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A Better Way to Look at God’s Will │ Msg 1111 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: That last song we sang provides a wonderful introduction to
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  Speaker 1: the mystery of God's will. We sang, God will make
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  Speaker 1: a way, and the way he does it is often
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  Speaker 1: absolutely unexpected and full of surprises, as all of us
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  Speaker 1: could testify. I mean, would you have ever guessed the
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  Speaker 1: last five years of your life would have been as
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  Speaker 1: your life has been? Not a person here would have
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  Speaker 1: ever guessed that. I'm telling you, he's up to something great.
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  Speaker 1: We can never figure it out. It'll be terrific, won't it?
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  Speaker 1: Don't get your hopes up. You never will. As we're
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  Speaker 1: going to learn, he's unsearchable and he's unfathomable and he's deep.
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  Speaker 1: I want to read for you from both the book
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  Speaker 1: of Job and the letter to the Romans, if you
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  Speaker 1: will locate both. in your Bible, Job 23, and then,
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  Speaker 1: as you would expect, Romans chapter 8. It's awfully quiet
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  Speaker 1: out there.
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  Speaker 2: You brought a Bible, right?
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  Speaker 1: Job 23, it's just before the book of Psalms, for
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  Speaker 1: you who are from any other seminary, but Dallas, it's
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  Speaker 1: a joke, folks, relax. Job 23 and Romans chapter 8.
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  Speaker 1: Let me read Job 23 beginning at verse 3, and
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  Speaker 1: I want you to feel the struggle that Job is
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  Speaker 1: going through in the midst of his circumstances. Picture yourself
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  Speaker 1: having lost everything, covered with, we call them boils, they're
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  Speaker 1: like Ulcers, running ulcers all over your body. You buried
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  Speaker 1: all 10 of your children, and you have claimed bankruptcy,
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  Speaker 1: and you are now writing a statement to God. And
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  Speaker 1: I think you put yourself in those shoes, you'll appreciate
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  Speaker 1: what he says in Job 23, verse 3. Oh, that
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  Speaker 1: I knew where I might find him, that I might
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  Speaker 1: come to his seat, I would present my case before
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  Speaker 1: him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn
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  Speaker 1: the words which he would answer and perceive what he
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  Speaker 1: would say to me. Would he contend with me by
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  Speaker 1: the greatness of his power?
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  Speaker 2: No.
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  Speaker 1: Surely he would pay attention to me. There the upright
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  Speaker 1: would reason with him and I would be delivered forever
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  Speaker 1: from my judge. Now listen to the confusion. Behold, I
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  Speaker 1: go forward, but he is not there. And backward, but
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  Speaker 1: I cannot perceive him. When he acts on the left,
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  Speaker 1: I cannot behold him. He turns on the right, I
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  Speaker 1: cannot see him. But he knows the way I take.
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  Speaker 1: When he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
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  Speaker 1: My foot has held fast to his path. I have
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  Speaker 1: kept his way and not turned aside. I have not
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  Speaker 1: departed from the command of his lips. I have treasured
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  Speaker 1: the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
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  Speaker 1: But he is unique, and who can turn him? And
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  Speaker 1: what his soul desires, that he does. For he performs
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  Speaker 1: what is.
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  Speaker 2: Appointed for me, and many such decrees are with him.
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  Speaker 1: And Romans 8, if you will follow along, let me
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  Speaker 1: take 26 through 30. And in the same way, the
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  Speaker 1: Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we do not know
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  Speaker 1: how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself
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  Speaker 1: intercedes for us with groanings, too deep for words. And
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  Speaker 1: he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit is because he intercedes for the saints according
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  Speaker 1: to the will of God. And we know that God
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  Speaker 1: causes all things to work together for good to those
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  Speaker 1: who love God, to those who are called according to
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  Speaker 1: his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to
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  Speaker 1: become conformed to the image of his Son, that he
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  Speaker 1: might be the firstborn among many brethren, Whom He predestined,
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  Speaker 1: He also called. Whom He called, these He also justified.
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  Speaker 1: Whom He justified, these He also glorified. Those are amazing words,
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  Speaker 1: aren't they? You are getting a brief glimpse of where
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  Speaker 1: we're going to be as we attempt to get a
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  Speaker 1: hold of the whole issue of ambiguity, the uncertainty of
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  Speaker 1: following God's will wherever it leads us. Not because we
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  Speaker 1: understand it or can explain it, but because we want
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  Speaker 1: to be obedient to Him as His children. And here
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  Speaker 1: we are today in the midst of God's plan for
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  Speaker 1: our lives. You are right at the center of where
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  Speaker 1: He has placed you. You are engaged in a journey,
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  Speaker 1: and only He knows the destination on this earth where
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  Speaker 1: it will take you. You have no way of knowing
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  Speaker 1: even one minute from now what you will experience. No
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  Speaker 1: one knows the future. You don't know the day of
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  Speaker 1: your death. He does. You don't know lives you're impacting.
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  Speaker 1: He does. All of this is part of His unusual plan.
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  Speaker 1: And we're the players in the drama of His performance.
