[0:00] With so many topics and scriptures to preach, there's just something that I could not get away from this week. And I think maybe you already understand and know if it's been on your heart as well.
[0:13] What has happened in Arizona with our friends and brother and sister and the loss of their baby boy. And understanding that it's continuing to happen.
[0:23] It's happening. It's probably just getting worse as the days go on. Actually, in this moment. And just in thinking about it, praying about it, just all throughout the day, it's on my mind and heart.
[0:36] And I hope and trust that it is yours as well. That I'm not going to attempt to address the situation or to make sense of it at all. But I do think I would like to offer some perspective on a thing or two.
[0:49] And so we're going to start in Job chapter 1 where I trust you know the story of Job. A very unique story. Not that trouble and trials are unique to any individual.
[1:03] But to this guy in this situation, this is pretty tough. And so Satan challenges God in the beginning of this story. And he's challenging him in regards to the sincerity of God's righteous servant Job.
[1:21] And the Lord then grants Satan permission to touch all that he hath. And you see that in verse 12. The Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power.
[1:32] Only upon himself put not forth thine hand. And so for God to give Satan permission to go after this man. It's a wild thing. It's an amazing thing.
[1:43] It's a fearful thing. But it's, as far as the scripture goes, it's a rare thing. But nevertheless, it takes place. And so Satan goes.
[1:54] And if you know the story in the first chapter, he takes all of his assets, his possessions, his livestock, his oxen that were plowing, the asses that were feeding.
[2:05] He took all of them and consumed all of his sheep and his servants. And then, to make matters worse, he slays his sons and his daughters, ten of them in total.
[2:20] And Job's response to this initial blast of trouble is at the end of the chapter. And I want to read that. It's almost unfathomable what Job says.
[2:32] Look at verse number 20. Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshipped and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither.
[2:48] The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. In all of this.
[2:59] And it's almost, as I said, unfathomable for a man to go through that much suffering and that much loss and to come out talking like that with the mindset that, I didn't bring nothing in.
[3:10] I know I'm not taking anything out. If it's all gone today, so be it. Blessed be the name of the Lord. God is still good. But it's not over yet.
[3:22] And so in chapter 2, we get round 2. In round 2, the Lord allows Satan to put forth his hand, verse number 5, and touch his bone in his flesh.
[3:34] And he says, Behold, he's in thine hand. The Lord allows Satan to go mess with Job's health, with his body. He's not allowed to take his life. That's the only thing.
[3:45] That's the only thing Job could keep is his life. But he lost everything else. And his wife turns on him in this chapter. And then his friends, some mourners, show up to meet with him.
[3:56] And look at verse 13 of chapter 2. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him. For they saw that, notice the phrase, that his grief was very great.
[4:09] It was very great. So great that they were speechless. They were completely astonished. Suffice it to say, it was bad with Job, the position that he's in right here.
[4:21] Now the third chapter, after seven days, Job opens his mouth. And Job begins just cursing the day that he was born, wishing he was dead.
[4:34] Only a man in that much grief and sorrow and anguish can think that way and can talk that way and mean it from every fiber in his being. He just, I don't want to even see tomorrow.
[4:46] I don't want to face another day. I just want it all to end. I want it to be done with. And he has nothing in him that wants to live. He wishes he was dead. He wishes he was never born. He starts asking questions in verse number 11, which is pretty common when trouble comes.
[5:03] Why? Verse 12, why? Later on in the chapter, come around verse 20. Wherefore? And which? What long? And which and why? It's just questions, more questions.
[5:15] Don't understand any of this. In verse 24 of chapter 3, look there. We see the heavy mourning of Job. For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
[5:31] That's the description of his crying, his pain, just roaring out loud, being poured out of his being day and night.
[5:41] And then finally, the end of this chapter. It says, for the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me.
[5:52] And that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet. And the last three words, yet trouble came.
