[0:00] A new analysis from the U.S. federal government actuaries say that Americans spend $3.65 trillion on health care in 2018, according to a report.
[0:12] The amount, get this, is larger than the GDP, the gross domestic product, of the United Kingdom, Mexico, Spain, and Canada. Americans spend more on health than all the United Kingdom make.
[0:24] Put it in perspective, we have spending, that $3.65 trillion comes out to be $11,000 per person in America.
[0:37] In a Wall Street Journal, Ms. Kelsey G. and Theo Francis, they wrote an article talking about what the best paying industry is. It's no longer bankers and financers. It's now biotech researchers and medical researchers, biotech firms and medical researchers.
[0:51] Why all of a sudden, why all of a sudden a shift from banking industries into the industries concerning people's health? I'm not here to discuss money or finances. I want to talk about Job chapter 2, and the topic I see today is on health.
[1:07] It seems like there's something that's on the minds of America. And because the scripture says in Matthew chapter 6, verse 21, Justice already talked about it. He says, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
[1:19] I think that health and the fear of sickness is on the hearts of many Americans. Because as you can tell, our treasure, almost 18%, 18% of what America makes goes to some type of health.
[1:38] It blows my mind. Our minds and our hearts are definitely concerned about our physical well-being. So the question is this.
[1:50] Why is it we as a nation are so concerned with our physical well-being? Maybe it is true what Satan said in Job chapter 2, verses 4. And Satan answered the Lord, and he said, skin for skin, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
[2:08] You see, up until this time in the story of Job, our main character, our main human character was extremely rich. He was well-respected.
[2:21] He had children. In just a few moments, he lost all of that, right? We all know this story. We've been going over it for the last several weeks. He lost everything, but he kept his integrity.
[2:31] And now in this new chapter, we see, according to Satan, that personal health is the one thing that a man will give to keep. He will give everything to keep.
[2:42] It's the straw, according to Satan, that will break the back of Job. Maybe Satan is right for the rest of the world, but for Job, we already know he's wrong. I don't have the answers on the why.
[2:55] I'm not 100% sure why health is such a major concern in the world. One thing I am almost certain of is this. Is if you live here on earth, if you're a human being, and if Jesus doesn't come back, you will, in one shape or another, be affected with this issue.
[3:17] So the question is, is this. How do we respond to sickness? How do we deal with health problems? Disease might infect you or a loved one.
[3:29] You might get the horrible words from a doctor that you have, you or a loved one might have that dreaded words, you have cancer. You might go blind or struggle with some hereditary disease. I don't know what might happen to you, but this I do know.
[3:42] Some type of sickness is coming if Jesus doesn't come back today. And I would like to show us from the scriptures on how we can deal with this thing like sickness and health.
[3:55] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. I thank you so much for your word. Lord, I thank you for examples like Job. Lord, he could lose everything and including his health.
[4:09] And he can still, without sin of his lips, not curse you, Lord, and praise you. Lord, I ask that you would just work in our hearts. Help us to lift and magnify the giver above the gifts today.
[4:23] Help us to think on how great you are. And direct our minds and our hearts towards you today. For it's in your son's name we pray. Amen. The story, as you already know, goes something like this.
[4:36] Job was the picture. He was the model that everyone probably envied around him. He was perfect, the Bible says in Job 1. He said that he was perfect, meaning he was blameless. He was upright.
[4:47] He was morally correct. His character surpassed all those around him. And almost as equal to his character was his bank account, right? The scripture says that he owned 7,000 sheep. He had 3,000 camels, 500 yokes of oxen, and 500 she-asses, and a very great household.
[5:04] He was loaded with livestock, was he not? He was, what the Bible said, one of the greatest men of all the East. Wow. Who gets that title? He had little to worry about.
[5:15] And on top of that, not only was he loaded, not only had great character, but he was a great father. He was an incredible father. We already talked about this. He had seven sons, three daughters. And boy, did Job really care about those kids, right?
