So the lesson is helping someone overcome tribulations.
If someone's going through difficulty or tribulations,
it could be anything. Loss of a loved one, loss
of a job, financial, addiction, health concerns,
whatever trials or tribulations the person's
going through. We're going to talk about how
we can help that person deal with it and help
them get to a good place. Scripture says, which
you will not find anywhere on this page, Consider
it pure joy when you face all manner of trials
and tribulations. Taking that verse to somebody
who's going through difficulty and saying, hey,
you know, the Bible says you should have joy.
You should be happy. Things aren't going right.
That's not very helpful, right? In fact, I would
highly recommend that you don't do that. You
want to use that for yourself? You want to say,
hey, I'm going through difficulties. I'm going
to count this as joy. That's something you can
do. But to go and try to tell other people that
they should have joy in the middle of tribulations
is hard. It's hard to deliver that message. It's
hard to receive that message. Okay? So we're
going to work through some things that are actual
practical steps that you can take. They're all
biblical. And we'll have lots of verses. And
so I can read. Kashawn can read. Right, Kashawn?
Yep. Okay, make sure you have your Bible accessible.
Josh can read. We'll get it done. Anybody else
wants to read? Everybody can read if they want
to. All right? So you're right on the top of
the page number one. Okay? And so the blanks
are not filled in. Okay. So you see it says compassionate
presence there. So what do you think the B and
the W are? Okay, that would be good. Blessed
with or begin with. compassionate presence. So
presence is being there, not complicated, except
that we're not good at it in our current society
because like, for example, we have laws not to
use your cell phone while you're driving and
you look at the screen because people are not
present while they're driving, for example, sometimes.
Things like that. So we really lack. We'll go
to dinner. Sharon and I went out to dinner and
we were just talking about how people don't spend
time together. And we looked around and there
were like nine other tables that we could see
where the people were, instead of talking to
each other, they were looking at their phones.
They're all on their phones. So we have a rule
on date night. We don't get on our phones when
we sit down because we're present. We're there.
And then compassionate means caring and wanting
to do something about what's going on. Compassion
is you care, and compassionate means you're in
the state of caring. So it's a presence. It's
a compassionate presence. And then to begin with
that, that's what we're going to start with.
So we've got the scripture. If it's a New Testament
book and it starts with the letter R, what do
you think? Romans. Romans is correct. And it's
Romans, and it says D -O -Z under the number.
So it's Romans 12. 15, very good. It's Romans
12, 15. Okay? Does anybody know what Romans 12,
15 says? As soon as I read it, I think I might
have heard that before. Okay. Romans 12, 15,
I can almost quote it from memory, but not quite,
says, Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with
those who weep. So when you show up at somebody's
house, For dinner, hanging out, whatever. If
they're happy, be happy. If they're sad, be sad.
This is especially pointed toward the church.
It's a biblical standard Christians are supposed
to do. Then we're going to keep going down. It
says LM. So if you're having a compassionate
presence and you're with them, you're going to
listen more. The LM is listen more. So normally
you hang out with somebody and you're talking
and listening and talking and listening. You
tell a lot of stories, maybe half the stories.
Somebody says something and you say, hey, yeah,
that same thing happened to me back when my dad
and I were fishing. This happened, right? Or
there was a blue one and oh yeah, I saw a red
one, right? And you're back and forth and it's
like 50 -50. They talk, you talk. Now, to show
compassionate presence, you talk less. Let them
talk more. It's not about you. So just listen
more to what they're saying and talk less than
what you normally do. Now if they ask you a question,
don't sit there in silence. That's rude. But
be aware that they might ask you a question that
they don't want an answer to. Like they might
say, why is this happening to me? And if you
have an answer of why this is happening, probably
any answer you would give is not going to be
a good answer. For example, they say, why does
this happen to me? And you say, well, you know,
stuff happens. Well, that's not a good answer.
Well, why does this happen? Well, you did do
something wrong and you're being punished. Well,
that's definitely not a good answer. Well, why
does this happen to me? Well, because, you know,
into every life a little rain must fall. Not
a good answer. What answer are you going to give?
Right? So sometimes there are questions that
they may ask that they're really not looking
for an answer to. And either the things that
we're going to learn here in a minute that you
can say that will answer that question, you probably
don't want to say them when the question is asked.
Because when they say, why is this happening
to me? They're not really looking for an answer.
But later, a few minutes later, an hour later,
whatever, in the conversation, you might be able
to explain why it's happening. But when they
ask that question, if you answer, you might hurt
their feelings, you might cause them to stumble,
that kind of thing. So listen more, talk less.