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  Speaker 1: It's about His will, not ours, right? Who would have
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  Speaker 1: ever dreamed a year or more ago that we would
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  Speaker 1: be sitting here in the midst of a new church
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  Speaker 1: that God has raised up and that He would use
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  Speaker 1: us by His grace to be a part of this beginning?
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  Speaker 1: Isn't that fun? Isn't that exciting? And it's just getting started.
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  Speaker 1: That's great. I've gotten to the place, maybe I'm to
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  Speaker 1: the age where it's okay. I've gotten to the place
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  Speaker 1: that I don't care. I used to care a lot
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  Speaker 1: about all the details. I don't care, you know. So
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  Speaker 1: we have lunch. I'll go that far. And this afternoon,
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  Speaker 1: I don't care. He's got a plan. It's going to unfold,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm going to be a part of it, and
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  Speaker 1: you are too. And He's going to do some things
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  Speaker 1: that are totally surprising in your life and in mine.
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  Speaker 1: I can assure you of that. Let's bow. If it
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  Speaker 1: weren't for your grace, Lord, we wouldn't even be sitting here.
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  Speaker 1: We wouldn't be participating in these things. We wouldn't be
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  Speaker 1: smiling today. We wouldn't be feeling the peace and comfort
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  Speaker 1: that accompanies obedience. We'd be out to lunch. We'd be
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  Speaker 1: struggling to find our way. We'd be going southeast when
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  Speaker 1: you'd be pointing northwest and we would be changing in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of the stream because we wouldn't be comfortable
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  Speaker 1: and a half dozen other things we could name. You're
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  Speaker 1: in charge and we find peace Great comfort in that.
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  Speaker 1: And were it not for grace, we would really have
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  Speaker 1: made a mess of everything. So thank you for overruling.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for demanding your way at those times when,
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  Speaker 1: looking back, we realize it was really best, even though
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  Speaker 1: it led Job into a life of loss. It led
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  Speaker 1: Joseph into a time in prison. It led Paul to
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  Speaker 1: a place where he was stoned by those who didn't
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  Speaker 1: even understand. It led Daniel to a den of lions.
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  Speaker 1: And of all things, it led the great apostle John
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  Speaker 1: to an island where he would write the revelation. How
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  Speaker 1: unsearchable are your judgments and unfathomable your ways. Were it
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  Speaker 1: not for grace, Lord, we wouldn't be a part of
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  Speaker 1: this new ministry and we wouldn't be able to sustain it.
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  Speaker 1: So we pause to thank.
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  Speaker 2: You for your grace.
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  Speaker 1: Because our hearts are full of joy for your great
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  Speaker 1: glory and because of your grace. We pray. Amen. I
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  Speaker 1: have two enduring goals in life. They are related to
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  Speaker 1: one another, but let me give you the first, then
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  Speaker 1: the second. First, I desire most of all to learn
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  Speaker 1: how to think theologically, biblically. I want to see life
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  Speaker 1: through the lenses of God's eyes for the rest of
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  Speaker 1: my days. I don't want to argue with Him. I
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  Speaker 1: don't want to fight Him. I don't have to understand Him,
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  Speaker 1: but I do want to obey Him. And so I
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  Speaker 1: want to see life, whether it be struggle or joy,
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  Speaker 1: whether it be loss or gain. I want to see
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  Speaker 1: it all through God's perspective. And secondly, a goal would
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  Speaker 1: be I want to help other people do the same thing.
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  Speaker 1: I want that as much, I think really more than
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  Speaker 1: anything else. I want to be able to turn to
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  Speaker 1: the Scriptures, find direction, answers, help, and when I can't
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  Speaker 1: find answers, a reason to trust and to wait for
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  Speaker 1: God when I can't see the reason behind where I'm
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  Speaker 1: going and to have peace through all of that. Now
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  Speaker 1: I want to help other people know how to do
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  Speaker 1: that too. I'm convinced that everything within us screams against
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  Speaker 1: that way of thinking and that way of living. Here's
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  Speaker 1: the reason why. From the time we are very small children,
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  Speaker 1: we were self-centered. Our world revolved around what we wanted
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  Speaker 1: when we wanted it. And if someone else had it,
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  Speaker 1: We wanted it even more. And then when we got it,
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  Speaker 1: we wanted to keep it, and it didn't satisfy, so
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  Speaker 1: we were looking to somebody else to rip them off
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  Speaker 1: and get it from them, whether it's a toy or
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  Speaker 1: our uncle's watch or whatever. And we spend our lives
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  Speaker 1: centered upon ourselves rather than upon God. And the fallout
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  Speaker 1: of that is... We view God through human eyes. And
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  Speaker 1: we think that he is a lot like us.
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  Speaker 2: Except he's older.
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  Speaker 1: And he's been around forever. But we think his will
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  Speaker 1: is like our will. Except it's smarter and certainly has
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  Speaker 1: a long view in mind. But our human nature. Style
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  Speaker 1: is read into God's character so that when he throws
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  Speaker 1: us a curve, we call him unfair and cynics call
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  Speaker 1: him untrustworthy and our faith gets shattered because bad things
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  Speaker 1: happen to great people.
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  Speaker 2: Or little children or countries.
