Why does God allow the righteous to suffer? This is an age-old question, but there is a lot of truth in The Bible that Christian moms can cling to for hope and direction.

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Today's Scripture: Job 1-5

Cross-references:

Romans 8:28

John 10:10

John 6:66-69

Commentaries Consulted:

Moody Commentary

The MacArthur Bible Commentary

Welcome to The Dwelling Place i'm

Stephanie Cock, and this is brought

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to you by Entrusted Ministries.

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We've got three tracks for this Bible

Reading plan, and I want you to find

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the one that best fits your life.

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Click on the link in our show notes and

you'll get those free printable resources

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so you can understand how we wanna come

alongside you this year if you're just

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joining us now, we are going through the

Bible chronologically and here we are

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not far in, and we're about to dive into

a book that is largely about suffering.

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I'm proud of you that you still showed up.

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I see God's goodness and giving us

this book of the Bible because it

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puts to rest any illusion that the

people of God are free from suffering.

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There are a lot of thought patterns

we could get into if we just look

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at one part of the word of God,

and that's why we are going through

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the whole Council of God's word.

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Still for a mom, it almost feels

like these pages of scripture

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are someone ripping away your

security blanket from your grasp.

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If we're honest we'd probably just

rather believe that our prayers are

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so powerful that we could almost

move God, to act just how we want,

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especially when it comes to our kids.

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Together we'll aim to trust in a

sovereign good God, even when our

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finite minds cannot understand

all of job's circumstances.

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Let me begin in prayer right now.

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Heavenly Father, I pray you would

protect us from fear and help us

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to trust in your perfect character,

particularly your sovereignty.

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Guide us in the truth and help

us to love you more through it.

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I pray every word I speak would

be in line with your word.

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In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

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Before we dig in, let me give you just

a couple facts about the Book of Job.

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It's Wisdom Literature.

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The author is anonymous, and

there's a lot of debate over exactly

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when it was written, but the date

it occurred seems more clear.

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Job would've lived after

Noah and after the flood.

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But before Abraham.

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And the theme of the book is

why do the righteous suffer.

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It's one of the most confusing real

of life, and we're not going to be

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offered an absolutely definitive

answer but there's plenty of truth

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to guide us from job's experience.

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Six principles that can guide us are

number one, there are things going

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on in heaven with God that we don't

understand, but still affect our lives.

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Two, nobody can explain everything

that happens in life . Number

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three, Christians do suffer and

bad things happen to good people.

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You can't look at someone's life and

assume that they've been sinful or

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righteous based on their circumstances.

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Number four, even when God

feels distant, he values when

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we persevere and walk in faith.

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Number five, when you go

through suffering, don't abandon

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God, but draw near to him.

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And often even when we don't understand

the peace of God will cover us.

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And lastly, God will bring all of

the hard that we encounter for good,

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for those who love Jesus Christ.

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There's a lot of really

convincing information to

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show that Joe was a real man.

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And not only was he wealthy, he was

godly, which are two characteristics

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that don't always go together.

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Scripture describes him

as blameless and upright.

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He feared God and he

turned away from evil.

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We're given a long description of how

much wealth he had, and it tells us

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a little bit about his kids and how

he sacrificed for them continually.

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Job one six begins.

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Now, there was a day when the sons of

God came to present themselves before

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the Lord and Satan also came among them.

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The Lord said to Satan,

from where have you come?

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Satan answered the Lord and said,

from going to and fro on the earth

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and from walking up and down on

it, and the Lord said to Satan,

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have you considered my servant job?

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That there is none like him on the

earth, A blameless and upright man who

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fears God and turns away from evil.

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Then Satan answered the Lord and

said, does Job fear God for no reason?

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Have you not put a hedge

around him and his house and

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all that he has on every side?

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You have blessed the work of

his hands and his possessions

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have increased in the land.

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But stretch out your hand and

touch all that he has, and he

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will curse you to your face.

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And the Lord said to Satan,

behold all that he has is in

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your hand only against him.

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Do not stretch out your hand.

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So Satan went out from

the presence of the Lord.

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In the next portion, job is attacked

by calamity and disaster from

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every side, while one servant after

another delivers heartbreaking news.

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And the last servant tells him that

all 10 of his children have died.

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In verse 20, then Job be rose and

tore his robe and shaved his head

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and fell on the ground and worshiped.

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And he said, naked, I came from my

mother's womb and naked I shall return.

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The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

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Blessed be the name of the Lord.

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In all this job did not sin

or charge God with wrong.

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In chapter two, we see another

encounter between God and the accuser.

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Satan.

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God describes how blameless and upright

job is, but Satan says if you attack his

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health, he won't be that way anymore.

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And job became struck

with so from head to toe,

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and then his wife, who should be

his strongest earthly encourager,

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says to him, do you still hold fast?

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Your integrity curse God and die?

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But he said to her, you speak as one

of the foolish women would speak.

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Shall we receive good from God

and shall we not receive evil?

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And all this job did

not sin with his lips.

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Next job will receive a

visit from three friends.