And then after the slashes, If I give you the
P, which is pain, would you take a stab at what
the A and the M might be? No. Say it again. No.
We definitely don't want to add more pain, right,
or amplify moderate pain. We don't want to add.
So the words are avoid. And then you can use
an M word, but I use minimizing pain. So here's
what you'll have happen. You're talking to them
and they'll say, well, I shouldn't be upset,
right? I have no reason to be upset. I'm hurt,
but should I even be hurt? You don't want to
minimize their pain. Don't tell them that they
shouldn't be feeling pain. Don't tell them that
they shouldn't be hurting. So they lost their
job, they lied, they cheated, they stole on the
job, now they lost their job. and you go sit
with them, and they're aggravated, and they're
upset, I should have done that, and I wish that
hadn't happened, and they're feeling like they're
dying because they lost their job, don't minimize
their pain and just say, well, just don't do
it again next time. It's really no big deal.
You'll find another job. We don't want to minimize
the pain that they're feeling because those are
real emotions that they're having. So avoid minimizing
their pain. And then over to the right, it says,
your presence, What do you think your presence
reflects? God's nature? Or God's nearness? Right?
Either one? So you being there, what does God
do for his people? He never abandons us. So you
being there is like him being there. And you're
there to represent him, but also you're there
to make a statement about how he's there. And
we won't go and read Job 2 .13, but Job 2 .13
is that passage where it says that Job's friends,
they all came and stayed with him and they sat
there with him for over a week and said nothing.
They had nothing to say. And it says because
they saw his suffering was horrible. He was having
horrible suffering. So they're really, when another
person's having suffering, maybe you just need
to be there. I can't tell you, probably now,
probably seven or ten times I've been with somebody.
who either just lost a loved one or they themselves
were in the process of some pretty terrible suffering.
And my just being there was the whole thing.
That was it. I didn't have any great answers
or anything. I was just with them. And if that's
all you do, you'd be getting it right. Because
your presence reflects God's nature or God's
nearness. Okay, then we'll go on to number two.
I know that's a funny looking thing. That's an
anchor. Right there, next to the two. Sorry,
Hannah, to insult your great artistic abilities.
I should have had you draw the anchor, huh? Anyway,
that's an anchor. And so the A is anchor. The
A is anchor. And so what we want to do is anchor
them in God's goodness. So the whole point, when
people are suffering, they're shaking. They're
in fear, they're in anger, they're troubled.
doubt, whatever, and we need to get them back
into and solidly put them in God's goodness.
That's the goal. Even though, yes, bad things
have happened or are happening, we're not denying
that, but the goal is to get them back into God's
goodness. And then this is an Old Testament book
that starts with the letter L. Lamentations.
That's right. Lamentations. L -A -M -E -N -T.
A -T -I -O -N -S. Now, somebody tell me what
Lamentations means. What does the word Lamentations
mean? Cry. Yeah. It's cries out. Plural cries.
Many cries. More than one cry. Out. Okay? So,
Lamentations is written by... Can you stab at
it? Deshawn, who wrote the book of Lamentations?
Jeremiah. Jeremiah the prophet. Jeremiah was
called the weeping prophet because he went through
some real hardships. In fact, the last thing
we hear about him was they put him in chains
and drug him off to Egypt because his prophecy
said he would never go back to Egypt. So then
to prove him wrong, they threw him in chains
and drug him off to Egypt. But he'd been thrown
in a well, beaten, threatened, everything. He
was treated horribly. So he's called the weeping
prophet. And the book of Lamentations is written
by Jeremiah and it has a lot of weeping in it.
Okay? And Lamentations 3, 31 through 33 says
as follows. For the Lord will not reject us forever.
Even if he causes suffering, he will show compassion
according to his abundant faithful love. For
he does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering
on mankind. Okay? And so then, the next one is
a New Testament book. It starts with an H. Hebrews.
Right? So, Hebrews 13 .8. 13 .8 is the reference.
Let me see if I can get it from memory. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
forever? know if I got that right. Anyway, the
point is he's the same. So over here to the right
you see it says gently remind. So these are the
things we're going to gently remind the person
of. The first one is GL. What do you think it
is? God's love. That's exactly it. God's love.
Perfect. Got that easy. The next one's an S.
It's harder. Sovereignty. God's sovereignty.
So we've got God's love and God's sovereignty.