[6:04] Trouble came. Job was successful. He was blessed. He was healthy. He was righteous. He was a righteous man living a righteous life with God, and God was blessing him because of it.
[6:18] And yet, in the back of his mind, he feared, and he worried that one day it's all going to fall apart. One day something's going to happen. And it came.
[6:29] And I'd like to consider with you tonight this account of what this man faced and what he endured, and try to get some perspective on trouble, when trouble comes to the lives of God's children.
[6:45] The age-old question is, why do the righteous suffer? God is good. God is wonderful and loving and holy and righteous. And we, his children, try to obey and live for him.
[6:57] Then why do the righteous suffer? Or the, it's the forever philosophical no answer question. And I want to just, at the very least, give some perspective that may help.
[7:10] Because some of you've endured some things in your life already, and there's more to come. You're going to, you know, if you're alive and breathing, then there's trouble around the corner.
[7:21] And you don't look for it. And you don't long for it. You don't anticipate, you don't live every day in anticipation of, oh no, what's going to, you know, we don't live that way. We walk with God. We trust God. We serve the Lord.
[7:32] But we know, in the back of our mind, it could happen. It might happen. I've had that fear, if you want to call it a fear. Just, it's never left me. From early in our marriage, just seeing things happen to families and good people, and just feeling like, when's it going to happen to us?
[7:50] When's it coming? Somewhere God's going to put us through it. Somewhere we're going to face it. And there's Job saying, I greatly feared it, and it came upon me.
[8:00] I was afraid of it. It's come unto me. Trouble came. Now, before we go any further, just take two quick verses. Look at chapter 5 and verse 7. I mentioned that you're going to face some trouble in this life, if you haven't already.
[8:16] Chapter 5, verse 7. Yet man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. It's just a normal thing. One more verse is chapter 14 and verse 1.
[8:28] Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. And so trouble's going to come.
[8:41] But I want to give you some perspective on trouble and use this story here as our example that we can draw some things from. So let's pray before we do that. God, please help us to make sense of this in the right manner.
[8:53] Please guide my mouth and guide every thought tonight. And may the word of God give us help and illuminate our minds and our thinking to be above what we see and feel, but to consider things from heaven and from eternity.
[9:08] And Lord, our thoughts are not your thoughts, but you've penned this book for us to read and study and understand. So please give us understanding. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
[9:19] So I want to give you a perspective, first of all, on Job's condition. On Job's condition. Because I don't think that any man has ever experienced the depth of loss and the depth of pain on a human level.
[9:35] I know hell and the lake of fire takes it to a whole other place. But humanly speaking on earth, I don't know if you can top Job's story here. A lot of people's had trouble.
[9:46] They've felt pain and felt sorrow, but very few can relate, even in a small way, much less entirely, with what Job and the condition that Job's in.
[9:56] So let's get some perspective on his condition. We already mentioned that the man lost everything. Ten children he buried. Ten?
[10:06] All ten of them he buried. And when I told my mother what happened with her brother, she said, yeah, that happened with a family here in our church.
[10:18] And at the funeral, the father got up and the first thing he said was, no parent should ever have to bury their child. It just shouldn't have to happen. It just feels like it just isn't right.
[10:31] An imbalance. And Job buried all ten of them. All ten had different personalities, different names, different gravestones. All ten of them had memories and stories that would have flooded that man's, that father's mind as he buried them.
[10:50] And as he just melted in pain and sorrow. I'm sure it overwhelmed his heart to consider that and to know that.
[11:01] These were his children. He lost all of his possessions, as we've seen. He was a wealthy man, a wise man. He had so much. We didn't read it, but in chapter one, it was thousands and thousands of livestock and animals.
[11:16] And just had it together. He just knew how to handle things. He wasn't a fool. He fooled his money or soon departed, but not Job. He handled his business and then just one day, poof, it's all gone.
