No End in Sight

[0:00] We've been working through the book of Job and I had some mixed feelings before we started! Even leading up to thinking about studying this I got the news that I was going to need! heart surgery and I thought to myself oh boy how will God use this series to minister to my own life and I just you know you kind of get those those little senses of anxiety okay what do I have to learn Lord I don't want to learn a lot from Job I don't want to have to learn from suffering but God is has been always faithful isn't he? And there are truths what I've loved about this study is there are truths about God that that are so relevant today and it's been clear it's been clear that God is the same yesterday today and forever and so the things that that Job had to learn the things that his friends had to learn the experiences that he went through were experiences that that those of us and by the way all of us are going to experience suffering at some point or the other if you love Jesus you will experience suffering and by the way it's a gift to you it's a gift to me to experience hard things and so James puts it this way he says count it all joy when when you experience trials why because it's the testing of your faith it produces patience let endurance have its perfect work see God uses hard things to build faith in his people and I would say to build dependence in his people to help his people recognize you can trust God because God is able and and and and so what we know to be true about God intellectually from the scriptures now takes a real practical turn in our life where we have to put faith to action and we have to say okay God I know these truths in your word about you now let me really experience those truths in my life and God graciously grants us the joy of putting faith to work truths to work to see that God is who he claims to be but suffering is a part of life

[2:36] Charles Spurgeon he's one of my heroes he's he was a pastor back in the 1800s and and Charles Spurgeon this mighty preacher of God said this he says I am the subject of depressions of spirit so fearful that I hope none of you ever get to such extremes of wretchedness as I go Job we saw from the very beginning God's commendation of him right have you considered my servant Job he's he's blameless he's upright he fears God he turns away from evil there's no one like him on the earth okay and yet here is Job this terrible grieving and suffering and we saw a couple weeks ago this raw emotion and we think how can a person who loves God how can he say those things how can he feel those things is it right or appropriate for us to kind of give vent at times to to the to the anxiety and and heartache of our soul and the Psalms are a testimony to us that it is right it is good for us to express our emotion to God it is in the expression of our emotion to God that God can now begin to shine a light to say ha I know what you're feeling I know you're what you're experiencing but but I want to call you to myself you're going to be able to find all of the the source of hope and we sang about grace today thank you for singing about the grace of God the comfort we find in God the the hope and help we find in God and that's what our emotion is meant to do it's meant to direct our attention direct our affections direct our confidences and anchor them in God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think so we come to our time this morning and and here we are we're only in in Job chapter 6 and and here it is again we're going to encounter this this this outbreak of emotion that that Job is going to be is going to be working through and and and Job's heart is wrenched it's it's broken over the the trouble that he's experiencing and and and I want us to understand that even though we're still early in our in this book and and even early in our study I want us to recognize that that this is this is a a situation these are sufferings that that Job has experienced probably for months up to this time we're going to see in our passage today just briefly Job references in Job 7 3 he says so I'm allotted months of emptiness and nights of misery are a portion to me then later in the book in Job 29 he'll say this in beginning of verse 2 oh that I were as in the months of old as in the days when God watched over me when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness as I was in my prime when the friendship of God was upon my tent when the Almighty was yet with me when my children were all around me when my steps were washed with butter and the rock poured out for me streams of oil days were good life was great but that was months ago and and I can I can hardly remember I can hardly hardly remember those days when when when life was good and unlike other illnesses that Job has experienced whether our illnesses that that we may experience with skin whether it's boils or or shingles or it's poison ivy that's broken out or eczema whatever it is there's there's usually hope for us that things are are going to come to an end and and usually within weeks it's run its course and we're feeling better but but here is Job months have gone by the pain is intense we'll see briefly in chapter 7 the the

[6:39] significance the intensity of what he is experiencing how hard it was and and there was no relief and no end in sight for him how does a person respond in the midst of suffering we're we're learning some things from Job and we're spending five weeks just kind of working through all of his discourses and and trying to push them together so we can learn what what does what do godly people need to address what what do godly people need to know when when when they're working through and experiencing suffering for themselves a couple weeks ago week one we learned it's okay to cry it's okay for us to express our emotion to God this morning as we're working through no end in sight I I want us to recognize that even when our suffering seems endless there is hope there's hope that we can find in God even with no end in sight next week we're gonna look at the character of God and and see how how bolstering our heart and and and and growing in confidence in the truth of God and looking to him can help to strengthen us in the midst of hard times fourth week we're gonna look at the cry of innocence innocence Job is like why why is this happening to me I I haven't I haven't done anything that's that's worthy of this he evaluates his life and he he pleads his innocence we're gonna see this cry of innocence in a couple of weeks and then Job will conclude with good things happen to bad people and that's kind of been the the whole posture of his friends hey Job God is just and God is sovereign and so since God does the right thing and he's in control of everything then the only people that experience hard lives are those who deserve it Job you must deserve this you must have done something worthy of God's condemnation