And then we have an M. If I said I'm going to
remind you of God's, and it starts with an M,
what would you say? It's a trait of God and it
starts with an M. Yes, but that's not the one.
Mercy. God's mercy. So as we're dealing with
somebody who's in the middle of suffering or
tribulation, We want to remind them of God's
love, of God's sovereignty. Okay, I'm going to
give you that right now. So how would you remind
a person of God's love, sovereignty, and mercy?
What tools do we have that we can remind them?
Starts with a T. Yeah, you could teach them.
So if you're going to teach them, what would
you use to teach them? The Bible. Okay. So the
Bible talks about situations where people were
suffering 2 ,000 years ago and 3 ,000 years ago
and 5 ,000 years ago. But what's something that's
a little bit more close to home that we could
use that might have to do with that person or
have to do with yourself? Testimonies. Okay.
1 John 1 .3 says, We proclaim what we have seen
and heard, that you may have fellowship with
us, and our fellowship is with God the Father
and His Son, Jesus Christ. So we tell them about
what we have seen and heard. Like an example,
Sherry and I had a pretty horrible experience
where her grandfather passed away, and we were
going to visit him, and they had called the family
in like a week before, and so he could have passed
away at any time. And we were going to visit
him. And we had a softball game that night. And
we played the softball game. And then right afterwards,
we arranged for somebody to take the kids home
and put them to bed. And we were going to go
out and visit her. And as we were leaving the
ballpark, we heard that he passed away. And,
you know, we were already mourning his loss because
he was very close to death and it was rough.
But we were literally leaving the ballpark to
go visit him and heard that he passed away. So
we went home. Kids are in bed. And that night,
we were lamenting to God. We were just expressing
how sad we were to God. And I wound up just holding
her. I didn't really have anything to say. There
was no comfort other than God's comfort, you
know, that kind of thing. And then some years
later, we had other experiences that were bad.
Judy died. My dad died. Things like that. We
had a horrible situation where Sherry... She
had to jump ship and leave the company that she
was in because she helped start the company and
built it from the ground up, and then she had
to leave there and go be at another company because
the guy was just running it into the ground.
The other partner was running it into the ground.
She had to get out of there. It was a horrible
situation. We've had other situations. Well,
that situation of us lamenting to God, us hanging
out that night, and about 2 o 'clock in the morning
just crying together, praying together, and looking
to God, we look back at that situation of how
God got us through that situation. Does that
make sense? So we can bring up, see how God saw
us through that. Now we can talk about how God
saw us through when Judy died, how God saw us
through when my dad died, how God saw us through
when we had to leave that job all of a sudden.
So we can talk about those things that we have
experienced, and that gives us strength. The
tool is testimonies. That is the primary tool
you're going to use. The truth is you may have
never felt suffering like what they're feeling.
You're not testifying saying, Here I have this
story that's bad. You have this bad thing you're
going through. My bad thing over here was worse,
and God got me through it, so he's going to get
you through it too. Never do that. Don't compare
your story to their story. But if you can say,
God loves us. Let me tell you how I know God
loves us, because I had this experience, and
out of that, I know God loves me. God has mercy.
I really screwed up, and this bad thing was happening.
My life was falling apart, and I turned it over
to God, and God did this. God has mercy. God
is in charge. One time I thought I was going
to get away with something, and I did this, and
then I realized, oh, you know, God saw it, nobody
else saw it, and then God exposed it, so everybody
saw it. God is in charge. So you have testimonies
to testify to God's love, God's sovereignty,
and God's mercy. Not to tell them what they're
going through is somehow less. So never compare
what your experiences were to their experiences,
but use your testimonies to talk about the character
of God. Okay? Alright. There is another little
point under this. So if you take your pen right
now and start next to where it says tools, and
go over toward the right edge of the page, and
then go all the way down, you're going to cross
the mountain. You see a little mountain sticking
out there. And you see a phrase, and it says,
suffering is not abandonment, and then circle
it. This is the interactive part. So you start
with tools, you go over to the right, all the
way down the side of the page, cross the mountain,
and circle. Suffering is not abandonment. And
that is a key part of anchoring them in God's
goodness. Because if their suffering means that
God has abandoned them, then is God good? No.
God is not good. If God has abandoned me in my
darkest hour, then God is not good. So a key
part of them recognizing and being anchored in
God's goodness is to understand that God has
not abandoned them and facing suffering is not
abandonment. So why did I put it way down there
and make you draw the line, do you think? What's
the symbolism of that? Yeah, it's got a point
to it. We got a point to it. Has anybody here?
had an experience of real suffering? I know you
have. Anybody want to share one briefly? Just
give us a one -liner. Say, this happened to me.