[5:28] He would wake up in the morning. He would wake up early in the morning. And not worrying about himself, not worrying about his job, what did he do? He would make offerings for each of his children.
[5:39] He was worried about his children. And you can read all that in Job 1, verses 1 through 5. You know, after I read this portion of Scripture, I have to swallow my pride.
[5:50] When I hear how great he was, how morally upright, how he was without blame, he was blameless, how he was rich. And on top of that, he was a great father. I'm like, man, this guy's a total package, right?
[6:01] I mean, who does all that and have all those things? Could you imagine living around Job? Could you imagine going to church with Job, being Job's friend? Man, he's always in your head.
[6:13] There's nothing that this guy has done wrong. He's rich and he's a great father. What do we call that type of man in today's day and age? Non-existent. Right?
[6:25] Is that true? Something gives with us. Something has to give. But according to the Bible, God's Word, Job was the epitome of a good man in his era. He was the exemplar in character, in material success, and in parenting.
[6:41] And if I could quote Mark Twain on something, I would say it's this right here. This is what Mark Twain says. Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. You ever see that person?
[6:53] He's like, he's just perfect in everything. He's like, why can't you be like him? He's like, well, shut up. Let's stop talking about him. That's really annoying. That's what Job is. He's the annoyance guy. All right? Right? Nothing gets on my nerves like that, but that's my own personal problem.
[7:05] I need to fix that. But we're in the story. Here in the story, Job is losing everything after verse 5. Everything except his what? His character.
[7:17] He lost his oxen to the sabins. He lost his sheep and his servants from fire from heaven. He lost the camels. His camels were stolen by the Chaldeans. And those servants that were watching those camels were killed by the sword.
[7:29] Then, what seems to be like a final blow, he loses all ten of his children with a great wind. All those things that made Job the big cheese in the east were now taken away from him in just a small amount of time.
[7:45] Everything except his character. What a great lesson, right? What a great lesson. Job worships the Lord. And that's where we left off in our series in Job.
[7:55] Now, the curtain has drawn back. A new scene has opened. It's time for act two. I said like this. It's more like round two with Job. Satan has given some great blows to Job.
[8:07] But Job is still standing. So, round one goes to Job, right? But what about round two? This is where the story goes in Job chapter 2. God is in heaven. The hero, the focal point of all stories.
[8:20] And now the sons of God are before him, presenting themselves and in walks that old serpent, that dragon. That angel that desired the throne of the great I am himself. The Lord asked him this question.
[8:33] What have you been up to, Satan? Where have you been? Look what it says in Job chapter 2, verses 2. And the Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? Now, I have in my mind a picture, my mind and my picture, as a teenager walking into the house with the parents sitting around the kitchen table.
[8:46] And they're asking the same question. What have you been up to? We all know the answer to that. No good. Nothing good, right? Does God already know what's going on? He already knows what's happening. God doesn't have to question to ask Satan.
[8:57] He already knows what Satan's been up to. And you too, the audience, you know in this great story that Satan has been up to. He has been deceiving, he's been devouring, and he's been destroying. That's his wake.
[9:08] That's the aftermath of Satan. That's what follows him. Deceptions and lies, devouring peoples and their families, and leaving destruction behind himself.
[9:19] He never leaves anything good. He doesn't do anything to bring it to life. So don't follow him. Simple, right? Stay close to the Lord. Follow him. Only he brings forth life and joy.
[9:32] Well, in this story, God asks, what have you been up to, Satan? Satan smugly replies. He says, oh, nothing. Just on a walk. He didn't want to bring up Job, right? He didn't want to bring up Job.
[9:42] He knew that he lost that battle back in Job chapter 1. I can almost imagine God sitting there, just using my imagination. God's sitting on the throne, and all of a sudden, Satan's right there.
