Faith and Doubt — Mark 9

0:00 Right. I I do not have, one specific text we're gonna look at today. We're gonna be looking at several texts because I'm looking at an overall context, of a thought. And so let me see if this thing turns on. There it is.

0:18 Okay. What we're gonna consider today is what I call faith and doubt. And and every believer, once you come to know Christ as your savior, is going to struggle or have moments where their faith is really weak and and in doubt. And what I want you to know is that it's absolutely normal, and we're gonna be looking at six examples of of that today. And so I pray that you would be encouraged by it and realize that you're normal and you're not abnormal for having times when you question and and you lack faith and you lack the ability to trust God.

0:59 Okay. So God wants you to wrestle with him until you learn to stop arguing, fighting, and you accept his will. Alright. So where you at right now? Are are you still in the, the arguing mode, the the fighting mode, the acceptors will.

1:17 For example, if anyone listens to Moody radio station, they they announced this young lady that said that I was really angry with God. And then I was as I was listening to Moody radio station, the Lord spoke to me and told me to stop arguing with him and to draw near to him again. And so it's not unusual that a believer will have moments where their faith is in doubt and they wrestle with God and they argue or they fight. And finally, you have to get to a point where you accept his will. Alright.

1:50 So for example, I believe Lord help my unbelief. Does that sound like you? It's been me many times. So here's the text, Mark nine twenty three and twenty four. If you can...

2:06 So the man was asking Jesus, can you heal my son? Jesus said all things are possible to him who believes, And here's his answer. I do believe. Help my unbelief. And so many times, I do believe God, but I lack that trust to fully believe him.

2:27 Right? It's like, I believe you, God, but I don't know if I can really trust you completely, and so I'm going to worry, and I'm going to see what I can do. But God says, look, if you believe, all things are possible. But I like the honesty of this man. I do believe, I know you can help me, but but I'm still doubting my my faith is not strong.

2:48 And so every believer will have periods of doubt, of questioning his or her faith, baffled by the circumstances of life. Some get angry, some reject, some use it as an excuse to indulge in sin, but most grow strong in faith. So again, I don't know where you're at in your particular walk right now. You could be in the angry stage. You could be in the...

3:15 You're just baffled and and wondering. You could be making excuses for for your sin because you don't like what God is doing. But hopefully, you're growing stronger in faith. Okay. So we're gonna look at six different men and their issues and how God dealt with them.

3:40 So Job wanted answers. If you're familiar with Job, he wanted answers. And so God asked a series of questions as an answer, and I believe it was like 70 questions he asked them. Now Job could not answer one single one. So we'll look at that more in a minute.

4:00 David wondered why so long. God never asked answered that question. We'll look at that too. John the Baptist doubted if Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus gave him an answer. Asaph wondered why the wicked people prospered, and we'll see what happened with him.

4:22 Habakkuk wondered why God wasn't judging the wicked, the violence, the injustice. And God answered, but Habakkuk didn't like the answer. Alright. Then we have Elijah. He was so discouraged that he wanted to die.

4:53 Alright? So it's important that we look at this because number one, Job did not realize he was in the middle of a challenge between God and Satan. Now we have the bible, and we can read the bible, and we can look back and see the whole scenario and say, okay, well, that makes sense. He was in the middle of a battle, but see Job didn't know that. He didn't have the information you and I have, and so from his perspective, he's living for God.

5:22 He's a righteous man. He he's he's showing his children how to worship. He prays for them. He's an example in every way. And so he couldn't connect the reality of his faith in his walk with what God was allowing in his life.

5:38 And it was a real battle for him. If you haven't read the book of Job, it's worth the read. So here's the question. Here's the issue right here. Satan said, Job, like most Christians, follow God only because he blesses them.

5:54 I wonder if that's true with you. See, I know in my life, I would preach all the time, you know, have faith, trust God. But when a serious trial came on my life, I realized that my faith was this big. And I was arguing and crying, and and and, you know, this is not fair, and that whole thing. Right?

6:16 And so Job... God was out to show Satan... Isn't that interesting? Look, Satan. Job is a real believer, and he's gonna follow me me.

6:28 It doesn't matter what happens. He... He's gonna follow me. And so Satan says, yeah. Right.