I'll do one for you. So, all of a sudden, my
parent died. I lost my parent. Wasn't expected,
wasn't coming. All of a sudden, it happened.
Okay? When that happens, do I feel like God is
with me? Not really, right? I mean, you're focused
on how bad things are. You're dealing with it.
You're coping. So in the midst of their suffering,
it's going to feel like God is far away. If they
turn to God, focus on Him, pray, as you said,
read the Bible, listen to your testimonies, those
things, God will feel less far away, right? And
maybe they will feel his presence and they'll
get anchored in his goodness. And they might
even do that all on their own. You can do it
all on your own as you just turn to God when
things are difficult. But your job is to recognize
when suffering is causing them to feel abandoned
or far from God and help them search around and
find God again. And you might have to go kind
of far to do that with your testimonies. You
might have to tell 10 stories or 20 stories.
You might have to listen to 20 stories that they
tell. They might talk about being angry with
God. They might cuss God out in your presence,
and they might do that five times. And if you
say, hey, if you talk like that when I'm around,
I'm going to leave. I'm not going to stay. And
they do it the third time, and then you leave.
Well, then it's over. Your helping them through
their tribulations is over. So you might have
to put up with a lot of crap, basically, while
they're going through stuff. Ideally you don't,
but you might have to. So the point is, you might
have to root around and figure out how you can
help them see that suffering is not abandonment.
Now we're on three, number three, under the eagle.
So we have the word encourage. So we're going
to encourage three things. One is an H, one is
a P, and one is an L. Anybody know any of them?
Hope is the first one. Very good, sir. Hope.
So we want to encourage them to have hope. And
you might do that by saying, you know, yeah,
you feel bad. Of course you do. I mean, it's
a horrible thing that you're going through. But,
you know, with time, the pain that accompanies
this will ease. You are going to be okay. You're
going to make it through. No one's rushing you.
You can suffer for a while. You can hurt. You
can ache. And I ache with you. I know I don't
have the same ache that you have, but I have
ache too. You feel this pain. That's fine. It's
right that you should feel pain. But it could
get better. It will get better. Please see that
it will get better. So that's hope. Encouraging
hope. How about the P? Prayer. That's right.
You're going to encourage prayer. Okay? You may
or may not know this, but the... Probably the
place in the Bible you'll find the most examples
of other people's prayer is in Psalms. And in
the book of Psalms, you'll find examples of all
kinds of prayer. Some of the prayers are pretty
bad. They're pretty harsh. Pretty wicked. Like,
I'm really suffering. This really sucks. Dash
the heads of my enemies' babies against the rocks.
Destroy them. Burn them alive. I mean, it's terrible.
The prayers are bad. So why pray? when your heart
is like that? Well, because you're committing
the outcome to God. So yes, they said dash the
heads of the babies against the rocks, and that
is a horrible thing, but what were they really
doing? They were putting it in the hands of God.
They were saying, we're not going to dash the
babies' heads against the rocks, but if that's
what's appropriate, then you do that, God. So
they were submitting it into God's hands, as
horrible as that is. So we're going to encourage
hope and prayer. And the last one's a little
bit tricky, but we've already had it. It is not
love. Say again? Nope. Nope. It's lament. Right?
So that's like from lamentations. So you want
them to say out loud, to express their emotions
out loud what they're feeling. Right? If they
think I'm super sad, I'm going through this crap
basically, and they turn all that inward and
feel horrible about themselves, that results
in anxiety, depression, PTSD, lashing out later,
explosive anger, every kind of disorder under
the sun. So it's better to kind of express it.
Now, it's a lament, meaning we're going to express
it to God, ideally. Right? So the goal is for
them to express to God how they're feeling. And
you'll notice there's a little arrow that goes
down from there under the word lament. And it
says, F in. And the words are faith in struggles.
That's what a lament is. So when you say to God,
God, I am really hurting here. This is horrible.
I can't believe I'm going through this. God,
help me. Bring this to an end. Get me out of
this. Give me strength. I am really hurting.
When you do that and lament to God that way,
You are expressing your faith, trusting in God,
in the middle of your struggles. Okay? And it
says in Psalm 62, 8, Rest in God alone, my soul,
for my hope comes from Him. And so, He is the
one who really can provide for you. Josh, can
you get Philippians 4, 6 -7? He is the one who
really can provide it for you. Okay, Josh is
looking up Philippians 4, 6 through 7 for me.