[8:37] God's rebuke our desire is to encounter the main struggles that we face in the midst of suffering and this morning as we come to to uh Job chapter 6 I mean just invite you to turn with me uh Job chapter 6 if you're using the pew bible it's on page 420 page 420 and here we're gonna see that that Job in these next two chapters is gonna just express the the anxiety of his heart and and everyone is against him and he begins with God is against me notice in verse 1 he says this then Job answered and said oh that my vexation was weighed and all my calamity laid in the balances for then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea therefore my words have been rash for the arrows of the almighty are in me my spirit drinks their poison the terrors of God are arrayed against me then in verse 8 oh that I might have my request that God would fulfill my hope that it would please God to crush me that he would let loose his hand and cut me off this is in response to the the strong rebuke that Eliphaz his his wisest and oldest friend perhaps provides for us in in Job chapters 4 and 5 and the tenor of of Eliphaz's rebuke kind of comes down to really two verses that we find in chapter 4 the first is chapter 4 verse 6 where he says is not your fear of God your confidence and the integrity of your ways your hope in other words Job if you really are a man of integrity if you if you really are a man who worships God then you would also be a man that's full of hope and and by the way if you're also a man of integrity and also a man who worships God then you would then you would not be a man who's experiencing these kinds of tragedies and so he kind of pushes it into Job's face hey if you are a man of integrity then these two things should be true then in verse 8 of chapter 4 he says as I have seen those who plow iniquity and so trouble reap the same Job you're getting what you deserve all this is your fault you reap what you sow and so here here we go all we have to do is draw a straight line from the consequences and we we can draw that line straight through the the problem and and you are the problem you've reaped the harvest of trouble on your life and here Job is at the outset responding to his friend Eliphaz and I you've got to appreciate the humility of Job I want you to see it here he says my words this is in verse verse 8 excuse me verse 2 it would have been heavier than the sand of the sea therefore my words have become rash Job admits he admits my words have been have been premature they've been rash I've spoken without thinking I have been foolish I have abandoned hope I I the the faith that was so steady and so secure my words are now expressing a question about faith in my heart

[12:07] I can't see the end to my pain and I just want it to be over we can appreciate that but now Job invites his friends to step in a little bit consider the trouble I'm experiencing consider he says my vexation which is another word for sorrow agree for anxiety or sadness and this of course is a direct response to Eliphaz who Eliphaz in chapter 5 verse 2 says surely vexation kills the fool and jealousy slays the simple Job you're the fool and Job says well I suppose I am but let me tell you a little bit about my vexation let me tell you a little bit about my situation and then he compares them to the sand of the sea and and and you know how this works in the old testament that that God he he takes Abraham out he shows him the the sand of the sea and compares uh his future descendants to the stars of the sky and essentially it was a it was another way to talk about the kind of the infinite nature as it were the innumerable or immeasurable nature of the descendants that that Abraham would have and now Job is applying it to his burdens that he's experiencing that that are innumerable unquantifiable it's heavy and the word heavy is the word kavod which is also the word for glory when we talk about the the glory of God we're talking about the weightiness of God or the worthiness of God and now Job applies that word to his situation it is weighty it is burdensome it is inquantifiable in other words will you please put yourself in my shoes will you please show me some sympathy will you please will you please have some compassion on the struggles and trials that I'm facing