[11:28] And it was not his doing. It wasn't a greedy decision on his side. It was just, he's been righteous and he's been faithful and he's done everything right. And it's gone.
[11:41] And now he's not wealthy. And he wasn't even so concerned about, oh, I'm not wealthy. I mean, but it was gone. All that he worked for just left right through his fingers.
[11:53] And here we see that in chapter two, his health is gone. And if you've known anything or have ever been around people that don't have health, like they are in such a bad way, they'll give every dime they have to get their health back.
[12:06] Like, you can't joy in your riches and in your accomplishments in life when you're laying on your back and you're full of boils or you've got some incurable disease.
[12:16] All of that just means nothing to you. And there Job is, just took another hit. And so now he's diseased. He's broken. He's sitting among the ashes in chapter two in verse, where's that?
[12:30] Verse number eight. He's sitting among the ashes and there's very little hope because his wife then shows up and she just begins to lay into him.
[12:42] And I understand she's grieving too, and maybe even more so than Job over all of this. And being more emotional and not being able to just, she just vents it upon her husband and drops it on him.
[12:56] And I don't doubt that Satan's behind that too because of the very wording of what she says. It doesn't seem like those words came out of her grieving heart, but rather out of this contest between Satan and God.
[13:09] And so now that Job has even another level being dumped on him, you can only imagine of all the grief and loss and sorrow and pain, to be going through it with someone that you can just hug and hold and cry with has got to be, at least there's that.
[13:28] But now there's a confrontation between he and his spouse. Now they're not talking. And that's just, it just makes it worse. Can it get any worse?
[13:40] And you think, well, why are we considering his condition? The real reason is because three friends are about to show up. They're going to attempt to help. But what they ended up doing was only make things worse.
[13:54] So let's get some perspective on Job's condition. I think it was probably as low as you can possibly go. I don't think I am even doing it justice just by iterating to you what we're reading.
[14:05] But to try to spell it out for you and make you feel what he felt, I don't even think we could do that. But let's get some perspective, secondly, on the comforters. Let's read this in chapter 2 and verse 11.
[14:18] Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Namathite.
[14:32] For they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. And when they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they lifted up their voice and wept and they rent every one his mantle and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven.
[14:47] So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights and none spake a word unto him. For they saw that his grief was very great.
[15:00] Let's get some perspective on the comforters. And we're going to spend some time on this because it's very, very, we can learn from this, I believe. We need to learn from this. These three friends, verse 11, Job's three friends, they heard, they caught word of all this evil and they made an appointment together.
[15:21] We need to go visit him. We need to go mourn with him and to comfort him. Those are their intentions. They cared for their friend.
[15:32] They made their trip. They decided we're going to comfort him. We're going to mourn his loss. So this is very noble, very friendly, very, what you'd expect of a good friend.
[15:45] And they show up. But they found out that they had no idea what was really going on. What condition Job was truly in.
[16:00] In verse number 12, we read, They lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not. They didn't even recognize their own friend. The friend that they knew was healthy.
[16:11] He was wealthy. He had it put together. He was an upright man. He was an upstanding citizen, a civil man, a classy man.
[16:22] Then he, I'll give you a quick glimpse of the guy that they were remembering. Look at chapter 29. Flip over to 29 and let's just read a little bit of Job's, just the kind of guy he was.
[16:39] I'll start in verse 1 and read a little bit here. Job 29. Moreover, Job continued his parable and said, Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me, when his candle shined upon my head and when by his light I walked through darkness.
[16:57] As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle, when the Almighty was yet with me and when my children were about me, when I washed my steps with butter and the rock poured me out rivers of oil, when I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street, the young men saw me and hid themselves.
[17:19] And the aged arose and stood up. Really? The aged men rose up for Job? The princes refrained talking and held their hand on their mouth. The nobles held their peace and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.
[17:34] When the ear heard me, then it blessed me. And when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me. Because I delivered the poor that cried and the fatherless and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me.