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  Speaker 1: For example, if I were God, which is a frightening thought,
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  Speaker 1: but if I were God, I would never, I would
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  Speaker 1: never have allowed Dietrich Bonhoeffer to die at age 39
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  Speaker 1: in a prison, in a concentration camp. I would have
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  Speaker 1: given him 50, 60 more years to live and to
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  Speaker 1: write and to model that life of faith. I would
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  Speaker 1: have never had those five missionaries that went to the
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  Speaker 1: Alka Indians to reach them for Christ.
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  Speaker 2: I would have never had them martyred. Never.
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  Speaker 1: I would have sustained their lives and used them in
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  Speaker 1: ways that I considered worthwhile. I would have never put
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  Speaker 1: Corrie Ten Boom through what she went through. Never. Certainly
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  Speaker 1: not Betsy or Papa Ten Boom.
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  Speaker 2: Because that's not fair.
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  Speaker 1: I can think of some people I'd put through that,
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  Speaker 1: but it wouldn't have been Corrie Ten Boom, and it
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't have been Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It would have been people
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  Speaker 1: that I felt deserved it, because that's the way I think.
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  Speaker 1: I wouldn't have had Chuck Swindoll's mother die at age 63,
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  Speaker 1: and his dad nine years later die that painful, slow
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  Speaker 1: death he died. I wouldn't have done it like that.
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  Speaker 1: My mother was 15 years younger than my dad. She
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  Speaker 1: should have outlived him 15 years. I mean, that makes sense,
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  Speaker 1: doesn't it? And I wouldn't have had you go through
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  Speaker 1: the tough things you've gone through in this last 12,
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  Speaker 1: 15 months. Because I don't think that would have been
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  Speaker 1: fair to you. You deserve better than that. Well, most
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  Speaker 1: of you do, you know. But that's not thinking theologically.
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  Speaker 1: That's putting God in human garb and giving him emotions
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  Speaker 1: like we have and calling fair what we consider fair,
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  Speaker 1: right what we consider right, wrong what we call wrong,
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  Speaker 1: and therefore, how dare he interrupt our world with such
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  Speaker 1: injustices and inequities. Okay, you with me so far? We're
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  Speaker 1: just getting started. There is a mystery, an aura about
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  Speaker 1: the living God that is by design to force us
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  Speaker 1: to trust Him when we cannot figure it out. He
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  Speaker 1: is inexplicable. He is unfathomable. He is infinite. the hymn
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  Speaker 1: writer put it well, immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light, inaccessible,
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  Speaker 1: hid from our eyes, most blessed, most glorious, the ancient
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  Speaker 1: of days, almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise. Unresting, unhasting,
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  Speaker 1: and silent as light, thou rulest in might, he goes
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  Speaker 1: on to say. All of these great terms about God,
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  Speaker 1: most of which just go right over our head. You
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  Speaker 1: can't fathom infinity. You can't measure the unmeasurable. You can't
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  Speaker 1: plumb the depths of unfathomable. You can't grasp.
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  Speaker 2: The unsearchable.
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  Speaker 1: You're not supposed to. Okay?
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  Speaker 2: So guess what? The mystery is on purpose because the
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  Speaker 2: plan is profound.
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  Speaker 1: The plan is designed to conform us to Christ, not
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  Speaker 1: make us comfortable, not give us our wish, not to
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  Speaker 1: help it be convenient. I'm going to go ahead and
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  Speaker 1: say it. Not to make human sense. I'm convinced God's
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  Speaker 1: will is more often than not humanly illogical.
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  Speaker 2: There, got it set.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Jeremiah chapter one, turn there. This is a great
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  Speaker 1: place to start. You see, in life, we can focus
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  Speaker 1: on our circumstances, don't miss this, our circumstances, other people, ourselves,
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  Speaker 1: or God. When you think theologically, you focus first, and
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  Speaker 1: I would hope to think, only on God, regardless of
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  Speaker 1: what people say or think, regardless of the circumstances you're under.
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  Speaker 1: And what are you doing under there anyway? Circumstances you're
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  Speaker 1: going through, regardless of anything else, God and God alone
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  Speaker 1: is working out His great plan. And in the final.
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  Speaker 2: Tally, it will be fabulous.
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  Speaker 1: Fabulous. My good friend Jay Kessler, who unfortunately is leaving
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  Speaker 1: that school he's been a part of, Taylor University, for
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: so many years.
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  Speaker 2: Wonderful guy. Has a great line.
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  Speaker 1: He says, I think our first response when we get
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  Speaker 1: to heaven will be, oh, isn't that great? That's what
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  Speaker 1: it was all about. That's why he did what he did.
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  Speaker 1: That's why those martyrs gave their lives. Because thousands, multiple
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  Speaker 1: thousands of people came to Christ and stepped into ministry
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  Speaker 1: that would never have even been impacted had it not
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  Speaker 1: been for the deaths of those five people. Now, wait
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  Speaker 1: a minute.
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  Speaker 2: Wait a minute. Don't make that walk on all fours.
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  Speaker 1: If you do, you'll turn God into a cruel and
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  Speaker 1: unfair kind of creator.