6:33 Take take away his things that we're gonna see. So so God said, okay. Go ahead. God... But God...

6:41 Here's what God said to Satan. Job will not curse me even if you were to take everything away from him. Now as you read the the narrative, you realize that God allowed Satan under his permission to take away everything. You know, he lost his children. That...

7:03 That's when your faith really gets challenged when you lose a baby. I've never had that experience, but, I've been with many parents who have, and it's a terrible thing. Not only did he lose his children, but he lost his health, and he lost his wealth and everything else. But God said, you're gonna see that this man is the real deal. He's not gonna curse me.

7:29 And he came close, didn't he? But he didn't. Even the wife said, why don't you just go ahead and do it and just die? What kind of a God would allow this in your life? But faith, his faith was strong.

7:41 He hung in there. And then here comes the counselors, which Job called the miserable counselors. And what did they say? Job, you sinned. No.

7:50 It's not because of sin. I didn't sin, and it wasn't because of sin. But but God still wanted to teach him to trust him. And so that was the battle. The the the the buddies kept saying it has to be because you sinned that this is happening, but he kept insisting that he didn't.

8:10 And it wasn't because of sin. It was just a test to get him closer to God. So Job was left in the dark over this test, and he's wondering why God was allowing this. So I don't know where you're right now, what God is allowing in your life, how you're responding to God, but he wants you to wrestle with him and to and to... You know, just like Job, God, why don't you speak to me?

8:34 So here's the issue that Job had. Boom. Right here. The silence of God was driving Job insane. See, because often when God would allow a trial into our lives and he doesn't answer, that's what drives you crazy.

8:50 Well, God, if you would just send an angel and you would say, well, here's what's going on. Let me explain it to you, so just hang tough. But he doesn't send it, does he? If would just do something and somehow speak to me so I can understand what's happening, but the silence of God. And that's what Job was.

9:11 God wouldn't answer. And then when finally God does answer, he asked him a bunch of questions, so he never really answered. Why? Alright. So let's go with David.

9:38 As you know, Samuel came and anointed him, and he said to him, David, you're to be the next king. And so David understands that reality. We were estimating he was around 17 years old when that happened. So in the process of him becoming king, there was probably thirteen years. So when he was anointed to be king to when he actually became king from 17 to age 30, those thirteen years went by.

10:07 And when he actually became king over all of Israel, there was another seven years. All right? So is my math correct? It was twenty years. Right?

10:17 And so during this process, as you know, Saul, he goes crazy, and he wanted to kill him, and so he's crying out to God, God, I'm praying to you. Help me from this man that's trying to kill me. Why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide yourself in time of trouble? So what did David feel?

10:38 That God was hiding himself, God was staying away from him instead of drawing near him when he was in trouble, when he needed him. Now again, notice I'm saying that he felt that way. Notice what he said in Psalm 22. And I know that Jesus quoted it, but David actually lived it. Why have you forsaken me?

10:58 So so what is he saying to God? God, I feel as if you forsook me that I'm all alone, that you're not there, that I'm praying and you're not answering. Where are you? And so maybe you have felt that in your experience. So why don't you answer my prayer?

11:16 Notice he says, I cry night and day. And so you can just see him at night just crying and say, god, god, when am I gonna become king? Why is this man trying to kill me? It doesn't even seem like a reality anymore. And you're five, and you're six, and you're seven, and you're eight, and God, you know, it's been nine years, and I've been crying out to you, and you don't listen.

11:36 Where are you? And so you can just see his frustration and his desperation. I'm crying day and night, and and why aren't you answering my prayers? Maybe you've been praying and praying and praying, and you feel like God is not answering. And nothing changes.

11:54 Alright. And so God will let you go... Allow us to go through through this as well. And so what was David's issue? David was struggling with the length and timing of God's will.

12:07 You you anointed me, you said I'm gonna be the next king. It's been ten years and I'm still not king. This guy is still trying to kill me, nothing's changed, and you can just see a struggle. Alright. So David felt that God was far away and abandoned abandoned him.

12:26 Did he abandon him? He did not. He did not. He never did. He never did.

12:33 And so, Job was going crazy because God wouldn't answer. He was silent. Nothing from heaven. No light into why this was happening. David was struggling with the length and time of God's will, and he felt that God was just so far away, he wasn't even answering his prayers.