[9:53] And all of a sudden, one of those praise grams comes up. You know what I mean? It's like, oh, it's from Job, God. And Satan's standing right there. It's like, oh, Job is praising me in the midst of his trials. Did you hear about that, Satan? After losing?
[10:04] Satan's not going to bring up that moment. It was one of those, aha, I told you so moments. I love those moments. But that's just my own thoughts. But God brings up in verse number 3. He says it to Satan. He says, have you considered my servant Job?
[10:18] Have you considered him? There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, blameless, morally correct man, one that feareth, one that loves me, and he hates your type, Satan.
[10:32] And he still holds fast his integrity. Although you provoked me, you moved me against him to destroy him without a cause. Job still has his character. Job still has his love for God.
[10:43] And get this, God sees it. Isn't that a wonderful thought? Isn't that a wonderful thought to see and know that, well, maybe for some of us, to see and know that God sees what we're doing and knows our heart?
[10:57] He knows what you do? And it has to make the blood of Satan boil if he has any. But he doesn't take it. Not old Satan.
[11:09] He always has a rebuttal. He always has a quick comeback. He always has something to say. He can never be outdone. And he responds to God with these words. Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath he will give for his life.
[11:20] But put forth thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face. Satan probably was talking about some type of trading animal. Satan was insinuating that Job had willingly, get this, traded the skins, the lives of his own children, because in return God has given him his own life.
[11:36] Isn't that unbelievable? Satan is again implying that Job is a selfish man. So who knows? So the one who knows all things now in this story gives permission to Satan to take the health but not the life of Job.
[11:50] Once again, the greatest man in all the East is going to have to endure one more test. And get this, this time, like the others, it's going to be a real doozy.
[12:01] Satan then leaves the presence of God, and he goes out to sow his evil. I want you to imagine now with me, put your imagination caps.
[12:12] I teach kids, so I love just giving, like, stories. Think about this. Imagine with me Job. He's now walking with his wife. He's going to the market. Like, all their servants are gone, right?
[12:23] They got killed, right? All his servants are gone. He can't send his servants to make dinner. They don't have any now. They can't go out to their herds of livestock and pick an animal to prepare it for supper.
[12:34] Those herds were taken away, right? So now he has to go barter and trade for supper. Now he and Miss Job are walking through the market, and as they're walking, Job notices something going on in his chest.
[12:49] His chest is getting tight. It feels like there's been a weight dropped on my chest. The air has become so thick. He's losing his breath.
[13:02] He's having a difficulty breathing. Job 9, verse 18, he says, he will not suffer me. He will not suffer me to take breath. What's wrong, babe?
[13:13] Miss Job asks. I don't know, Job replies. Maybe I'm not used to walking and getting my own meals. They have to go to the place to buy the meat to make the purchase.
[13:25] Mrs. Job's now carrying the bags. You see her husband over there wheezing and having a struggle. Finally, they arrive back at their tent, and Job tells his wife, I'm just going to lay down while you cook. I'm not feeling so hot.
[13:36] Maybe a nap will help. He wakes up to the smell of pot roast, but instead of salivating, he's lost his appetite now. He feels sick to his stomach. Job 3, verse 24, for my sighings cometh before I eat.
[13:50] And not just that. He didn't just lose his appetite. Get this. I'm not trying to be crude, but now he's battling with dysentery. Job 3, verse 24, for my sighings come before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like waters.
[14:04] Job 30, verse 27, he says this. My bowels are boiled, and it rests not. My days of inflection prevented me. He runs outside, and he relieves himself. And while out there, he looks down at his skin, and he notices something.
[14:18] His skin is now changing colors. He begins to worry. My skin has changed colors. I don't have that same bronze color that I once had. It's getting darker. Something's happening to me.
[14:28] Do I tell my wife? I don't want her to worry about me. Then to add injury to insult, Job feels a bead of sweat running down his back. He's getting hot real quick. He's now feverish.