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  Speaker 2: From our perspective.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, he doesn't just throw people into the blind
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  Speaker 1: winds of fate and stand back with arms folded thinking, ah,
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  Speaker 1: let's see if they can make it through that.
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  Speaker 2: It's not like that.
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  Speaker 1: Before the foundations of the world, he designed and put
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  Speaker 1: together the plan that would include the martyred missionaries. the
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  Speaker 1: Corrie ten Booms, the Dietrich Bonhoeffers, and millions of other
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  Speaker 1: names I could bring before you that at the time
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  Speaker 1: did not make sense.
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  Speaker 2: Jeremiah.
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  Speaker 1: Here's Jeremiah.
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  Speaker 2: Verse 4.
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  Speaker 1: I love this. Now the word of the Lord came
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  Speaker 1: to me saying, before I formed you in the womb,
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  Speaker 1: I knew you.
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  Speaker 2: Hear the breaks? What did you just read?
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  Speaker 1: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
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  Speaker 1: You know why that's hard to grasp? Because it never
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  Speaker 1: is true of any human being. You never knew anyone
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  Speaker 1: before they were conceived. You can't. You're finite. You're finite.
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  Speaker 1: You're a human being. You are limited in your ability
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  Speaker 1: to grasp information. We do well to learn a little
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  Speaker 1: from history, looking back. But he says, before you were
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  Speaker 1: in the womb, I knew you.
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  Speaker 2: Look at this. Look at the next statement.
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  Speaker 1: Before you were born, I consecrated you. I set you apart, Jeremiah,
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  Speaker 1: to be my prophet before you took your first earthly
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  Speaker 1: breath on this planet. I set you apart to be
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  Speaker 1: my spokesman. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah, Jeremiah,
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  Speaker 1: the weeping prophet. These nations are in bad shape. These
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  Speaker 1: people are running away from God. They don't want God's will.
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  Speaker 1: And the Lord puts a guy that cries a lot
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  Speaker 1: in front of them to be his prophet? You would
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  Speaker 1: expect a crusader, a first-class linebacker for the Chicago Bears.
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  Speaker 2: To lead the charge.
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  Speaker 1: No way. God uses weeping prophets in his plan. Now,
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  Speaker 1: understand Jeremiah's writing what happened. So he struggles with it.
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  Speaker 1: I said, verse 6, Alas, Lord God, behold.
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  Speaker 2: I do not know how to speak because I am
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  Speaker 2: a youth.
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  Speaker 1: Sound familiar? Moses at the burning bush. I want you
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  Speaker 1: to lead the Exodus. Me?
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  Speaker 2: I'm 80.
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  Speaker 1: I blew it once. I've lost my ability to, I
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  Speaker 1: want you to lead the Exodus.
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  Speaker 2: What will people think?
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  Speaker 1: What will, here again, remember, you can get your eyes
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  Speaker 1: on people, circumstances, situations, or God, or yourself. Who's he
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  Speaker 1: thinking about? Himself.
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  Speaker 2: We're born, we're raised to do that. We take care
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  Speaker 2: of ourselves. We watch out for number one.
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  Speaker 1: We're focused on how we look and what people are
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  Speaker 1: thinking and maybe saying about us. If we have one
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  Speaker 1: button missing on our shirt or blouse, it's all we
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  Speaker 1: can do to exist until we can get alone and
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  Speaker 1: repair it. We don't We are so focused on ourselves,
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  Speaker 1: we can't get past our self-consciousness. He said, alas, Lord God,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know how to speak.
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  Speaker 2: I am a youth.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to verse 7. The Lord said to me, do
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  Speaker 1: not say I am a youth. That's a rather strong response.
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  Speaker 1: Everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that
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  Speaker 1: I command you, you shall speak. And he also knew
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  Speaker 1: he was afraid of people. He said, do not be
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  Speaker 1: afraid of them. I am with you to deliver you,
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  Speaker 1: declares the Lord. The Lord stretched out his hand, touched
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  Speaker 1: my mouth, and said to me, I put my words
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  Speaker 1: in your mouth. See, I've appointed you this day over
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  Speaker 1: the nations, the kingdoms, to pluck up and break down,
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  Speaker 1: destroy and overthrow and build and to plant.
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  Speaker 2: And here's Jeremiah.
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah. All this stuff is going by and he's thinking,
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  Speaker 1: I can't do it. I am inadequate. Inadequate. Eugene Peterson
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  Speaker 1: in his fine book, Run with the Horses, addresses this scene.
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  Speaker 1: He was not qualified. He had not done well in
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  Speaker 1: the God courses in school. He hadn't been around long
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  Speaker 1: enough to know how the world works.
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  Speaker 2: Ah, Lord God.
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  Speaker 1: Behold, I do not know how to speak. I am
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  Speaker 1: only a youth. And then he adds this little twist.
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  Speaker 1: We are practiced in pleading inadequacy in order to avoid
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  Speaker 1: living at the best that God calls us to do.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: His plan for us is so much greater. It is
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: so beyond what you could imagine.