And then that next line says, the P is pray.
And then there's a W. And then it says not. And
there's a JFT. Anybody got a gut feeling of what
that might say? You're going to pray. It's a
W, not JFT. Pray. Okay, the W is with. Pray with
not. And then JFT. Not just for them. Here's
the thing. There is great advantage to them expressing
out loud what they're feeling. Praying to God.
Like if you say, I'll pray for you, I'll pray
for you. And then you go away and pray for you.
They don't even hear the prayer. If you stand
there with them and you say, I'll pray for you,
and you pray, and you pray, Lord, I'm begging
you for strength for Bob. Bob lost his dad. Bob
lost his job. Bob just got diagnosed with stage
4 cancer. Bob's struggling with addiction. I'm
begging you for strength for Bob. Well, how do
you know Bob is praying for strength? What if
that's not what Bob is praying for? It's a thing
he should be praying for, but you're praying
for strength for him. He may not be in a place
where his heart wants strength. Or you pray,
give Bob wisdom, Lord, to deal with what he's
going through right now. What if Bob isn't praying
for wisdom? Or Bob doesn't want wisdom, right?
So you want to pray with them, listen to them,
and then pray with them. They say, for example,
if they're crying out, why is this happening?
I can't believe this is happening. And they're
talking around all these different ideas of why
it might be happening. Then praying for wisdom,
you say, Bob, can we pray for wisdom? You know,
maybe God will give you some answers to these
questions that you're answering. You pray for
wisdom. And Bob says, yeah, let's do that. And
then pray with them and say, well, here, I'll
lead and you can repeat after me. God, please
give me wisdom. Bob says, God, please give me
wisdom. Or you say, how about I'll pray and then
you pray and then I'll close. That way you can
end in Jesus' name. And if they are willing to
do that, that's great. Then they're praying out
loud what they're going through. And tell them,
say, tonight when you're laying in your bed and
you're really suffering, you can cry out to God.
When you feel like you can't go on, you can say,
God, I feel like I can't go on. And tell them
that and help them verbalize what they're going
through. Okay, Josh, you got it? Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses
all comprehension, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus. So very simply, and
there's a lot... there we could unpack, right?
What the verses that he just read are saying
is that peace comes with the prayer of expression
of the need to God. It doesn't come because God
does a miracle and you get what you want or because,
you know, if you're praying for peace, then that
would be the miracle, right? But otherwise, let's
say you're praying for a new job because you're,
oh man, my bills are coming due, my water's going
to get shut off, all this, and you're praying
for a new job. And if God gives you the new job,
that's not going to give you peace. Right? Because
now you've got to work the job. First paycheck
doesn't come for a week or two weeks. You've
got to get the budget balance. You've got to
find the money you need. You've got to organize
everything. You're stressing, running around,
trying to figure it all out. Talking to family
members, can I get an extra 50 bucks just to
get me through until my paycheck? That's not
peace. Right? But the fact that you express your
need of the job to God There's some peace in
that just because I can't control whether I get
a job or not. I can take the steps. I can do
those things. If God wants me to get a job, I'm
going to get a job. If God doesn't want me to
get a job, I'm not going to get a job. Even if
I do everything I'm supposed to. If God wants
me to have enough money to pay my bills, then
I'm going to have enough money to pay my bills.
And if he doesn't, then I'm not going to. See,
there's peace in that. Peace in letting the outcome
not be on you. You still have to do all the things
you're supposed to do, but putting the outcome
on him yields peace. And there, of course, is
a lot more in those verses that we could unpack.
But we're using it for that right now. So you're
going to pray with that person, not just for
that person. And then the next one, you're going
to normalize. That's a big word. You probably
wouldn't have guessed that with a million tries.
Normalize expressing, expressing, E -X -P -R
-E -S -S -I -N -G, expressing. So they're talking
about grief. And people who are going through
grief go through a phase of denial. They go through
a phase of anger. And they go through a phase
of blame. And when you're facing tribulations,
you'll go through phases just like you're going
through grief. Even though it might not be grief.
That might not be the tribulation. It might be
something else. So the point is, you're going
to normalize expressing what they're going through.
Tell them it's okay. to say what they're experiencing.