12:52 Maybe you're there. Okay. Then we have John the Baptist. Now this one is interesting because John the Baptist said this, behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, John one twenty nine. And then he also said, I'm not worthy to untie his sandal.

13:10 And so when John the Baptist was preaching to everybody, you know, repent because here comes the king, and when he sees him out of this, he goes, there he is. That's him. He's the Messiah. He's the one. He's the one that's going to take away sins of the world.

13:25 He's the hope for our country. And in fact, he's God. I can't even untie his shoes, and I'm not worthy of that. And also, the Bible says this. He was a cousin of Jesus.

13:37 You can read that in Luke. And he was filled with the spirit in his mother's womb. Now, I remember we were in Bible college, and we were with the professors discussing this verse. And we decided that we're going to just take the word of God as it is. That...

13:54 How do you explain that? I don't know. But in his mother's womb, John was filled with the Holy Spirit. What the text says. So we decided not to deny the text, but just say this is true because it says it in the Bible.

14:06 Sound good? Alright. And so so think about this guy. The prophet Isaiah and Malachi mentioned him as the forerunner of Jesus. So he was prophesied that he was gonna come, and he actually comes, and he's doing the the work that God called him to do.

14:24 He's full of the holy spirit. He's preaching the word of God. He's telling everybody that's the Messiah. He's the one that can take away your sin. And and yet, check this out.

14:34 In Matthew eleven three, here's what he says, are you the expected one, or shall we look for someone else? What? What? But what happened? What happened?

14:49 There's this mighty man of God preaching the word, and there's big crowds listening to him, and they're responding to his preaching. Then then why do we have that in Matthew eleven three? What happened? What happened? He was put in jail.

15:05 He was put in jail. And so he is. He's sitting in jail. He goes, wait a minute, God. This doesn't make any sense.

15:12 I was prophesying. They talked about me way back, Isaiah and Malachi. I was anointed in my mother's womb. I've been preaching, doing what you wanted me to do. How can I preach and do anything if I'm sitting in jail?

15:27 And so this mighty man of God that understood exactly who Jesus was, suddenly, how can this come out of his mouth? He sent the disciples to go talk to him and say, are you the one, or did I make a mistake? It's kind of hard to believe that John the Baptist would actually say that. And yet, there it is. There's a text right before you.

15:49 And what did Jesus say? What was his answer? Yes. I am the one. I am the one.

15:55 Look at all these prophecies being fulfilled about me. I am the one. It was God's will for John the Baptist to be in jail, and in fact, a few days later, he died. They they they killed him. Right?

16:08 In jail. And that was it. His ministry was done. But Jesus answered him as I am the Messiah. I am the expected one.

16:19 Alright. So he was doubting and confused about his current circumstances. Maybe your current circumstances have you doubting and wondering what is God doing in your life. Hey, you're pretty normal, aren't you? Yeah.

16:45 I was envious of the arrogant, the prosperity of the wicked. So here's Asaph. He's going about his business, and he looks at this guy that denies God, that's living in sin, and just doing whatever he wants. He goes, oh my word. Look how he's being blessed.

17:00 He's financially good. He's healthy. Everything's going good. And so he starts to get envious. Watch what he says.

17:08 Their pride and their arrogance drove me insane. It it was driving him nuts to see how people who deny God could be so blessed and so prosperous. Maybe you're there. And then he goes, they blasphemed God. This is what really ate away at him.

17:28 This was really got under his skin. They blasphemed God, and they get away with it. And so look what he says. In vain I have kept my heart and my hands pure. What's the point, in other words, in living for God, if you can indulge in sin and get away with it?

17:46 That's what he was wrestling with. And so look at his own words in verse two. Because of this, I almost stumbled. I was about to slip. In other words, I was this close to saying, you know what?

17:58 Forget God. Forget living for God. Forget denying myself. I'm just gonna go and just plunge myself into sin. What's the point?

18:07 These guys do it and nothing happens to them. And you can see how he was wrestling with God. But you know what happened. Right? He he went to to the temple.