[14:40] Job 30, verse 30, says this. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with the heat. He goes inside, and Mrs. Job has just served a plate.
[14:51] She's serving the plate. She's fixing the plate for Job. And as she turns with the plate, she's stunned now because she sees the countenance of her husband. He rushes past her, tells her he's not feeling good.
[15:03] He goes to bed hoping for some relief. But relief doesn't come. Red whelps and sores and boils are now beginning to form on this man's skin.
[15:15] Time goes by, and no relief for these sores, and they're now busting open. And I'm not trying to be crude, but this is what the Scripture says. They're scabbing over, and they're oozing pus. And it's so bad.
[15:27] Get this. It's so bad that worms have now formed in the wounds. Because Job chapter 7, verse 5, this is what the Scripture says. My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust.
[15:42] My skin is broken and become loathsome. It itches so bad that Job can't stop scratching. He can't stop itching.
[15:53] He can't stop scratching. He uses everything he can to release the pain. Finally, out of frustration, he does the unimaginable. He takes a pot.
[16:04] He throws it on the ground out of anger. And he begins to use those broken pieces to scratch his skin. The one thing that Job feared is now upon him.
[16:15] And to top it off, with all that pain, with all that suffering, a new pain is coming in. One that he's never felt before. It's an internal pain.
[16:29] It's a grieving. Do you know the Bible uses grieving to translate for the same word for disease? A battle now wages not just with his physical body, but a battle is now tearing at his mind, and it feels like it's tearing at his soul too.
[16:49] Depression is in Job's mind. And now is Job's only companion. Job 3, verse 25. For the thing which I greatly feared has come upon me, and that which I was afraid of has come to me.
[17:08] Because of all these oozing sores and this pus, Job is no longer allowed to be around his friends and people in the city. This great man, this great man who once sat, who once sat at the city's gates.
[17:25] Job chapter 29, verse 7. This is what the scripture says. When I went out to the gate, through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street, verse 8, the young men saw me and they hid themselves.
[17:40] The aged men arose and stood up. Princes refrained talking and laid their hands on their mouth. He was respected. Where's he at now?
[17:53] Now, due to Job's health, he's lost it all. He is now sitting in a pile of ashes.
[18:04] A pile of dung ashes. And the garbage outside the city. How humiliating for Job.
[18:15] He now sits outside the city with the beggars, scraping his itching, running sores with a piece of broken pottery. That great man of the east is now all alone in pain and misery.
[18:34] Even those, get this, even those that loved him have no clue what's going on in his heart of Job. It's so bad.
[18:45] In Job chapter 2, look at me, with me please. In Job 2, 11 through 12. Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place.
[18:58] Eliephaz, the Temanite, Bildad, the Shuhite, Zophar. And they made an appointment together to come and mourn with him and to comfort him. What great friends. We made it in our schedule.
[19:10] We're going to go out there and be with our friend during his time of mourning. But look what happens. When they lifted up, their eyes were far off. And knew him not.
[19:23] A couple years ago, I went to see my grandfather. And ever since I was a little kid, I was always taught about how strong this guy was, how big he was.
[19:34] He grew up in West Virginia, coal miner. Moved out to Ohio. He was a plant manager at a chemical factory. He had like four different jobs. He would combine after he got off work. And then he would go and deliver newspapers in the morning and on the weekends.
[19:47] He worked at 7-Up. And he would load up the bottle cup. He would load up the trucks. And he would help move luggage. I even heard another job. He helped move luggage. He had like nine kids or ten kids. So he had to take care of all those things. And so he just worked, worked, worked, worked.
[19:58] That's what my dad said. And my dad said, I only know two people in my life that could flex a muscle and bust their shirts. My dad and this other guy. And so he was just a mammoth of a man. He was just huge. He was just like this. I mean, I remember my little brother getting spanked.
[20:09] And I'm like, I'm not going to get spanked by this man. He is just so terrifying. You know what I mean? And just, he was just this big man. He had huge hands. He was just a hard worker. And then, then death started coming.