But the goal, notice, is to express that grief
to God. So it shouldn't just be, I'm going around
telling all my friends, or I'll tell my counselor,
but I won't tell anybody else. It should be expressing
the grief to God. And you want to show that that's
normal. You can say, well, I'm here with Bob,
I'm feeling pain, and you pray to God, God help
me, this pain that I'm feeling, this hurt that
I'm feeling for Bob, It's so much. I know it's
not as much as what Bob's going through right
now, but please help me to deal with this pain.
Help me to deal with this struggle. Help me to
have wisdom and strength here today. And now
they see your example, right? You didn't pray
for Bob. You prayed for yourself. But they see
your example. Now, ultimately, they need to get
to the point where they can express their grief
to God. Okay? And then the next part says, peace.
Often. That is C -A -S. Anybody have a, want
to take a guess? Comes. Peace often comes. It's
after. Peace often comes after. Think about the
Bible. Peace often comes after. Yes, but we're
looking, we're thinking simpler. Say it again.
The peace kind of is serenity, sort of like that.
It's surrender. The word is surrender. And Jane,
you were on the right track because salvation
is surrender, right? But it's surrender of your
eternal condition, your whole self, so you can
be saved. In theory, hopefully we're talking
about a saved person. But if you're not talking
about a saved person, then I would go to salvation
then at that point. But if you're talking about
a saved person that's going through tribulations,
then you're talking about surrender, right? Notice
peace often comes after surrender, not, what
do you think that E is? It's explanation. So
during trials, tribulations, and struggles, everybody
wants to understand. And if you would understand,
like you can get down to every variable. Well,
this happened because... When Bob was younger,
Bob did this, this, and this, and now they said
that affected his heart. Nobody ever knew. He
passed away at 45 because these are the factors.
Or when the company closed down, the reason the
company closed down is because they invested
in these properties, and the properties all went
under, and now the company didn't have the money
to pay their bills. They started not paying their
employees, and the employees were suing them.
Understanding all that is not going to bring
you peace. Understanding the details of why somebody
died, why did they get cancer? They got cancer
because they smoked from the time they were nine.
There's no peace in that. Is there peace in that?
Where's the peace? At best, you could say, well,
I guess that means I probably won't get cancer
because I didn't smoke from the time I'm nine.
But now I still have to deal with the loss of
my loved one or my job or whatever. There's no
peace in it. Peace comes after surrender. Most
of the time. It's not always, but most of the
time. So once you turn it over to God, that's
when you get the peace. Not the understanding.
And the truth is, there's a question after a
question after a question after a question. Like,
if it came out, he smoked since he was nine,
well then why back in the 50s did they let everybody
start smoking when they were nine? Why was it
like that? Why is smoking not illegal? That's
a question that you can't answer. I mean, you
can, but there's no real answer. Alright? So
we're on four. It says point to God's purpose.
Without going in there, do we know what is God's
main purpose for trials and tribulations? Yes,
to teach, to learn. But not to learn specific
lessons that are attached to those trials. Let's
go to the very first one. The T is trials. And
then it says equals what? Kind of, but... Say
it again. That's true, but that's not what we're
looking for. The Bible says that trials eventually
equals steadfastness. And that's a weird word,
so it's okay. Steadfastness. And steadfastness
means you stick. You stay the course. So I'm
going to give you like a real life example. Let's
say you wanted to run a marathon in 2028. What
are some things you might do? Train, prepare,
practice, eat right, hydrate, sleep. As it got
closer, you probably would work less and run
more, right? So the main idea of a marathon,
you've got to run 26 miles. And lots of people
set out to run a marathon of 26 miles and never
do it. They'll quit at 20 or 10, right? Because
they just don't know what kind of steadfastness
it's going to take to do that. And that marathon
then becomes a picture of all kinds of things.
What if you wanted to start a business? You know,
I'm going to start a business and my business
is going to do X and I'm eventually going to
make $50 ,000 a year. through this business.
It might take me 20 years, but I'm going to get
there. And I'm going to turn it over to my kids
when I die. And they're going to start out with
a business making $50 ,000 a year. And that's
your vision. But it's going to take 20 years
to get there. That's going to take steadfastness.
You have to stay the course. So the time between,
let's say you're going to run a marathon in 2028
and you start doing all those things you said
you were going to do. And so every day you're
getting up and you're eating right, drinking
plenty of water, going to bed on time, getting
up on time, and you're working out the muscles
that you'll need, and you're losing weight, slimming
down, adding muscle mass, doing all those things,
right? And then about three months from now,
you stop doing those things. And about three
months later, you start doing them again, and
about three months later, you stop doing them.