[17:47] And I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness and it clothed me. My judgment was as a robe and a diadem, like a king when he judged, when he spoke.
[17:59] I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and the cause which I knew not, I searched out and I break the jaws of the wicked and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
[18:12] Like Job was just, he just did right. He was the best guy you've ever met or ever heard of. That's the kind of reputation he had. The kind of life that he lived. When his three friends showed up looking for Job, the guy that's sitting among the ashes, the guy that had shaved his head bald, that is filthy and covered from head to toe with boils, he looks like some beggarly, grotesque figure, probably lost a lot of weight.
[18:41] They don't even recognize him. That is not the man that they call Job. The perspective here is when they show up, they have no idea how bad his condition is.
[18:53] They're shocked to see him in this condition. They're shocked to see just a shell of a man that they knew. To see that he doesn't even care how he looks right now.
[19:06] They've never seen Job not looking his best, with fine clothing and fine raiment and just put together. I'm sure his wife wore it well as the same.
[19:17] These people were, they were well to do. And now they're shocked to see he doesn't care. They're shocked to see where he's at. I mean, he's laying there among the ashes.
[19:29] I'm imagining, I think rightfully so, as they approached his property, they're thinking, we're going to, one of his servants is going to escort us into the master bedroom, the chambers where Job is, no doubt the servants that remain are caring to his wounds and dressing his wounds and giving him whatever he needs and desires, just trying to make him comfortable.
[19:50] He's probably laying on the finest of sheets and has the best of the best just to help him be as comfortable as possible in this horrible, horrible time. And yet these three friends, these comforters show up and the flowers and the gifts and the cards, they just drop them on the ground because they're useless.
[20:15] This is not what we anticipated. It's not what we expected when we came to see our friend. And all the words and all the smiles or the hugs, they've just vanished because that's not happening.
[20:29] And there, their grotesque-looking, meager friend sits filthy in the ashes, moaning and mourning and wailing.
[20:42] And so these men, verse 13, sat down with him on the ground. You know why? What could they do? They couldn't leave. You can't walk up on that and be like, well, didn't expect that.
[20:56] They couldn't turn around and leave. They couldn't comfort him. They couldn't say anything. They were stuck. So they sat down.
[21:08] And they just looked at each other and they looked at him and they began to mourn with him. And one day went by and another day went by and they were stuck there.
[21:19] They couldn't leave. They can't say anything. This is so bad. And finally Job breaks the silence.
[21:29] And finally Job begins to vent his pain to them and his confusion and his frustration and his sorrow.
[21:40] And these three comforters, these three friends, sat by Job and they listened. and as they're listening, they're thinking about the words and they're weighing the words that Job is saying.
[21:59] They're weighing Job's outlook on this horrible experience. And the three friends concluded, something's not right. Job is not right.
[22:18] Job, this is not the way it happens with people that are living righteously. This is what happens when people do wrong when they live wickedly.
[22:29] So they're thinking in their minds, this just, is this not adding up? Job, Job's obviously wrong with what he's saying, with what he's just venting and spewing out in his pain.
[22:43] And I need to say that I want us all to get this clearly, that make this note that these men meant well.
[22:54] And these men were doing fine until they opened their mouth. And look at chapter 4 and verse 1.
[23:06] Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? His question is, is it going to upset you if we offer our input here?
[23:23] Is it okay if we talk? And I wish somebody would have said, Eliphaz, no, no, no, absolutely not. Just, just, don't do it.
[23:36] Don't speak. Just shut up and listen. Just be present. But don't, don't say it. Just be there for him.
[23:47] His grief is very great. If you don't agree with what he says, so what? It's not you. You didn't bury your kids. If you don't like the way he's talking right now, just give him some space.
[24:00] Just have some grace with him. Let him be. But Eliphaz, at the end of verse 2, after asking the question of Job, if it would be okay, Eliphaz says, but who can withhold himself from speaking?