[20:23] It was the first time, it was the last time I got to saw him before he died. And my mom said, he's not the same, Robbie. And this once huge man, I'm talking about fat, he was just big, shriveled up.
[20:46] And it's like I didn't even know him. And this is the first time I got to see him.
[21:18] Job had a total new look. Scripture said he looked like death. Job 16, 16, he says, my face is foul with weeping and my eyelids is the shadow of death.
[21:33] It gets so bad in Job's life that his wife tells him that he should end it. You think, you know, that this portion in that scripture when she says curse God and die, you think that's there to put bad light on Mrs. Job.
[21:48] But I look at it from a different view. She sees her loved one suffering. His only relief is to take the glass and scrape himself. She can't do anything.
[22:01] To give him a little kiss of encouragement or show some type of love, it's stopped. Job says, he says, he says this in Job 19, 7. My breath is strange to my wife.
[22:13] Though I treated children for the sake of my own body, he is so repulsive people don't want to be around him. She has to deal with the loss of her children.
[22:25] She has to go from being the wife of the greatest man in the east to a man who is putrid now, sitting in ashes. She knows what it's like to see suffering.
[22:38] So don't judge her. It's not your place. In this story, in the midst of dealing with suffering and illness, how in the world are you going to deal with it?
[22:51] Today, I want to give you five steps. Practical steps in dealing with sickness that I see from the Bible. I want to lighten the mood, okay? I want to tell a little funny story.
[23:03] It's my attempt to lighten the mood. Friday night, I was with Kelly and my oldest, and I just wanted to figure out what was on their mind. I wanted to ask them the question.
[23:13] I was like, okay, I'm going to teach on how to deal with sickness, and I want to see what they would say. So I was asking questions. And so I asked, and I said, Maria, I said, Maria, how do you deal with sickness? And she replied so quickly, with medicine.
[23:25] I was like, spot on. That was smart. It was really quick. You know what I mean? When you're sick, seek medical attention. That's a good one, okay? How about that one? But this, today, I just want to give you some practical tools, some practical steps that I see in the Bible that might help you with dealing with sickness and health issues.
[23:43] I talked at the marriage retreat. You know, it's been nine years. It's been nine years since my wife started feeling those symptoms and effects. We have known sickness in our relationship more than we've known non-sickness.
[23:59] It's been eight years since I stood across from the doctor that was once the head of the neurological wing of Emory. And I said, how long?
[24:11] And he said, five years? Ten years? Ten years? Twenty years? I'm not sure. It's been eight years. These are some steps. Let's help me.
[24:23] And I hope it helps you. Step number one is this. Keep your thought life in check. Keep your thought life in check.
[24:33] What do I mean by that? Well, this is what I want. I want to start with somebody saying this. Give yourself some room to feel. David in the Psalms is time and time again giving himself room to feel.
[24:46] But he always turns on the end after he's giving and he's pouring out his feelings. He always turns to the greatness of God. Can I tell you something? You've got to give yourself room to feel.
[24:57] Feelings aren't your enemies. Letting your feelings run you are your enemy. I just like to say that, okay? But what do I mean by keeping your mind in check? In Job chapter 2, verses 10, Job turns to his wife and he says, You speak as one of the foolish women speaketh.
[25:15] What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God and not receive evil? What in the world? How can a guy say that? Man, his mind was not going to let others' bad advice change how he viewed his God.
[25:32] In keeping and dealing with sickness, sometimes we just focus in on the sickness, right? We just focus in on the sickness. And we let our minds run and we run with the symptoms.
[25:43] We run with what's going to happen. Oh my goodness, she's coughing. Oh my goodness, we didn't get the flu shot in time. Oh my goodness, she's got a fever. What are we going to do? What are we going to do? And sometimes that can overwhelm us. So we've got to keep our mind in check.