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Now when job's three friends heard of

all this evil that had come upon him.

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They came each from their own place.

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Pha, the mite bill dad, the shoe

light, and so far the neite.

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They made an appointment together to come

to show him sympathy and comfort him.

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And when they saw him from a distance,

they did not recognize him, and they

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raised their voices and wept, and

they tore their ropes and sprinkled

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dust on their heads toward heaven.

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And they sat with him on the

ground seven days and seven nights.

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And no one spoke a word to him for they

saw that his suffering was very great,

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how convicting it is.

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That job brightly understands that the

Lord is the potter and he is the clay he

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worships even in the midst of his pain.

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And certainly we can have

compassion for a woman that just

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lost all 10 of her children.

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But how would you like this to be the

only quote recorded of you in scripture?

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Job's response to his wife seems

incredibly gracious when he tells

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her You speak as one of the foolish

women would speak, instead of

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saying, you are a fool woman.

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Even in his pain, it seems he's coaching

her to a more righteous response.

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I've heard different perspectives

on job's, children from different

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pastors through the years.

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I've heard some say all these feasts

that they had together were showing

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unity and hospitality and then

I've heard others say that they

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were having a party and perhaps

that's why God allowed them to die.

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I don't see scripture

condemning their behavior

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or encouraging it, so we have

to be careful to not read into

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what the Bible doesn't say.

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It can be terrifying to think of

the power that Satan is allowed

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to have over Job, but even more so

that God actually recommends it.

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, We'd love to believe that we can just pray

for this head to protection around our

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kids and around our families, and that

we can be rescued from danger, but in

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all of Job we don't have this guarantee.

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but were pointed to an Almighty

God to open the name of God that's

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frequently used in the Book of Job

is Shada, which means Almighty.

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He is all powerful and we have to trust

that he is God and that we are not.

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And I almost wonder if we picture God

like a coach, fiercely proud of his star

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player, saying to the other team, I don't

care the circumstances we play in, it

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can be snowing, sleeting, or raining.

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We can play indoor outdoor

on AstroTurf or real grass.

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You can throw in any player you've

got and my guy is still gonna win.

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To me, that feels a little bit

different about how God is so

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proud we will spend a lot of time

over the next week talking about the

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foolish things that Job's friend said.

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So let's take a moment to give them

credit for what they did do, right?

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This is a beautiful model of what

true friendship can look like.

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They were far away and they came

together deciding, let's go comfort.

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Our friend job.

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These circumstances had to be awful for

them to hear about it so far away, and

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it took them a long time to get there.

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If you've experienced friendship

like this on earth, you know that a

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good friend is absolute priceless.

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When I read about this account, I

can't help but think of two dear

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friends that God has blessed me with.

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On one instance in particular, I was

on vacation with a group of friends.

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When I received some devastating

news about a family member, there

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was nothing I could do but the

news had rattled me to my core.

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Two of these friends canceled their

plans and went back to the home we were

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staying at with me, they prayed, they

listened, they wept with me, and for

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a long time we just sat in silence.

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Our friendship has been solidified

through some of the most difficult

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moments of life, whether it's been

heartbreaking, health news, deaths

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of parents, and family difficulties.

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but through it all, we've just been

willing to sit with each other and

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sometimes utter a holy, I don't know.

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I don't know why this is happening to you.

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I have no words of wisdom, but

I will be here for you in this.

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It almost seems easier for me to

be that way with my friends, with

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my kids, I can be tempted to rush,

to give them an eternal perspective

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and to try to fix the situation.

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But I think our kids need that from

us sometimes too, to let them talk

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and to not rush them to a solution

when a listening ear is needed.

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What I hear resoundingly in my

head when I try to reconcile these

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first couple chapters of Job are

a story from John chapter six.

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Jesus had taught the crowd some

difficult things, and in verse 66 it

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says, many of his disciples turned

back and no longer walked with him.

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So Jesus said to the 12, do

you want to go away as well?

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Simon Peter answered him,

Lord, to whom shall we go?

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You have the words of eternal life,

and we have believed and have come

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to know that you are the holy one

of God for those wrestling with

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some of these passages, I would say.

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To whom shall you go, Jesus is

the way, the truth and the life.

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If you're struggling with this book

of the Bible or with circumstances in

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your own life, take them to the Lord.

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He can handle your questions.

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Heavenly Father, we see so clearly

through the pages of your word, how

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difficult it can be to live on this earth.

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I specifically lift up the moms

that are going through deep trials

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right now and those struggling

to trust in your goodness.

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Help all of us to be friends and wives and

mothers that will sit and listen and be

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silent when no words can ease the pain.

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May we be careful about how we build

our theology and guide us to praise you

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not just in times of good and blessing.

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But trusting you that you're working all

things for good, help us to hold back

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our tongues when we're tempted to say

unrighteous words as Job's wife did.

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We pray your Holy Spirit would guide us

in self-control and wisdom help us and

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our families to have an unshakable faith.

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We love you.

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In Jesus name we pray.

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Amen.