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: But your inadequacy, your pleading inadequacy, We'll put the brakes
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: on it every time. I mean, who am I? You
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: know the problem? We don't think theologically. We think humanly.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: We really do. You are more concerned about what other
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: people think than what God says. You are.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: You are. If you really, really.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: Believe the promises of God, you would not have worried
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: this past week as you have worried. You would not
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: try to shoulder the load that is beyond your ability
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: to handle. You would not have lied or made up
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: an excuse to cover your tracks. You'd have told the truth.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: We're all like, we just live like that. Uh, That's
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: the way we're put together. God is shaping us into
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: the image of His Son, Christ, which means His discipline,
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: His endurance, His faithfulness, His purity, His attitude, His whole
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: approach to life. God's goal is to make us like
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: His Son. And for some of us, that is a
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: lifetime experience. Let me show you some things about God.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: Look at Romans 11. Turn there quickly. I got so
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: many more pages of notes than time allows me to preach,
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: you would never believe it. So we're going to kind
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: of hit the high points and the main points. Romans 11.33.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: This is sort of a doxology before the end of
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: the letter. Chapters 1 to 8, that's a big section,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: and he ends with a great doxology of 30 through 39.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Chapters 9, 10, and 11, that's the central section of Romans.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: He ends with this doxology. And then 12 through 16,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: he ends at another point there. But look at this
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: doxology in verse 33. Pause and ponder that.
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: The depth of the riches....
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: Both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. Rich
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: in depth, how unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: Force your mind for a few moments to focus on
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: those words. Depth. Unsearchable. Unfathomable. God is too deep for
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: us to understand, too profound for us to explain, incomprehensible
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: to the human mind. God's way of thinking is not
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: like ours. Isaiah writes in chapter 55, speaking of God,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: My ways are high above your ways. My thoughts above
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: your thoughts. We think in this level. God thinks in
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: the level of eternity. We see time in its tangible measurements.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: God sees all events without the limitations of time. Therefore,
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: operating from that realm, he is about a plan that
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: that human beings who are finite cannot fully grasp. And
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: at times, we resist. You know why? Because it doesn't
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: make good sense to us. It doesn't. You know what
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: I would suggest that we do? I would suggest we
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: stop trying to figure out God just obey Him. You say,
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: what are the practical ramifications of that? I'm glad you asked.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: When you come upon a situation that you cannot explain,
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: don't try. Because when you do, you'll use human wisdom
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: and you'll mess things up. I know a family in
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: our church that's struggling right now with cancer in the
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: life of one of their family members. I don't know why.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: I cannot explain that.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: I want to comfort them and put my arms around
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: them and assure them of my prayers and love, and
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: confidence that nothing is a mistake before God. I can't
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: describe why they would go through such a thing. You
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: and I could name things, specific things that we've gone
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: through in the last several years, and they make no
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: logical sense. We look back, try to figure out how
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: all of that, you can't figure it out. Let me
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: tell you, God is at work doing things his mysterious plan,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: mysterious to us, which defies human logic. So quit trying
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: to make it humanly logical.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: Trust him.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: You say, well, I was taught not to trust anything
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: I can't understand.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm sorry that you.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: Were raised wrong. Because you're supposed to trust God and
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: you'll never understand him. You understand death? You understand what
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: you're going to go through beyond death? You understand how
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: it's going to.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: Of course not. You're going to die.
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: You're going to be one of those who walks into
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: heaven saying, oh, that's what it was about. You'll know then,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: but you won't know until then. You know how peaceful
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: you can live if you decide to live like this?
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: Do you realize how relaxed you can be?
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: How free of stress? Honestly, he is unfathomable. He is unsearchable.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: Proverbs 20, verse 24, man's steps are ordained by the Lord.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: How then can he understand his way?
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: What a great line.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: Amen. How arrogant of us to think we are supposed
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: to understand. Who died and left us in charge? Who
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: told you you're supposed to understand? Remember Jesus' words, anyone
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: who will come after me must deny himself. Don't go
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: too fast past those two words. Deny himself. Take up
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: his cross daily. Follow me. I know it's not easy
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: to deny yourself. I understand that. I'm as selfish as
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: probably more than most of you are selfish. Impatient, short-sighted,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: a worrier, churn over things that usually never happen. Why? Well,
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: I'm type A. See, we get around it by labeling it. Well,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: that's a type A Or some of you, you know,
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: some of you ladies may say.
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm high maintenance. Well, that's too bad.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: How come we all got to, you know, serve up
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: to you? I thought God was in charge and having
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: his way. I thought he is the one who's working
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: on us. You don't want him to do that, do you?
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: I don't either. Well, he's doing it.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: Look at Job.
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: That's a great one to go to. Job 23. Job.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: Now there is a study. Job. You know what his
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: resume reads? I checked it again this morning. Blameless, upright,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: fearing God, one who turns away from evil. Job 1.1.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: You say, well, He probably wrote that, and maybe he
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: wasn't all those things. God said in verse 3 of
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: chapter 2, blameless, upright, fearing God, one who turned away
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: from evil. So that's God's opinion of Job. You can't
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: get more godly than that. Verse 8 of chapter 1 says,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: no one was like him on the earth. Chapter 1,
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: verse 3, he was the greatest of all the men
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: of the east. Now there is a classic godly man.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: You remember what happened, don't you? He had livestock. He
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: had a ranch or a farm. He had servants. He
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: had ten children. He had plenty of money. And in
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: a matter of hours, he lost ranch, home, livestock, a
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: means of making a living, all ten children, count them,
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: and finally his health, covered from the crown of his.