18:17 He went to the local church. He heard a message from God, and then he realized, oh my word, I I took my eyes off of God, and I was placing him on the world, and and thus I repent. I'm not gonna go and plunge myself into sin just because God doesn't immediately judge. And so I almost stumbled. I was about to slip, but he hung in there.

18:44 Praise God for that. Okay, then we have Habakkuk. Habakkuk wondered why God wasn't judging the wicked and violence and injustice, and so God answered, but Habakkuk didn't like his answer. All right. Now this person stumbles over things like the second world war.

19:02 Right? Genocide, famines, when babies die, and so this Christian really struggles. Why God allow certain things? Right? So one day I was called to to the hospital, and as I arrived, a couple was there, and she was she was five months pregnant, but she had lost her baby.

19:25 And then they brought the baby back, and they put the baby on top of her, and it was just it was there, fully formed. And they told me, I want you to do a funeral right now. I'm like, oh my word. I don't even know what I said. I was in the dark.

19:41 But that really threw me. I was like, oh my goodness, God. This doesn't make sense. Right? It doesn't make sense.

19:49 And so Habakkuk was saying, God, if you're a holy God, why are you allowing all this violence and all this injustice? Why does somebody go out and shoot 26 people in Texas in church? Right? Why are you allowing these things, God? And so there's a lot of things that happen in life that really baffle us, and then you start to wonder about God.

20:12 And who is this God that I'm following and that I'm serving? Can I trust him? Alright. So here's the answer from God. The righteous will live by his faith.

20:25 So so in other words, Habakkuk, I gotta... I have a plan. I'm gonna bring Babylon. But he goes, but Babylon is more wicked than the people who are wicked. He goes, yeah, but that's my plan.

20:35 I'm going to bring Babylon. They're going to they're going to... I'm going to punish Jerusalem, and I'm going to destroy the temple through them and take them captive. And Habakkuk is like, well, that doesn't make any sense. And here's what God's answer was, look, it's not your job to try to make sense of what I do.

20:55 You're going to live by faith. So in other words, you just trust me even if it doesn't make sense to you. And so what was his what was his conclusion? Read the book. He goes, his conclusion was, I'm gonna trust you, God, regardless of what you do.

21:13 Right? He he he leaned on faith. He he grew in his faith, and he learned to trust God. Okay. Elijah.

21:52 And as you know, fire came down from heaven, and then they they killed all those wicked priests. And soon as he did that, they started threatening his life, and he starts to run. And so he was totally burned out, and he was depressed. And what did he say? Do you remember?

22:09 Yeah, I just want to die. I just wanna die. He was so frustrated and depressed. So here's what his problem was. God himself, by the way, restored Elijah, but Elijah suffered from the I feel sorry for me syndrome, and I'm the only one syndrome.

22:28 May maybe that's you right now. I feel sorry for me. I'm living for God. Nothing goes good. I'm the only one.

22:36 Everybody else... Look at me, and and why can't anybody... Alright. And and it's just poor me, and and you sink into sadness and depression, and nobody listens to me, and and blah blah blah. Right?

22:50 Maybe that's you right now. Maybe you are where Elijah is. Alright. So let's go. Let's look at some verses that I think will bring some perspective.

23:02 Alright. Ecclesiastes seven thirteen and fourteen. It's right there unless you want to look it up. Consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what he has bent? In the day of prosperity, be happy, but in the day of adversity, consider God has made one as well as the other, so that man may not discover anything that will be after him.

23:27 Let me put it in another word. A New Living Translation puts it this way. Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked? Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Here, and maybe Rory sheds a little more light on this.

23:50 God brings both prosperity and adversity into our lives for his sovereign purposes without revealing the key to his plan. Doesn't that just drive you crazy? And yet that's the reality, and that's what I want you to grasp today. That many times he won't tell us why. Alright.

24:16 Let's look at this. Turn with me. You gotta you gotta turn here. Deuteronomy twenty nine twenty nine. This verse really makes me think.

24:27 Turn there for a minute. Okay. If you accept this verse and the next ones to come, you'll be blessed. You're already blessed whether you know it or not, but you'll be more blessed. In other words, you'll be blessed from this, the frustration of arguing and fighting with God.