And the last year before the marathon, you just
kind of do it periodically, a little bit, here
and there. How do you think the marathon's going
to go? Not great. You think you're going to be
one of the people that stops at 15 miles or 20
miles? On the other hand, if you put yourself
through those trials between now and 2028 and
you never stop eating right, never stop sleeping
right, never stop drinking plenty of water, never
stop working out every day, you go to run one
mile in a month, you're running a mile a day.
In six months, you're running five miles a day.
In a year, you're running 10 miles a day. And
in a year and a half, you're running 20 miles
a day. And the marathon comes and you're going
to run the whole marathon. Because trials...
Equals steadfastness. What you put yourself through.
Makes you able to stay the course. And in this
case it's what God allows us to go through. Trials
equals steadfastness. Okay. And then the G there
is growth. And it's growth without denying pain.
So the purpose of the trial. There is a point
here. And we're pointing to God's purpose of
the trial. The purpose of the trial is growth.
But we're not telling you you can't have pain.
It's fine to have the pain. But down the road,
you're not going to allow the pain to stop you.
Growth without pain. Without denying the pain.
And then we have a certain kind of perspective.
The E is what? Effort, presence, bubbly perspective.
No. Sorry. It's eternal. Eternal perspective
over temporary suffering. So we've got to think
about how as much as this sucks right now and
we're really experiencing pain and like that,
we're going somewhere. God's taking us somewhere
where all of this will be gone. All the tears
we're experiencing now, someday we're going to
be in a place where there's no tears. All the
pain and suffering that we're going through now,
someday we're going to be beyond it, past it,
right? And we're thinking about eternal perspective.
So we want steadfastness. Because if all the
suffering goes out of your life, in a few years,
you won't be living for God. That's just a reality.
You say, no, I will because I believe in Jesus
and the Holy Spirit and blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah. Okay, but biblically speaking, trials equal
steadfastness. So if there are no trials, You
wouldn't be living for God. You don't need to.
You don't want to. You won't have that. You'll
be embracing the things that are going on. You'll
be driving one of your 17 Lamborghinis, living
in your 40 ,000 square foot house, running your
businesses, or on the floor with your grandkids.
But would you be going to church? Would you be
giving 10 % of your income? Would you be serving?
Would you be cleaning up puke? Would you be flushing
toilets? You say, well, no, I'm not going to
do any of that because I'm a multi -billionaire.
I'll just pay people to do that. Yeah, see? But
if those are things that God calls you to do,
you wouldn't be doing any of them. Eternal perspective
over temporary suffering. And then trials equals
shaping, not punishment. So as we're with them,
we do not want to be saying, even if a person
sinned against God and the sin is clearly what's
causing their punishment. Right? They clearly
sinned. They're clearly paying for it. It's not
your job to sit there and go, you clearly sinned,
you're clearly paying for it. You just got to
wait it out. That is not the goal. We need to
think of it as shaping. We're learning from this.
We're growing beyond this. We're staying the
course. And then, of course, encourage hope and
prayer and lament. It is completely okay to lament
the fact that God is punishing you for sin. If
you don't do that, you're not being very realistic.
Right? You're like, but I'm mad. I'm upset. I'm
sad that God is punishing me. Like when a child
lies and then gets a spanking, are they supposed
to be happy while they're getting spanked? I'm
going to spank you now. This is going to hurt
me more than it hurts you. Don't you dare frown
at me. Don't you dare cry. I mean, they're getting
a spanking. They should be upset. Right? And
if they're laughing and smiling, we think, oh,
well, they're not really concerned. I don't have
to spank them harder. Or call it a better punishment.
Right? Alright. Now we're on five. Less blanks
from here on out. We're on the down slope. Walk
with them toward hope and restoration. Remember
this is all compassionate presence. That was
where we started at. We're trying to anchor them
in God's goodness. Encourage hope and prayer
and lament. Point to God's purposes for what
they're going through. Not specific purposes,
but shaping to have an eternal perspective, that
they would grow, have steadfastness. And then
we're going to walk with them toward hope and
restoration. Anybody want to read Isaiah 40,
31? There's another one that some people memorize.
And then somebody else can get Revelation 24.
Now I'll grab Galatians 6 .9. If somebody's got
it, just let me know. Isaiah 40 .31 first. Yet
those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength.
They will mount up with wings like eagles. They
will run and not get tired. They will walk and
not become weary. Okay, so one action point,
exactly one. Did you catch it? Wait for the Lord.
If you wait for the Lord, then you get stronger.