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: Head to the sole of his feet with boils.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: And then these counselors came along to tell him that
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: he was really suffering the consequences of a proud life.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: And then there's a whole dialogue back and forth. In
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: the middle of all of this dialogue, chapter 23, Job,
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: I think, gets as close to the heart of the
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: issue that we can understand as he does in any
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: part of his book. Verse 3, he is not in denial.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: He doesn't act like he is not in pain. He
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: is in pain. And so he says, oh, that I
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: knew where I might find him, that I might come
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: to his seat. I would present my case before him
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: and fill my mouth with arguments. Lord, Lord, I'm covered
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: with all these sores. I've lost all of my children.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: I've lost everything. I walked with you.
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: I served you. I have faithfully presented your cause.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: I have prayed for my children now that they're adults.
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: I have done all that I know to do the right.
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: Look at me. Look at me and look at what
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: was once my home and my.
• 36:19
  Speaker 3: Farm.
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: It's all gone.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: Lord, help me. I would come before him, he says.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: I would fill my mouth with arguments. Then verse 5,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: I would learn the words which he would answer and
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: perceive what he would say to me. Would he contend
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: with me by the greatness of his power? No, surely
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: he would pay attention to me. He wouldn't throw me
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: out of the court. He would pay attention to me.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: He'd be like a compassionate judge. sitting on the edge
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: of his seat listening to my case.
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: He'd be moved with.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: Compassion over my situation, but I can't find him. Verse 8,
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: I go forward and he's not there. I go backward
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: and I cannot perceive him. Verse 9, when he acts
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: on the left, I can't behold him, and he turns
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: to the right, I cannot see him. Lord, I am
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: at a loss.
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: Ever feel like that? You feel like that at times.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Cynthia and I went through a struggle sometime back over
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: a situation we were working through. And I said to
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: her on more than one occasion, I feel like the
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: heavens are brass. I can't get through. A little later
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: she'd say to me, I feel the same way. I
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: just feel like we're just giving words out in the room.
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: You ever do that? Yes, you've done that. Admit that.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: Job was there.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: He said, I can't find him. I look for him
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: and he's not around. If only he could just appear
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: and I could reason my way through this, it would
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: help so much. Sounds like Job is getting thin in
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: his faith. Look at verse 10. But, it's one of
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: my favorite sections. He knows the way that I take.
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: When he has tried me, I will come forth as go. Ah,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: it's great.
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: Great insight. The will of God is a test.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: When he has tried me, the will of.
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: God is not about geography.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: It is not about occupation.
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: It is not so much about what car you drive.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: It is not centered so much in the little picky details.
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: Of every part of every day. that we worry over.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: It is about the big picture of becoming like Christ
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: and the test we pass through to check our obedience
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: on root. He knows the way I take what he's
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: tried me. I'll come forth as gold. I haven't doubted
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: his word. Look at how he puts it. My foot
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: has held fast to his path. I've kept his way
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: and not turned aside. I've not departed from the command
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: of his lips. I've treasured the words of his mouth
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: more than breakfast, lunch, and.
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: Supper put together.
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: What God has said, I live in the riches of.
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: I imbibe.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: I embrace. But I don't understand. I don't understand why
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: he's doing this. There's a mystery here. And you know what,
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: men and women? That's okay. In fact, it's as he's
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: planned it. I think we're wasting too much time trying
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: to come up with exacting answers today. to explain the
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: acts of a profound creator. And I think we ought
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: to stop doing that. I think that's how Job endured
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: all that he went through. He says he's unique.
• 40:11
  Speaker 2: Who could turn him? What his soul desires, he does.
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: He performs what is appointed for me. And there are
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: a lot of such decrees with him.
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: He's up to something. My physical condition is there notwithstanding.
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: It's all part of the gold making. Does it make
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: the journey easy? It does not. Does it make it simple?
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: It does not. It makes it bearable. Because God makes
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: no mistakes. But it doesn't make good sense to people
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: like us because we are riveted to earth. We don't
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: like dangling things. We don't even like dangling participles. We
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: don't like dangling stories. You like a movie to end things.
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: Don't you hate it when the credits start? You go,
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: want to know who won. I want to know how
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: that thing came out. And it ends. I often think
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: it ends because the guy who wrote it didn't know
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: how to end it. And so he just kind of
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: does that at the end, making you think he's really bright.
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: But a lot of life, just the credits roll before
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: you get the thing figured out. You lost the child
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: you prayed for and trusted God to sustain. You lost
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: the romance that you thought was sure to lead to marriage.
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: It ended. He or she walked away from you.