24:50 Notice, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. So so in other words, God has a lot of things that are secret that he will not reveal to you or to me, that he chose not to reveal in his word. For example, when in two Corinthians chapter 12, when Paul goes up to the third heaven and he sees the heaven, he says, it was not allowed for me to say what I saw. So in other words, God chose not to reveal to us what he saw. And I'm like, why not?

25:32 You should have let him say something. I would have loved to to have him express what he saw. And so there's a lot of things that God won't reveal to us. When you're going through a trial, through a test, in a time of faith, he wants you to just trust him. He's not going to reveal certain things to you or to me.

25:54 And that's the battle because we want to know everything, don't we? We want to be in control. And God says, I'm not telling you why. I'm not telling you why. Alright.

26:03 Ecclesiastes eight seventeen. That's our next text. Here's what it says. And I saw every work of God, and I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he would not discover, and though the wise man should say, I know, he cannot discover.

26:30 So in other words, realize that no one can discover everything God is doing under the sun. Not even the wisest people discover everything no matter what they claim. No matter what they claim. So Ecclesiastes ten:five, just as you don't know the path of the wind and how the bones are formed in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things. There's a good perspective, a good reality.

27:05 Jesus also said to to to Nicodemus, because you don't know which way the the wind blows. You don't know how the spirit of God is working. You don't know the activity of God. Many... Most of the time, you don't know what God is doing, but he does.

27:22 Many times, we can't see what he's doing, and we won't know till later that God was doing great things. And so you don't know how the path of the wind you don't know what God is doing, how he's working inside the womb of a mother developing the child. It's amazing. Even with all of today's technology, we really don't know. And God just does miraculous things even in birth.

27:47 And by the way, if you complain about who you are, just go to the Psalm, Psalm 139, just look at this text right here. God is doing beautiful work when he created you. It's a good thing to accept the way he made you. Quit fighting it. You're not going to change anyway.

28:08 Isaiah 43 b and 13, I am God, Even from eternity, I am he, and there is none who can deliver out of my hand. I act and who can reverse it. I act and who can reverse it. When God does something, no no amount of complaining or threatening or whatever is gonna make God say, oh my word, did I hurt your feelings? Well, maybe I'm gonna reverse what I did.

28:37 See, he's not gonna do that. It's up to us to to just bow to him and trust him, or you can go ahead and keep on fighting if you want. Isaiah forty five seven, the one forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity. I am the Lord who does all of these. Notice that God takes credit not only for blessing, but also for calamity.

29:07 In his sovereign purposes, he allows it. Now God didn't have to say this right here. He could have said, all I want is for you to prosper and to do well and be rich and everything good, but he doesn't say that. Isaiah 40 five:nine, woe to the one who quarrels with his maker. An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth, with the clay say to the potter, what are you doing?

29:40 And so I'm thinking of when I was making this cabinet thing I made. Of course, it was crooked and not wrong, but I was still making it. So I'm making it, and I'm thinking, I'm gonna drill right here. And what are that cabinet? I say, hey.

29:53 What are you doing? Don't put that screw right there. You put that too big. Lower it down. I don't like what you're doing.

29:58 I was like, oh my word. This thing is talking to me. So with the earthenware vessel, among the vessels of earth, the clay, say to the potter so we're the clay, say to the potter, what are you doing? And yet God allows us to ask these questions because he wants us to wrestle with him. Okay.

30:51 Let's go to the book of Job. Let's go to the final chapter. Let's go to Job, the final chapter. Now you remember, I told you that Job was really, really wrestling with God. It didn't make sense to him.

31:14 He couldn't he couldn't figure out why was why would was God allowing such a terrible trial, the loss of his children, his physical suffering was just... It was horrible. He was in terrible pain. His friends were saying, it's because you sinned, and they were making us act more miserable. And his wife was just, curse God.

31:36 And he says, but I can't curse God. And he's wrestling with God. And then when God finally does speak, he asks a series of questions. Now, you need to go back and check if it's 70 questions. I'm not sure if it's 70.

31:50 I'm going go back myself and count. But he he asked a lot of questions to Job, and when Job can't answer any of them, here's his conclusion. Job 42, then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be toward it. So what's his conclusion? I realized that that you can do anything you want, and no amount of complaining or questioning or wanting answers is going to change your purpose.