[25:54] We can't let other people's bad advice change the way of our thinking and our view towards our God. Don't let the thought that God was being bad settle down in your mind.
[26:09] God didn't give you this sickness. How can I say that? Look at what the Apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 7 through 9. He says this, God gave me so many revelation.
[26:27] Unless I be exalted and I be lifted up with pride, there was given to me a what? There was some type of physical ailment. And who it was?
[26:38] What was it the messenger of? There's got to be something in our mind that our God only gives us good and perfect gifts. The reason why we suffer with sickness, I can't tell you exactly all the things, reasons why.
[26:52] I don't know why God allows it, but you know what? We live in a sin-cursed world and my God gives me good things. How can I say that? He gave me Jesus. How in the world can I think he's holding back out anything good?
[27:05] So you've got to keep your mind in check. Realize that God gives good gifts, James 1, 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights.
[27:21] And he doesn't change. You've got to realize God gives me good gifts. This isn't God's fault. I'm sitting across and I was trying to witness to one of the men that I meet with regularly almost every week.
[27:36] And he talked about his suffering, how he had a child and how his child took his life. He's like, I just want to ask God, why did you do that? Like it wasn't God that did that. If you only knew the character of my God.
[27:49] If you only knew the character of my God. Christians, when you deal with sickness, whether it's yourself or your loved ones, the battle starts right here.
[28:01] You've got to keep this in check. Keep your mind in check. And whenever you keep your mind in check, you know what follows? Your heart will be in check too. When I think on good things, he strengthens me.
[28:14] And you know what you need during sickness? You need that inner man strengthened. Proverbs 18.14 says this. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity.
[28:26] It's that inner man that's going to help you go through this sickness. As you begin to think on good things, God begins to do something good in your heart. And he begins to strengthen you. And you are now able to face these sicknesses.
[28:39] Because you're keeping your heart in check now too. Romans 8.35, this is what Pastor talked about last week. And I thought it was great. He doesn't have, he can't claim all the Bible, okay? I can claim some parts too, okay?
[28:50] But Romans 8.35 says this. He says this. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? What shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, shall distress, shall persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword?
[29:02] Is your sickness going to separate you from God? Is this disease going to separate you from God? As it is written, For thy sakes we are killed all the day long. Some people are like, I feel that.
[29:14] And we are counted as sheep before the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more conquerors. We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor heights, nor depths, nor any creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ our Lord.
[29:34] You've got to keep your mind fixed. And you've got to keep your heart fixed on the one that loves you. Realize nothing is going to separate you from the one thing that only matters today.
[29:45] You've got to lay your treasures up on heaven, not on earth. We already heard that today. Paul says in Colossians 3.1, he says, If you be risen with Christ, seek those things above where Christ is on the right hand of God.
[30:02] Your heart has got to be fixed on something, not here on earth. If you're going to face sickness and disease, you can't be saying, Oh, I'm going to miss out on this. I'm going to miss out on that.
[30:14] I'm going to miss out on this. No, no, no. It's something greater. You say, Oh, the sickness. He's going to get me closer to Jesus. Isn't that what suffering does? Isn't that what trouble does? Suffering and trouble, it humbles us.
[30:25] It brings us to our knees and say, God, I need you. I need you. That's what Paul stated back in 2 Corinthians 12. He says, I want glory in my infirmities. Because when I'm weak, he's strong.
[30:36] Actually, diseases is really good. Health is really, when you lose your health, it's really good. Because it makes you depend on the one that can give us strength. Keep your mind in check. Keep your heart in check.
[30:48] Keep it in check. This is another thing I said. Keep a prayer. And keep a tune. What do we do when we deal with sickness?
[31:03] What do they do throughout all the scriptures? When someone gets sick? It's when they cry out to God. Is that wrong? Look what James 5, verse 13 says.
[31:14] Is any among you afflicted? Is there anybody sick? Let them pray. How do you deal with diseases and sickness?