[14:00] Eliphaz had come out swinging right he he didn't ask any questions he didn't show any concern he had made all the assumptions and and he assumed some things about Job by the way that that weren't true and he he believed certain things that about God that that were true but he misapplied them we talked about that last week Eliphaz believed that God was just and God was sovereign that God punishes the wicked that God gives them what they deserve that that the God is also merciful and tender and wise and can deliver and every one of those truths we recognize and we affirm but but then he applies those truths to Job's situation and in in in essentially he says but you are to blame this is a result of your own sin Job if this is true about God then this must be true about you and he could have been more wrong Eliphaz has made a huge mistake not to mention he has not appreciated Job's pain he's not he's not tried to sympathize in any way with the struggles that he's experiencing the the huge pressures that are on him the the loss that he's gone through and I wonder I think even in our own counseling even in our own um engagement with individuals who are struggling I find myself and maybe you do at times you see people who are hurting and at times you're like it's just easier to try to find a way to to avoid the subject and try to find a way to to skirt around and and to get to another place so that you don't have to deal with the pain or the struggles that they're going through and yet that's exactly what God has called us to do that God has called us to engage God has called us and we're going to learn about this some more that that the God of all comfort comforts you with his comforts why so that you can comfort others with the same comfort with which yourself have been comforted by God now there's a lot of comforting words there but but at the end of the day it boils down to one thing God of all comfort comforts you with one purpose not only to help you see him but also so that you can be his hands and feet of comfort to others is there a growing sensitivity in your heart to those who are struggling and hurting is there a growing what do i say even interest or desire to engage those around you who are struggling for the sake of being an instrument of comfort god's instrument of comfort to them not trying to avoid the subject not trying to to dodge the issue not to deferring those things to other people who comfort better but that you as god's instrument engage and you press in and you demonstrate the compassion of god to hurting people oh that god would help us to do that job did want this to be over but but as difficult as the pain of his loss was there was a greater difficulty and and and it goes something like this job in other words will say this trial if this trial is really from god then what hope is there for me if this trial is really from god then then what hope do i have what hope is there for anyone and the apostle paul will say if god is for me who can be against me and that gives us hope but but the opposite is also true if god is against us what does it matter if we have the whole world for us and job feels so hopeless god is against me how can i hope if the god i'm hoping in the source of hope is also the source of my trouble

[18:11] he talks about verse 4 the the arrows of the almighty are in him the terrors of god are arrayed against him how can i hope in god if god is set against me things were bad for job but things that were difficult in his life couldn't compare with the difficulty of the hopelessness he felt because god seemed to be against him this difficulty and i think it's important for us to just take a step back as we're working through uh these passages to understand that that job job didn't have the revelation of god in in in in the same way that we do uh they had visions they had the the the word of god that was passed down through generations but they didn't have the the written word of god that we'd hold in our hands and and and and because here we are we're four thousand years past job we have christ in in our rearview mirror in in in the in the revelation of god through the word of god that we have and because of the truths that we have in the scripture there is hope for us there is the the the steady confident faith we can have in in god and there are certain truths we need to remember when we're going through suffering first keep your eyes fixed on the grace of god keep your eyes fixed on the grace of god god i love how peter puts this in first peter chapter 5 verse 10 he says and after you have suffered a little while the god of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in christ will himself restore confirm strengthen and establish you he is the god of all grace all grace all goodness all kindness flows from the source and god is the source of all grace look to him how do we look to god how do we trust in god the god of grace in the midst of hard things there are three things i'll just cover briefly here first we reckon we need to recognize that we are secure in christ if you are in christ you are secure in christ now i just want to i want to cover briefly what does it mean to be in christ well well the the teams this week and you can pray for them every single day as they're sharing the the truth uh of the gospel with uh with the kids that come are going to work through what we call the abcs okay and so what is a team admit what do you admit you admit that you're a sinner right and all of us need to come to a place of admitting that we are sinners all have sinned and come short of the glory of god and that might seem really hopeless but then there's a b what does b believe right and we we believe on the lord jesus christ and we're saved we believe that jesus is the only way to heaven we believe that jesus took the punishment for our sins on himself on the cross he died he rose again he extends to us forgiveness because of his kindness and grace to us and then there's a c what a c confess right we confess with our mouth that jesus is lord we believe in our heart that god raised him from the dead and then we can enjoy salvation we make jesus the king of our lives and so if you have done that then you are secure in christ and there's there there is the security that nothing can touch romans 8 38 and 39 says this i am sure there is neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of christ of god in christ jesus our lord nothing can separate you from the love of christ if you're in it hallelujah