You're more able. And you'll go on. You'll have
steadfastness. So it is our job to walk with
them toward hope and restoration. That's what
we want to do. And say, look, this sucks. Not
denying your pain, but there is an opportunity
coming. Just let me be quiet and just listen
to that. Usually what happens is they spiral
through. If it's grief, for example, they'll
spiral through the different phases seven times,
ten times, twenty times. And eventually they
get tired. They wear themselves out. I'm tired
of denying it. I guess it is true. I'm tired
of being angry. That's not helping anything.
And they're going to get down to like, okay,
now what do I do? The key is to wait on the Lord.
Okay. Revelation 21 .4. Kishon. Oh, go ahead.
Go ahead. Amen. Kishon, you want to find Galatians
6 .9? While he's doing that, I'll give you the
blanks below it. It says, hope is not, you should
know this one by now. Denial of pain. Exactly.
Hope is not denial of pain. When you see somebody
and they're struggling, they're in the pain,
whatever, it does not mean that they cannot have
hope. And that people will resist having hope
because they say, but I'm hurting, but I'm hurting.
It's okay to be hurting and also to have hope.
You can do both. Okay, Kishon, you got it? Go
ahead. Amen. So, I think this verse works both
ways. It encourages us to stand in there and
do the right thing with somebody who's suffering
tribulation. It also encourages them to stay
the course and to make it through. Okay? So it
says there it is not about fixing. So if somebody
complains to you that they're hurting, I get
this frequently, where some people say, well,
I don't have X. I don't have money. I don't have
a job. I don't have a car. Things like that.
And it seems like a pretty easy solution there
would be to give them money, a car, a job, right?
That's a pretty easy solution, right? Does that
actually solve the problem, the real problem?
Does it achieve the real goal? It does not. Because
the trials equal steadfastness. But if you keep
coming along and erasing the trials, no steadfastness
develops. In fact, what actually winds up happening
is people don't have any steadfastness. They
leave behind what they have. And so it is not
about fixing the problems or the suffering or
the trials that they're going through. Sometimes
it is. When it's a matter of surviving. If they
have no food, for example. And providing them
with food is a very good thing. But the best
thing to provide them with is your presence.
Well, I don't have a car with you that I can
give you, but I'm not going to abandon you either.
Nor is God. Just because you don't have a car
and I can't give you a car doesn't mean we can't
win in this situation. Right? And then you walk
beside them while God does redemptive work. So
we're going to walk it out. So usually when people
are struggling with transportation issues, I
usually say, well, I can get you to church Tuesdays
and Sundays. I'll pick you up. Doctor's appointments
sometimes. Here's ways you can get doctor's appointments.
Here's ways you can get to the grocery store.
But I don't say, well, here's a car. People are
looking for a job. Then I help them search for
a job. I don't have a job. All of a sudden, we'll
help them search for a job. And I might give
references. Do you have clothes for the interview?
You know, things like that. People are grieving
the loss of a loved one. You can't bring their
loved one back. Revenge won't do it. You can't
punish the person that killed them. None of that's
going to help. But you can be there with them
and walk beside them as God does his redemptive
work. And then you'll notice there is a little
box over on the right. Did you see it before
you put your folder up? It says, stay engaged.
Encourage healthy steps. Notice that God's final
word is healing. Revelation 21, in the end, we
are healed of all of it. People pray to be healed
so they can walk in heaven, they dance. Or fly.
When the new heaven and new earth comes, they'll
disappear in one place and appear in another.
They'll only walk if they feel like walking.
And fly if they feel like flying. Otherwise,
they'll just be in one place and then be somewhere
else. Because they'll have completely new bodies
that are like that. There is a final word of
healing that is coming. Even in this lifetime,
Job, the devil, worked through circumstances
to take everything he had. And in the end, because
Job stayed steadfast through all trials, God
gave him back everything he had multiple times
over. And you see that all throughout the Bible.
So God's final word is healing. If you live long
enough, you will overcome the trouble that you're
going through right now. And not only that, but
then you can use this that you've been through
to help others and do the same thing. Okay? Questions?
Concerns? Alright. I'm going to... So, the teenagers
18 and under... See how I did that, Natalie?
And soon Mike. I'll be 18 soon, right? If you
meet me by the prize bin in the office, I have
prizes. I'll give you prizes. Instead of throwing
candy today. And then we have chips and dip in
the cafeteria. Praise the Lord. Homemade dip.
Slightly more chaotically made than was intended,
but effective.