32:27 Because I realize now that you know what you're doing, and you have the right, and you're allowed to do whatever you want because you're wiser than I am. Verse three, who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I declare that which I did not understand. In other words, all the complaining, all the arguing, all the demanding that God gives them an answer, He goes, I declare that which I did not understand. In other words, God, you're beyond me.

32:52 I couldn't understand you. Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know, hear now, and I will speak. I will ask thee, and do thou instruct me. So in other words, there's a big change here. Now he's saying, God, I submit to whatever you allow in my life, and I want you to instruct me to teach me through what you're allowing.

33:16 I stop arguing. I surrender. I have heard, verse five, of thee by the hearing of the ear. In other words, my faith was not deep. That's what he's saying.

33:32 I believed you, you were real to me, but this test has really worked in my life, but now I can see you. Now my eye sees z. Did God appear to him say, let me show you what I look like? No. What he's saying?

33:46 My eyes have faith. My walk with you has deepened to the point where now I can see you through my eyes of faith, that you know what you're doing. Therefore, I retract all that questioning, all that doubting, all that attacking you and demanding for an answer, and I repent in dust and ashes. Wow. Wow.

34:11 What a conclusion. What a conclusion. God never gave them an answer. He never told them why. He said, well, Job, know, don't want you to be mad at me, but let me go ahead and explain to you.

34:23 Satan came, and I want to show Satan that you were man of real faith, and so that's why I allowed him. And you know, and he didn't say that. But Job said, I was just frustrated with you speaking what I didn't know, and I realize now that you know what you're doing, and I submit. He stopped arguing. Okay.

35:08 I I don't know. I don't know. And so here's the the the question is this. Can you trust God even if you never know why? Because he's...

35:22 He won't reveal many things to us. Here's the next question. Can you trust God even if the trial lingers like David? It kept going on and on and on and on, and it lingered year after year. It never got better.

35:47 So can you trust them even if the trial lingers? And then finally, do you believe God's will is good and perfect and acceptable? Do you believe that? See, that's what God wants to get to the point where you can say that. Romans twelve and two, the latter part.

36:11 The will of God is good and perfect and acceptable. If it's good and if perfect, it doesn't need to be fixed. If acceptable means that you can accept it even if you don't understand why. So Amy Carmichael, maybe I've told you this before, but it's good to hear it because it helps me. Amy Carmichael was in India serving the Lord, and she was...

36:33 Had a ministry to girls, to little children. She led many to Christ, many. And she would go into the Hindu temples at night and steal them, rob them because they would use them as as as sacrifices, they would abuse the little children sexually in other ways. So she would go at night and steal them and give them a safe refuge. So one night, she's on her way in this little town to try to rescue a girl, and she falls into this pit, this big pit that was dug out.

37:04 And when she fell in there, she hurt herself really bad. Do you know those of you who know Amy Carmichael is worth reading her books, her writings. Do you know that she spent the last twenty years of her ministry in bed? She couldn't get out of bed, and she was in excruciating pain. And her writings, this is what she concluded.

37:28 The will of God is good and perfect and acceptable. Can you believe it? That was her conclusion. Can I be honest with you? I'm not there yet.

37:43 I want to get to that point, and God's going to keep bringing trials and whatever it takes to get me to a point where I can fully trust him. And so I want you to take this home with All right? So God's always going to remain a mystery, a mysterious God. Can you trust him even if you never know why? Can you trust God even if the trial lingers?

38:22 Everybody... Some... One of them got you. I know it did. Now in my case, most of them got me.

38:27 Right? But I want you to to honestly just for a minute just say, god, help me to trust you and to stop wrestling and fighting what you're allowing in my life. And I think that you're going to go home in peace. You're going go home in peace. The sooner you submit, maybe you'll relent a little bit on the trial.

38:54 Stop fighting God. So let's pray. Dear God, I'm the first to admit in front of everybody here that I've doubted you, I've argued with you, I've been frustrated, I've been angry, I've demanded answers. And Lord, I do repent of that. And you have taught me and you're still working to trust you even when it doesn't make sense, and to know that you are the sovereign God that we can trust.

39:29 Help us, Lord, to draw closer to you, to the point where we stop resisting and allow you to do your work in our lives. Help us, Lord, for we all struggle with this. Help us. In Jesus' name, Amen.