. A person can choose to love.
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: To myself, I had to admit, I had been a
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: selfish husband. that our love had been dulled by my
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: own insensitivity in petty ways, really, chiding Evelyn for her tardiness,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: insisting on the TV channel I wanted to watch, throwing
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: out day-old newspapers before she had a chance to read them. Well,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: for two weeks, all of that would change.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: And it did. Right from the moment I.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: Kissed Evelyn at the door and said, That new yellow
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: sweater looks great on you. Oh, Tom, you noticed, she said,
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: surprised and pleased and maybe a little shocked. After the
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: then I thought, Evelyn's been alone here with all these kids,
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: and now she wants to be alone with me.
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: So it went.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street investment firm
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: where I'm a director, a visit to the Shell Museum,
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: though I usually hate museums, holding my tongue while Evelyn's
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: getting ready made us late for a dinner date. Relaxed
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: and happy, that's how the whole vacation passed, I made
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: a new vow to keep on remembering to choose love.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however.
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: On the last night at the cottage, preparing for bed,
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: What's the matter? I asked her.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: Tom, she said, in a voice filled with distress. Do
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: you know something I don't? What do you mean? Well,
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: that checkup I had several weeks ago Our doctor, did
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: he tell you something about me? Tom, you've been so
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: good to me.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: Am I dying?
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: It took a moment for it all to sink in.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: Then I burst out laughing. No, honey, I said, wrapping
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: her in my arms. You're not dying. I'm just starting
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: to live. That's what this book will help you do.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: Your loving your partner is a choice. Your accepting things
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: as they are is a choice. Your attitude is a choice.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: Your response to life is a choice. And if it
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: takes a walk through the zoo or among the stars,
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: take it. You begin to feel how really insignificant a
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: lot of your selfish ways are. Your plans are here
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: and his are there. And when you decide to cooperate,
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: everybody will notice.
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: Isn't it time? Let's bow our head and close our eyes, please.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: You know, the simple fact is you may be dying.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: We're all in the process, but you may be closer
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: than you realize. It's the pastor's responsibility to hold your
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: feet to the fire. Even when he may much prefer
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: an easier statement, it's my job at times to say,
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: you may not make it through this week.
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: Now, you may not.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: So the first connection you're going to have with the
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: living God has to come through Jesus Christ. That's the
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: plan he put together. I don't care what your ideas
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: have been. Your ideas are lower than his, and they're
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: not anywhere near as important. This isn't even my plan.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I'm just repeating his. Jesus said, I am the way
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: and the truth and the life. No man comes to
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: the Father but through me.
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: That's his plan.
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: If I told you any other plan, it's the wrong plan.
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: It's not a feel-good plan. It's a get-with-it plan.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: Since life is short and these days are terminal, it's
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: a good idea that you not plan to step into
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: death unprepared. You've had enough whirlwinds and storms to know
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: that God means business. You're not going to have many
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: more chances.
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: This is your moment. Take advantage of this opportunity. Lord,
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: I'm lost. I'm a sinner. You know it. I know it.
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: My family knows it. My friends know it.
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: That means you and I can't walk together because you're
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: pure and holy and I'm sinful and unholy. And so
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: I surrender my will to yours. I take Christ as
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: my own savior. I trust him alone by faith. Alone,
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: because of your grace alone. Today, right now. And the
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: Lord God will accept you into his family and begin
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: for you a life that will be full of, you
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: can't believe the surprises. He will change you in so
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: many areas, you'll hardly be the same person in a
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: matter of time.
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: So today, come. Connect with us. Write us. Call us.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: Let's deal with this once and for all. And so,
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: our Father, we, having met with you, now leave one
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: another's presence, but yours goes with us all the way.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: Thank you for your instruction, which comes in such surprising
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: ways in a book as ancient as Job. Turn our
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: hearts back to you, Lord. Break our wills. Erase this
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: streak that's in us that has long enough been in control.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: And may we become your kind of person. Truthful, humble, teachable,
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: ready to change. I ask this in the name of
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: Christ our Lord and all God's people said, Amen.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: That's liberating, isn't it? We were never meant to be
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: in charge. When God is in full control, we're free
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: to follow in obedience, to rest in the one whose
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: ways are higher than ours. Humble, submissive, teachable. That's the
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: kind of person that God is shaping us to be.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Insight for Living. Chuck Swindoll titled today's
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: study on the life of Job, A Penetrating Reproof from
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: the Almighty. Here at Insight for Living, we understand you
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: may come to this daily program with complicated problems that
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: seem impossible to solve. In fact, maybe you're frustrated, you're stuck,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: you're confused, and you're mulling over your problems all day long. Well,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Chuck believes it's possible to end the cycle of defeat.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: To help you, we offer a variety of resources to
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: magnify what you're learning in this teaching series. You'll find
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: all the details about a special bundle of resources at insight.org
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: slash offer. And then we're especially pleased to offer a
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: once-in-a-lifetime book written by our teacher. I'm referring to Chuck
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Swindoll's personal memoir called Awakened by Grace. The chapters have
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: been written, the pictures have been selected, and Chuck's memoir
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: is going to be rolling off the printing presses very soon.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: Born in rural Texas in 1934, Charles often heard he
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: was a mistake. Did you know that Chuck began stuttering
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: in the seventh grade? But even while stumbling through his
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: young adulthood, God was working out his purposes. In Awakened
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: by Grace, Chuck shares for the very first time how
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: God helped him grow from a small, insecure boy into
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: a man who delights in speaking grace and truth to millions.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: You can pre-order your copy right now by calling us
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: at 800-772-8888. When you do, we'll immediately send you a
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: free digital preview of the book. You'll love reading about
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: the wisdom that Chuck gleaned from over 60 years in ministry,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: the words he'd like to speak to his younger self,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: and the encouragement for anyone going through tough times. Call 800-772-8888,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: or you can pre-order your copy at insight.org slash memoir.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: I'm Bill Meyer. Chuck Swindoll describes how Job, a suffering man,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: finally came to the end of himself and found blessing.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: Friday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, A Penetrating
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: Reproof from the Almighty, was copyrighted in 2002, 2004, and 2025,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.