[22:19] second your suffering has a purpose your suffering has a purpose you see sin's god is sovereign and since he's the god of all grace that even in the hard things that you experience there is grace to be found there because there's purpose in the suffering that we go through peter talks about that that that that goal in first peter 1 6 and 7 he says in this you rejoice though now for a little while if necessary you have been grieved by various trials why so the testing the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor the revelation of jesus christ the purpose of trials the purpose of testing is not only to make jesus sweeter for you but to show the world the the quality of those who are in christ the the refining work of god in in refining faith in them in in making them shine as an example of faith to the world your suffering does have a purpose god is over it third find your hope in god find your hope in god you're looking to jesus you're looking to god for grace and and you will be able when you look to him to find your hope in god romans 15 13 puts it this way may the god of all hope you see that may the god of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the holy spirit you may abound in hope that's a work of god you go to the source when you're feeling hopeless when you're feeling in despair you run to the god of hope who will be able to help you enjoy that that abounding hope that is found only in him so job is at the end he he thinks his hope is gone and now as we turn to verses 8 to 13 he thinks his life is over my life is over he says oh that i might have my request that god would fulfill my hope that he would please god to crush me that he would let loose his hand and cut me off this would be my comfort i would even exult in pain unsparing for i have not denied the words of the holy one what is my strength that i should wait what is the is my end that i should be patient is my strength the strength of stones is my flesh bronze have any help in me when resource is driven from me it all seems so hopeless but my life is is already run its course just finish it already is kind of his prayer god if i have no hope in you to turn this situation around at least i can hope in the fact that you are a god of mercy and that you will allow this to run its course you will let it happen swiftly and quickly and you will terminate all this suffering as soon as you can i'm putting my hope in death i'm putting my hope that life will be over soon and i think we'll be i think we can appreciate what job is talking about verse 9 that it would please god to crush me verse 11 what is the point of waiting why suffer anymore if if the end of my course is going to lead to the grave god just let it happen now job of course is at his breaking point he he can't see a reason to hope in god anymore but but at least he can hope in death and and i and i wonder i wonder if the words of job's wife are replaying in his head do you still hold fast your integrity job just curse god and die and yet you've got to appreciate job's integrity in job's faith in this moment because job ultimately

[26:27] entrusted himself to god job could have found a faster way job could have taken a shortcut job could have ended it all on his own he could have cursed god and died he could have done in other ways but but job in this moment continues in integrity to trust the lord with the end the beginning and the end he's not going to take matters into his own hands he's not going to finish the job as it were he's not going to end things on his own in his continuing integrity job incredibly entrusts his present situation and his future to the very god he believes is tormenting him that's amazing to me it is absolutely amazing to me but it does raise a really important issue that we need to address just briefly here this is another remember okay remember that god is the author of life and death remember that god is the author of life and death it is god's prerogative to raise up and to put down it is god's prerogative to make alive and to kill this is the the the work of god he's the one who's sovereign over life and death so we need to to learn of course to keep our eyes fixed on god but what we need to learn that god is is the author of life and death from last week hannah's prayer for her little baby samuel as she prays in first samuel chapter 2 verses 6 to 8 and this is just a reminder she says the lord kills and brings to life he brings down to sheol and he raises up the lord makes poor and makes rich he brings low and he exalts he raises up the poor from the dust he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor for the pillars of the earth are the lord's and on them he has set the world trust in god the giver of life and death this is important for us especially in our culture our atmosphere today and i know this is a delicate topic but it's something that we need to we need to address i was looking at at some statistics and and apparently the suicide rate has increased 37 percent since year 2000 37 percent just a couple of years ago in 2023 suicide was the 11th highest cause of death in the united states it's epidemic over 50 000 people died in 2023 because of taking their own life that is one death for every 11 minutes and i i i i would not be surprised if if some of us in this room have entertained some thoughts of suicide or know somebody who's entertained thoughts of suicide and so it's important for us to address because we must understand that it is god who is sovereign the author of life and death there are some really helpful articles and i would just steer your attention to desiring god uh ministry and website um i was going to put those links in your uh study guides but uh i failed to do that if you if you would like to have those i can give those to you i want to acknowledge that this is not something i have personally struggled with at least the taking of my own life but i have had very dark seasons of despair hopelessness i can remember and i've shared this story of a particular day after a very long segment of of trials and suffering where i called my wife on the way to work and i say i cannot hope anymore hope is gone