[24:19] Oh, Eliphaz, you can't keep your mouth shut. You can't just let it go. You have to offer your thoughts. You have to offer your opinions.
[24:31] And we know the story, right? It goes downhill from here for Job. They showed up to comfort him. They didn't comfort him.
[24:42] They attacked him. They accused him. And he found himself defending himself to these three friends. The perspective we get on the comforters is they mean well.
[24:58] And their heart goes out to their friend and brother. They desire to comfort him. They're not happy that he's in this place. But there's absolutely nothing they can humanly do to make anything better for Job.
[25:14] And his friends are no help because they don't understand the situation. They can only judge what they observe. They can only base their judgment or discernment upon their own experience, what they think likely is happening here.
[25:30] But they don't have the ability to help them. They try and they fail. Look over at chapter 16. And Job just wants them to shut up.
[25:45] In chapter 16 and verse 1, then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things. Miserable comforters are ye all. Shall vain words have an end?
[25:57] Like, will you ever shut up? Or what emboldeth thee that thou answerest? Why do you think you're so smart? I also could speak as ye do.
[26:09] If your soul were in my soul's stead, I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you. But I would strengthen you with my mouth. And the moving of my lips should assuage your grief.
[26:23] Though I speak, my grief is not assuaged. Though I forbear, what am I eased? Just nothing's helping. Nothing at all is helping.
[26:36] Definitely not the friends. And so let's take some perspective from this situation as comforters. When you want to comfort somebody, realize that if no one asks for your opinion, don't give it to them.
[26:50] When they're in trouble, if you want to comfort them, give them space to deal with it however they need to deal with it. If they don't come back to church the next Sunday, so be it.
[27:03] If they don't come back for a month, so be it. If you don't see them for a while, just get on your face and pray for them. And love them. And be available.
[27:14] And be gracious. And realize that you cannot understand the trouble that they're in and the pain that they feel. you just can't understand it.
[27:27] And so while you keep yourself removed and say, well, if God in this, shut up. You're a miserable comforter. And you think you're right.
[27:39] You think you have the answers. And let us learn from these men that were good guys. They loved this man. But they were dead wrong. But let's get a perspective on something else.
[27:54] Let's get some perspective on the cause. The cause for all of this. Because nobody on earth, nobody on earth was aware of what was actually going on.
[28:06] Job himself was confused. In chapter 10, let me find that. In chapter 10 in verse 2, he said, I will say unto God, do not condemn me. Show me wherefore thou contendest with me.
[28:20] Show me. Tell me what I did wrong. Why you're against me. Because he doesn't understand. He's totally confused. And Job is hurt. Look at chapter 6. And just, these are some really strong, powerful words to hear his heart.
[28:34] In chapter 6, Job answered and said, oh, that my grief were throughly weighed and my calamity laid in the balances together. For now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea.
[28:44] Therefore, my words are swallowed up. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. The poison whereof drinketh up my spirit. The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
[28:56] He's just, he's in a bad, bad way. He wants God to tell me why. And then beyond that, he's frustrated with his comforters.
[29:09] He says in verse, you're looking at chapter 6, look at verse 24. He's telling these guys, teach me and I'll hold my tongue. Cause me to understand wherein I have erred. What have I ever done?
[29:20] Tell me, prove it to me. He calls them miserable comforters. But let's get some perspective on the cause. Trouble came, but only God and Satan knew why and where it came from.
[29:38] we can read chapter 1. We have the word of God. We can look back and get the back story and we can realize then there's actually a lot more that meets the eye here going on.
[29:54] But Job didn't know and Job's friends did not know. But there is some things that we do know having chapter 1 and 2 and seeing what was taking place.
[30:07] Trouble came, but the trouble, what we know is that the trouble was not to humble Job because Job wasn't an arrogant man. He wasn't a proud and evil man.