[31:30] Got to keep your head in check. You got to keep your heart in check. Got to keep in prayer. Beg God. Ask him. Ask him for help. And not just that.
[31:42] He says this. Is any Mary? Let him sing songs. Just sing a song. You know what helps? During those difficult times? Just praising God. Fourth one is this.
[31:57] Got two more and I got to close before 30 after. Keep a journal. Keep a journal. How do you deal with sickness? Keep your mind in check.
[32:09] Keep your heart in check. Keep a prayer on. Keep a tune in. Keep a journal. What is that? Why do I say that? What book are we going through? Going through the book of Job.
[32:22] Does that help anybody to know that, and there's people out there that suffer. When you heard like what Job went through. Like what's my sickness? What's the sickness we deal with that's comparable to Job?
[32:36] I mean I'm not on some ash pile. Outside. Leaving everything. Right? Scraping myself. Crying out. I mean I'm not. Right? Do we have it as bad as Job?
[32:48] Do we have it as bad as Job? You know what helps? Is when you see other saints before you go through trials. Why wouldn't you want to write that down?
[33:02] Why wouldn't you want to write that down? You know what writing down does stuff? It helps the next generation, but it also helps you. Does it not? To look back and see how God has worked in your heart and life.
[33:15] Man, I'll never forget, man. I wrote this down. Somebody came up to us and said, we're praying for you, Kelly. I was like, how are you praying for her? Let's be honest. Are you praying that God genetically changes her DNA?
[33:26] Is that what you're praying for? We're praying that God delivers you from this. I look back and I'm like, I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot. It was no more than a couple weeks later that she gets a phone call from some girl working at Emory.
[33:40] Or doing her graduate studies at Emory. Saying, I'm doing a study on people with your cases. I want to see if they got misdiagnosed. There might be something out there that you can take. She finds out that she has it.
[33:52] Her and one other person. The guy dies before he gets it. Thank you for praying, missionary. I'm sorry for my bad attitude. Keep a journal. I read a book called Evidence Not Seen.
[34:04] If you've never read it, you need to read it. It's about a missionary woman. Gets newlywed. Moves out to Papua New Guinea. Get this, it's during the time right before World War II. She loses her husband. She has to live through a Japanese imprisonment camp.
[34:17] Incredible book. Incredible book. Keep a journal. Books help the next generation. Writing helps you. Fifth one in this, and we'll close with this. How do you deal with diseases? How do you deal with health problems?
[34:29] Keep your mind in check. Keep your heart set on things above. Keep a prayer in your mind, in your heart. Keep a song inside you. Keep a journal. Write this stuff down.
[34:40] And fifth, this one, is this the fifth? Keep on until the end. What does Job say? What does Job, what does the scripture say about Job in the New Testament? You know there's only one verse spoken about Job in the New Testament?
[34:52] It's found in James chapter 5, verse 11. This is what it says. Behold, we count them happy, which endure. You have heard of the what? The endurance of Job.
[35:05] You've heard of the patience of Job. And you have seen the end of the Lord, and that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. You know what happens with Job at the end?
[35:17] He gets everything back. You know what happens with us in the end? We get new bodies. Right? Suffering and sorrow shall flee away.
[35:28] That's what happens in our end. We get to be with our Savior forever. So what do we do when we go through sickness? Endure. Keep on. Pursue.
[35:38] Just keep on being patient. With a joy and a song in your heart. And let other people look and say, how in the world can you do that? When you go through that, you're like, well, let me tell you.
[35:50] There's someone a whole lot stronger than I am. And he's got a good book that might be able to help your stinking life out. You know what I mean? So how do you deal with stinking disease? It's going to happen. Keep your mind in check.
[36:02] Keep your heart set on things above. Keep a prayer in. Sing a song. Keep a journal. Write down what God does. And keep on until the end.
[36:13] Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. I thank you for your word. I thank you for your word.