[30:30] i don't know the kind of hopelessness that job experienced here but but but but job did what was right his integrity let him understand the significance of it is god who is the author of life and death and so as we consider those who are considering suicide piper puts it this way let's be clear now self-murder is serious we are playing with fire here it is spiritually and eternally serious to murder yourself it is not a light thing end quote and he's referring to first john chapter 3 15 which puts it this way everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him so am i suggesting that if you take your life you are not a christian i am not just like i am not suggesting that if you've ever hated your brother and sister that you're going to go to hell okay that you lose your salvation what i am trying to suggest and what piper will emphasize very clearly here is that if we have a continual perpetual hatred of our brother or sister in christ and if we have a continual and and consistent hatred of ourselves and and it terminates in us killing ourselves or taking our life and there's there's a serious consequences there there's a heart introspection that needs to take place we look at job's life god says have you considered my servant job remember let's let's not forget the fact that job is is is one that god has already commended and he's struggling with these thoughts and and there we know we understand that through the course of scripture that there are godly men moses and david and elijah and others who experience the same god just take my life i'm done but they still entrusted themselves to the lord i think there's one key one key that that will help us if we're ever experiencing this kind of despair this kind of discouragement and it is this we need to fight the fight of faith fight the fight of faith well how do you do that pastor andrew well i think it kind of culminates in in what we find in james chapter 1 verses 2 and 4 it says this counted all joy my brothers when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing okay so so what's going on here what would what would james is calling attention to is the is the success and the secret of thanksgiving you want to you want to bolster faith in your life you want to confront the hard things of your life and rise above them well you gotta call attention to god that is over he's lord over your trials lift yourself out of the the despair that you're in and turn your focus to god and recognize that that he is in charge that he is over this and you can count it all joy now i recognize that there are times we just don't feel like it and we feel insincere we feel that we're not genuine how do i count it joy when i don't feel joyful well sometimes your emotions need to catch up to the truth sometimes you need to you need to go through the motions you need to do what god has called you to do before you can begin to enjoy the benefits of obedience and and part of the benefit of obedience of of thanking god is recognizing that he's over your trial and that through the the perseverance of that trial he is building faith and you can trust him and then just a word a brief

[34:32] word to counselors for for those who are counseling someone who's struggling with these feelings it's important to learn a lesson from job's terrible friends and recognize the importance of listening i love how james put this he says be swift to hear slow to speak that is a good strategy for us listen well and keep your mouth shut maybe ask good questions weep with those who weep show compassion be somebody who speaks honestly as you address the issues in their life so they can understand how serious self-murder is let the word of god speak into the silence and pray for god's direction and i would say especially for you teens i would encourage you teens as you're ministering to your friends who are experiencing this you need to point them to their their authority their their parents their pastors their youth leaders and and be willing to to let them know that you you're you're letting others join the process you don't have to carry this burden by yourself employ the help of others and that would be good for all of us to understand there's strength in the community that god has placed us in okay two more points and a minute to go verse 14 so not only is god against me but now it gets really personal and my friends are against me my friends are against me notice what he says in verse 14 he withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the almighty and by the way the word kindness there is the word chesed which is the word loving kindness or what will be applied to christ or to god uh as the covenant keeper this is the steadfast loyal love this chesed love and and here are his friends his fair weather friends and and and here they are they've shown up but they haven't shown kindness verse 15 my brothers are treacherous as a torrent bed as torrential streams that pass away which are dark with ice and where the snow hides itself when they melt they disappear when it's hot they vanish from their place the caravans turn aside from their course they go up into the waste and perish the caravans of of uh timah look the travelers of sheba hope they are ashamed because they were confident they come and they're disappointed for you have now become nothing you see my calamity and are afraid have i said make me a gift or from your wealth offer a bribe for me or deliver me from the adversary's hand or redeem me from the hand of the ruthless can you hear the words of job here you want to talk about loving god you want to talk about the fear of god you want to talk about integrity and you want to accuse me that i'm not a man of integrity well let's turn the mirror on yourself are you a person who fears god do you do you not forsake the fear of god by not listening and helping to show that has said love of god to others and it's really quite remarkable that job is able to draw this out because what we'll know as the law gets written the torah the first five books of the bible and then as the the time will go on and jesus will show up and he'll say someone will ask him well what's the greatest commandment and of course the greatest commandment is to do what church love the lord your god with all your heart soul mind and strength and the second is like it to do what to love your neighbor as yourself somehow job it's just remarkable to me somehow job is able to put the pieces together with such little information and he knows that a god who created the world who set it all up and who fashioned man