[30:18] He didn't look down on others. He didn't glory in his wealth or his reputation. Job feared God and Job eschewed evil. He was an upright man.
[30:30] In the Bible you can read about trouble coming for Nebuchadnezzar. But that was to humble him because he needed humbling. And there's others but not Job.
[30:41] So this didn't come to humble him. This didn't show up. Trouble did not come to punish him. Not for his iniquities. Although look at chapter 4.
[30:52] That's what his friends supposed. Chapter 4. Look at verse number 7 and 8. Eliphaz speaking. He says, Remember I pray thee whoever perished being innocent or where were the righteous cut off.
[31:06] Even as I have seen they that plow iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same. That's what's going on here Job. But he was dead wrong.
[31:17] So the trouble came but it was not to humble him. It was not to punish him. Would you consider this that the trouble came not to punish him for iniquity but actually the opposite was true.
[31:29] it was because he was a righteous man. That's why the trouble that's that's why this whole thing started because he was a righteous man.
[31:41] And with the word of God we understand that when trouble came it was a permitted testing or proving of Job's righteousness and of his integrity.
[31:55] Look at chapter 2 again. So the if we compared chapter 1 I guess let's do this quickly. In chapter 1 let's find that in verse number 8 the Lord said unto Satan hast thou considered my servant Job that there is none like him in the earth a perfect and an upright man one that feareth God and escheweth evil.
[32:22] And Satan says no that's not true. It's just because you've been so good to him. If you weren't blessing him then he'd be like the rest of them. So that's the statement.
[32:33] Now turn over to chapter 2 after Satan brings the first round of all of this upon him, takes his children and all of his wealth. Verse number 3 The Lord said unto Satan hast thou considered my servant Job?
[32:45] There's none like him in the earth, a perfect man, perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil. Everything's the same he holdeth fast his integrity although thou movest me against him.
[33:03] Job is a righteous man with integrity in him. Those two words go together in here. And the Lord God says you tried but he's still holding, he won't give in.
[33:15] He's holding fast his integrity. He's going to keep doing right no matter what comes and Satan says no that's because you haven't let me touch him and then he tries round two and fails again.
[33:28] Look at verse 9, that's why I mentioned his wife earlier because look what she comes and tries to put on him. In verse 9 then said his wife unto him dost thou still retain thine integrity?
[33:40] I don't understand where she came up with that concept except that somebody that was in the conversation between God and Satan and I don't think it was God put that into her to go after her husband and chew him out.
[33:54] And so she throws that at him and his response is you're talking like a foolish woman. Are you kidding me? I'm not going to turn on God just because bad things happen to me.
[34:05] Should we receive good at the hand of the Lord and not evil? Should everything just be wonderful in life? Is that what this is? And Job didn't sin with his lips. He retained his integrity through round two of Satan's attempt.
[34:20] the trouble came and it turns out it wasn't because he needed to be humbled or needed to be punished for sin but rather the opposite it was because he was living right.
[34:32] It is because he was living for God that it showed up. Look at chapter 27 there's one last verse here from Job chapter 27 and look at him talking here halfway through the book in verse one moreover Job continued his parable and said as God liveth who hath taken away my judgment and the almighty who hath vexed my soul all the while my breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils my lips shall not speak wickedness nor my tongue utter deceit God forbid that I should justify you till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me my righteousness I hold fast and will not let it go my heart shall not reproach me so long as
[35:33] I live if I could put it in just plain terms Job said I am not given up I not given in I am going to stay with God and do what I know is right to do the Lord gave the Lord took away but I am going to keep doing right now trying to put some perspective on the cause on the comforters and on his condition tonight trying to offer some perspectives on this entire situation that Job is in because it gives us an understanding that we don't often have the right way of looking at trouble the comforters that that loved him and meant so much they just wanted to help they ended up making it worse and Job's in the trial of his life and he didn't know why it came and he didn't know where it came from he's just confused and that doesn't help a bit when you're hurting!