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: You lost a marriage that you thought he had put together.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: I could go on with this. I mean, the hospitals
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: are full of stories that are wrapped in mystery inside
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: an enigma. We don't know. And it's okay. See, it's
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: the okay part that requires thinking theologically. I think that's
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: where peace comes from. I think you can just leave
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: it with God. I really do. That's what Job does. Okay,
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: we're going to wrap it up in Romans 8. When
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: you're ever not real sure how to finish it up,
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: Romans 8. It works every time. It's wonderful. I don't
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: know what I'd have done in half my life if
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: I hadn't had Romans 8. You just don't know what
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: else to say. Okay, when I think theologically, let's try
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: to put this into one, two, three kind of simple
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: terms so we'll all understand. We Americans like that. We like,
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: you know, you've got to have something to go home with.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: So here we go, one, two, three, four, let's do it.
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: Number one, we first wait and persevere. I mean, when
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: we can't figure it out, we wait and we persevere.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: You don't run, you don't fight, you wait and you persevere.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: You get the x-ray from the doctor, you wait, you
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: persevere through it. You may get sick to your stomach,
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: you may throw up in the bathroom, You may feel
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: your head spin. You may be knocked back when the
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: word cancer comes in the report or whatever it may be.
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: It's there. You've got to deal with it.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: Wait.
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: Persevere. Wait.
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: Look at verse 25. If we hope for what we
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: That takes faith. That takes faith.
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: Lord God, I don't know how to explain it.
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: I don't know why this happened.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: Why now? Why me?
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: Why this?
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: I wait for you. I persevere through this time because
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: you make no mistakes and you don't have to explain
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: it to me. I'm going to trust you right now.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: We wait. We persevere. We risk trusting him, not knowing
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: how it's going to come out. I'm telling you how
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: you go through it when you can't figure it out. Second,
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: we face the test head on, on our knees, 26
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: and 27. In the same way, the Spirit also helps
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: our weaknesses, helps our weakness. We do not know how
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: to pray as we should. Ever been there? A hundred
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: times we've been there. But the Spirit himself intercedes for
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: us with groanings too deep for words.
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: What does that mean?
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Had a woman tell me after the
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: first church service, well, it may mean tongues. Where in
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: the world does that come from? Out of groanings too
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: deep for words. He isn't even talking about tongues. That's
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: not about tongues. Don't jump to those kind of conclusions.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: The Spirit interprets, I guess it means the Spirit interprets
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: our groanings that are too deep for words. And He
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: takes the groans, the ugh, Ah, the alas from Jeremiah's lips.
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: Lord God, what is this about? And we groan, we
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: groan through times like this. The Spirit intercedes as we
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: groan on our knees. I don't know why I lost
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: my job when I did, of all times. I don't
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: know why I'm left to raise these four children on
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: my own without the help of a mate.
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: I don't know why, Lord, I groan before.
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: You and the Spirit intercedes for us with those words
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: that are, those terms that are too deep for words.
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: Look at verse 27.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: It's wonderful. He who searches the hearts knows what the
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: mind of the Spirit is because he intercedes for the
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: saints according to the will of God.
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: Isn't that great? My groan gets interpreted according to the
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: will of God.
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: So when I face the test head on, on my knees,
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: it takes humility. The first takes faith. This takes humility.
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: I'm willing to surrender. Surrender my child. I'm willing to
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: surrender my child. I'll weep as long as my grief lasts.
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: I can't stand the thought of losing one or a grandchild.
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: I will do that, Lord. I will do that as
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: I wait for you in this place. I'm helpless to
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: change it. I'm doing all I can to get the
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: medical help we need. If that doesn't work, I'm cast
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: on you. And if death comes, Lord, it's part of
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: your plan. Okay, we're getting very, very serious right now.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: And it works against our human nature to release anything.
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: We clutch.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: Remember? But here we humbly.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: Release as we face this test head on. We're going
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: to learn in the process what he's doing. Look at
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: verse 28. Now we rest in our sovereign God and
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: his plan. Verse 28. I tell myself sometimes out loud,
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: this is for my good and for God's glory, even
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: though I can't explain it. I was driving in my
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: car several weeks ago when our grandson was so sick.
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: And I remember driving home, having visited the hospital, and
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: he was laying there on that little tiny crib, or
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: that looked like a huge crib, but that little tiny
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: precious body, kind of a gray color. And I said
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: to Cynthia, I think we're going to lose him. I
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: could hardly get the words out of my mouth. And
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: I remember just saying, without even closing my eyes, I said, Lord,
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: I rest in you. You know what's best. You know
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: the reason for this. You know we want that little boy.
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  Speaker 1: But he's yours. He was yours before he was ever ours.
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  Speaker 1: We rest in our sovereign God. We know that God
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  Speaker 1: causes all things. Look at all things. That's included in it.
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: Your situation. Now if you think theologically, you won't. You
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: won't put a border around all things.
• 48:45
  Speaker 2: You'll let it be all things.
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  Speaker 1: Your loss, your gain, your prosperity, your bankruptcy, the accident,
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: the fall, the disease, the losses, whatever. All things work
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: together for good to those who love God, to those
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: who are called according to his purpose. So we rest
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: in our sovereign God. We rest in his plan, which
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: is full of surprises. And fourth, we remember we're being
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: conformed to the image of Christ.
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: We're not getting our own way.
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: God's will is all about God and not about us.
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: We remember we're being conformed to the image of Christ. 29,
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  Speaker 1: whom he foreknew he predestined to become conformed to the
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: image of his son. This kind of thinking takes faith,
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: it takes humility, it takes flexibility, and it takes sensitivity.