[38:32] with the image of god and printed on him understands the the value of man as they as they reflect the glory of god the image of god and so worship of god is first and of course worship or not worship but but love to their neighbors next and and and job's like come on guys you think you love god well then what's happening here why why isn't there any love flowing in the direction of your neighbor of your friend and we know that to be true too right as we work through the gospel of luke we saw that that we cannot be the kinds of people who give lip service to loving god and are those who don't give a rip about the people around us because loving your neighbor as yourself is just the the hands and feet the legs of putting to work the love of god in in response to others and and so if we don't love others and and john says this if you don't love your brother who you see how can you love god who you don't see those two things are incompatible and job calls them out you're just fair weather friends you're here when things are good you gush when things are rich and he's using this comparison here of the jordan that would overflow in the rainy season when nothing else needs water and then dries up when things are are are really desperate for rain what kind of good are you what kind of friends are you you're so undependable and this is interesting you see my calamity this is verse 21 you see my calamity and are afraid well what are they afraid about well we don't know for sure but but remember in verse 4 of chapter 6 uh job says that the arrows of the almighty are in me my spirit drinks their poison the terrors of god are arrayed against me and i think there's a connection there you guys are afraid that if you show kindness to me that now god is going to be after you some friends you are then job says when have i asked you for anything i've never asked you for a gift you've never bribed me bribed me you've never helped me against an adversary you have never had to pay a ransom for me you you guys are now i'm in my hour of greatest need and you're really nowhere to be found and then in verse 24 and 25 he says this teach me and i will be silent make me understand how i have gone astray how forceful and upright your words are but what does reproof from you reprove if you're correcting me for sin in my life well you let me know what that sin is so i can make a change they couldn't even do that with some friends they were finally in chapter 7 verses 1 to 21 we're not going to read the whole thing but i want to just close with this job essentially says in this section myself is against me god's against me my friends are against me and in everything in my own life personally seems to be against me he will talk about his flesh in the first several verses he'll talk about towards the end in verse 20 20 and 21 he'll talk about the uh the struggles that he has even with his his own sin and everything in job's life is set against him including job let me just briefly touch on some of these things he talks about in verse 1 has not man a hard service on the earth are not his days like the days of a hired hand life is already hard as it is

[42:37] it's just like you've hired yourself out to work then he drops down to verse 3 i'm allotted months of emptiness nights of misery are apportioned to me when i lie down uh when shall i i say when shall i rise but the night is long and i am full of tossing till dawn then verse 5 my flesh is clothed with worms my and dirt my skin hardens then breaks out afresh my days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and come to their end without hope hopelessness remember that my life is a breath my eye will never again see good his physical life all of the trauma that he's experienced has really taken its toll and and job cannot escape because he is the problem at least it's it's being carried by his own body he can't escape the problem and then in verses 20 and 21 notice this to close if i sin what do i do to you you watcher of mankind why have you made me your mark why have i become a burden to you why do you not pardon my transgressions and take away my iniquity for now i shall lie in the earth you will seek me but i shall not be he's come to the end of himself he's struggling he's struggling with uh with his flesh he's struggling with his sin he's struggling with the circumstances that he's experiencing and job is is really enduring much hope is gone i want to just close our time together for us to understand the significance of of the family of god the resource that god has given to us in the family of god to to deal with the struggles that we experience second corinthians chapter one and i wonder larry can you find that for me and put it on the screen second corinthians chapter one i think beginning in verse two the apostle paul will help the church of corinth to try to understand the significance of of the community that god has placed in this this great resource he says blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus christ the father of mercies and the god of all comfort you want comfort you need comfort there is only one place to find it find your comfort in the god of all comfort who comforts us it says in verse four in all of our affliction so that we may able be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by god if you're in need of comfort go to god but but also if you're in need of comfort go to god's people there's something something quite significant about the the community of god's people the family of god and being the hands and feet of god to administer the comfort of god to others and and what is our tendency where our tendency is to run our tendency is to isolate when things are hard our tendency is to want to avoid people and that's the very thing that the enemy wants us to do so we'll never see comfort happen run to god and run and enjoy the comfort that comes through the company of god's people oh that we would be people agents of comfort and hope in a world that is hurting and lost and especially agents of hope within the family of god to help encourage and strengthen believers that we rub shoulders with day by day oh may god help us let me pray lord thank you for this word and for the experience of job and for his integrity that while it seems fractured and it seems raw at times lord i i'm grateful for the fact that he

[46:42] continued to demonstrate uh integrity and strength in the midst of hard times but but lord thank you that we have the revealed word of scripture and thank you that we have uh the grace of christ that we can look back on and especially lord that we have your holy spirit that indwells every believer the the great comforter that's the the the name that's been designated to the spirit he is the comforter lord may we experience and enjoy and embrace the comforter and administer comfort to those around us who are hurting and point them to christ through the process we pray in jesus name amen god bless you have a great week pray for the team