[36:35] by the end of this book in chapter 42 the Lord shows up and the Lord blesses the latter end of Job more than the beginning and Job held fast his integrity and he held fast his righteousness and he didn't know what God was going to do with that he just knew that I'm not going to give up and I'm not going to quit and that's something that's true for you and I in the troubles of our lives is by the end of the book the Lord shows up and the Lord's blessings on us are going to far exceed the good and far exceed the evil that we experienced in this life because when the Lord shows up so shall we ever be with the Lord now trying to give you some perspective on trouble and I hope that one thing you can take away is to help you to be a better comforter as well as understand things that
[37:37] God sees from his vantage point that is not ours that things we don't see and so all we can do is just trust him all we can do is just give it to him and keep going the best that we can until he finally puts an end to all the trouble now I Luke chapter 22 this is a verse that's just been on my heart for these last couple days and I think it's the best thing I can say to all of us in regards to full circle back to our friends Vic and Lucy and their tragedy in Luke 22 if you want to be a comforter to those who are in trouble then there's one specific thing that you can pray that I think it's about as good as it can be in this passage if we compared Matthew Mark and
[38:37] Luke and John all together you'd find this to be the night of his betrayal and arrest and you'd find that the Lord is identifying some things with his disciples that they're going to forsake him and flee Peter you're going to deny me this is in verse 34 Peter you're going to deny me and where I want to point out is verse 31 the Lord says to Simon he says this Simon Simon behold Satan hath desired to have you that word you is plural that means all eleven of the disciples that are there Satan hath desired to have all eleven of you that he may sift all of you as wheat he just wants to just erect this thing all to pieces but he turns to Simon in verse 32 he says but I have prayed for thee these next five words that thy faith fail not and when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren because
[39:42] Simon's going to deny Christ three times that night and then Simon's going to feel so! He's going to go out and weep bitterly and just feel like I thought I was the biggest and the toughest I swore to him that I'd die with him and then I couldn't even acknowledge I knew him he felt like the weakest puppy just a pathetic man and he hated what he did and he's gonna Simon you're gonna want to quit you're gonna just want to feel like you're gonna want to walk away from it but I prayed for you Simon I prayed for you specifically that thy faith fail not not praying for all of these things for your comforts and for your help and for your this and that I'm praying for your faith because it's the faith that will get you through the trouble it's your faith in the
[40:45] Lord and the Lord Jesus Christ and his word that will get you through it and if you want to comfort them who are in any trouble pray that their faith fail not because their heads and their hearts are going to be filled with pain and filled with sorrow and anguish like you're not even understanding and there's going to be horrible thoughts that come through and they're going to think of quitting but you pray that their faith doesn't fail and that the Lord can use that in them to carry them through and to in time overcome and to lift them up in due time I think that's a prayer that we should all be praying for those that are in trouble is praying that their faith would not fail in the storm that that inside voice of the Lord Jesus
[41:45] Christ would be real to them and carry them through it's not the things on the outside that we do and give and it's not those things that help and comfort nothing like what on the inside can do and so that's where the prayer is that's the prayer Jesus Christ offered in the gravest of times so that's the conclusion there tonight hope if anything it's a help to you in some way whether it has to do with the one situation or any other troubles coming you're going to be in it and it helps if you're going to have the right perspective on it so let's dismiss and then we can take off father please help us in this time to be what you want us to be to be thoughtful and friends that love at all times pray that your word would be in us and that your spirit would move within us and help us to be a blessing when we can and to pray and to be faithful in praying we pray for your hand upon our friends tonight as we speak please be with them please strengthen their faith on the inside please care for them and lead them and guide them and speak to their hearts and be present and
[43:01] Lord as we face trials in our lives help us to understand that we may not know why and when but we just need to retain our integrity and keep our hearts and minds on you please be with and give us a good day this coming Sunday and we pray this in Jesus Christ's name Amen