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: Do I need to give that again? It takes faith,
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: it takes humility, it takes flexibility, it takes sensitivity. Stubborn
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: wills will never get this. Your will's got to be crushed.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: Got to be broken, shaped, twisted, changed, so that you
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: wind up saying, uh, It's your plan that's important, Lord,
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: not my wish. I didn't bring myself into this earth,
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: and I can't take myself into heaven.
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  Speaker 2: What's wrong with that? That's great theology.
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  Speaker 1: I suggest that you make it a goal for your
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: life to learn to think theologically. You'll have a lot
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: less struggles, a lot less arguments, at least with others.
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: You'll still have arguments with God, and that's okay. great
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: thing about arguing with God, He never tells anybody. Isn't
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: that great?
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: He doesn't talk about you behind your back.
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: He can handle it. I have a dear friend who's
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: now passed into glory, but he was a classmate of
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: mine at Dallas Seminary. He and his wife had this
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: wonderful little boy, firstborn, and After they finished the seminary,
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: they moved to Southern California where he was going to
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: work on his doctorate. He earned his doctorate at USC.
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: While there, they had another child and yet another. Two
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: girls followed the little boy, and one day this little
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: boy stumbled into a neighbor's pool and drowned. They lost
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: that little boy, the adorable little boy. And my friend
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: told me, that his grief knew no bounds. This fine
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: man of God said he got into his car and
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: he drove the freeways of Los Angeles into the early
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: morning hours, just screaming out.
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  Speaker 4: To God about his loss of his boy and all
• 52:00
  Speaker 4: of the dreams and hopes and wishes and desires he
• 52:03
  Speaker 4: had for that little boy.
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  Speaker 3: Gone!
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  Speaker 1: He said, I pulled back almost at dawn into my
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: driveway and stopped. And the things I had said, he said,
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  Speaker 1: I would never repeat to another soul. But it dawned
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: on me when I got back home, God could handle
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: all of this. He could hear me and he could
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: understand where it's coming from. Isn't that great? Thinking theologically. Theologically.
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  Speaker 2: We've had enough humanism, okay? We've had enough human logic
• 52:45
  Speaker 2: for five more centuries.
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  Speaker 1: Let's just stop it.
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: Let's practice words like.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: I will trust.
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  Speaker 1: I can't explain. I release whatever. Whatever.
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  Speaker 2: Because the star of the show.
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: Is God. He is the beginning. He will be the ending.
• 53:25
  Speaker 2: And in between, by His grace, He lets us kind
• 53:30
  Speaker 2: of flit on the screen.
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: Like a little net. That's enough of you. That's not
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: like that, you know. But the point is, He's He's
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: maneuvering a plan that's perfect. It'll be for his glory
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: and for our good. All of our losses and heartaches, joys, sorrows, notwithstanding.
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: Thinking theologically. If you counsel, counsel people theologically. If you advise,
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: advise them theologically. If you're going through a trial, go
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: through it theologically.
• 54:19
  Speaker 2: Theologically, biblically. This book, this is it. This is the stuff.
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: This is it.
• 54:32
  Speaker 2: Not the Koran. This, this book. Not some mystic religion.
• 54:39
  Speaker 2: This book, it'll get you through.
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: You can do it. Let's bow together. I realize that
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: you may have never met Jesus Christ as your Lord
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: and Savior, and some of this may sound pretty goofy
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: because you don't know Christ. You've maybe encountered religion and
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: been told to give up this or stop doing that,
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: and you'll be better in God's eyes.
• 55:10
  Speaker 2: If you're lost, you're as bad off.
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: As you can possibly be. And until Christ comes into
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: your life, you'll never be any closer.
• 55:18
  Speaker 2: Than bad off.
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: It's called sin, and your sin separates you from your God,
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: and your unbelief holds you at a distance.
• 55:32
  Speaker 2: Christ died that you can live.
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: He paid a price you couldn't pay so that you
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: could know heaven that you could never earn, never deserve.
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: Just trust Him today. Come to the cross. Trust the
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus. Trust Him. Give Him your life. Don't hold
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: anything back. Lord, we come at this a little sideways
• 56:03
  Speaker 1: because we're only human and we're trying to uncover something
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: that's mysterious and designed to be profound and deeper than
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: our understanding. But maybe we've gotten just a corner of it,
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: just a glimpse of it enough to find help in
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: this journey from earth to heaven. And so I pray
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: that as a result of what we have heard regarding
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: faith and flexibility and sensitivity and all these areas that
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: require such a trust in you, that it might help us,
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: genuinely help us in this journey. I pray for those
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: especially troubled today with unanswered questions, that they may be
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: able to find a sense of peace and a corner
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: of calm, having heard what they've heard from your word today.
• 56:59
  Speaker 2: I ask it in Jesus' name. Everybody said.
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: Amen.
• 57:07
  Speaker 3: The preceding message, A Better Way to Look at God's Will,
• 57:11
  Speaker 3: was copyrighted in 1999, 2000, and 2024, and the sound
• 57:16
  Speaker 3: recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 57:21
  Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 57:25
  Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.