# God's Character and Our Suffering Sermon transcript from Cross Church Phoenix. Series: Job Date: September 13, 2026 Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/phoenix/episodes/gods-character-and-our-suffering ## Summary What if your suffering could reveal the depth of your faith? Are we truly worshiping God for who He is, or just for what He gives? Join us as we explore the profound lessons from Job's trials and discover the essence of God's character in our pain. Let's dive in together! ## Transcript Good morning, Cross Church Phoenix. How are you? >> Good morning. I am DJ. I'm the pastor here at Cross Church Phoenix. And uh welcome to church. And I am so glad uh to be back with you. I had a great time uh with Pastor Chad and with our fellow uh laborers for the gospel in the Philippines. And I look forward to sharing more um with you about that. Um hopefully coming up in the next few weeks, I've got a a talk with Jordan and see when a good Sunday night would be. But um it was it was great. Thank you for your prayers and God is doing great and wonderful things in the Philippines. And I will share a report back to you soon. So more to come on that later. If you would now open your Bibles to the book of Job, chapter 1. Job chapter 1. And if you don't have a Bible, there's one in the seat back in front of you or near you and Job towards the middleish. Esther Job Psalms, book of Job, chapter 1. I also want to thank our brother Ken Strommyer for preaching last week and closing out our rooted and ready series talking about ready for leadership. Apaffris who was discipled himself and then made disciples. It's what it's all about. out and I want to express my gratitude uh to him for preaching for in my absence. And uh also for those of you um yeah uh wondering we have these got group shirts and our Bible groups officially start this week and we have a number of those. So you can talk with anyone wearing one of these shirts can help you and guide you in the right direction and uh kind of give you provide you when when they're meeting and invite you to their group. We also have our rooted disciplehip course that will be taking place. I think we also have a slide for that. Um that will be Tuesday nights and that is starting September 29th and that is something that you do need to register for eventually. The goal, my goal here is to take everyone who calls Crossurch Phoenix home through rooted disciplehip at some point in time. So, we're doing u this fall, it's going to be a fall and spring thing continuously. Um, but starting September 29th, Tuesday nights, and this will take us through the 1st of December here at the church, 6:30 to about 7:45. And it's going to cap at 20 because it's not designed to be like a something where 50 people show up. the the nature of of it is is more small group based even though 20 is kind of a big small group but it's still small enough to where to be effective. Um so sign up for that online and if um we run out of space it will come back in the spring. So uh please do sign up for that. That starts in a couple of Tuesday nights. Well we're starting a new series through the book of Job and I am very excited to preach through Job. Job is 42 chapters and there will be times when we cover a lot of ground because there are long narrative portions in Job that need to be taken together interactions between him and his friends and his friends philosophical theological conundrums and and real problems that they have. um we need to cover those together, but they're long and there will be times where I can't read the entire text that we're preaching on on any given Sunday. But I want to challenge all of us. So 9:00 at the same challenge, 10:30, we are one church. I want to challenge all of us to read through the book of Job together. Um, we're and I want to challenge also the Bible groups to be reading the entire text as well as they work through uh the the sermon text of that week. And in your private devotions, if you're wondering where should I start or where should I read, hey, you can read Job. You can add it to your devotions or you can uh begin them there. But let's let's read through this together. This morning is a perfect example. We're going to cover Job 1 and 2 and I'm not going to be able to read all of it, but I encourage you to this week. One of the temptations any preacher has, I think, in the situation that I'm in right now, would be to get overly academic in an introductory sermon to a new book. Uh, we could spend hours, I could preach for like two hours giving you the background of Job and we could talk about authorship. We could talk about the timing of it, when it takes place, all kinds of background information and it would be really good and we would also be missing the point as well. So, I want to give you just real quick insights and then Bible groups are where we can talk about more of these things. uh we don't know exactly who wrote Job. Um there are some really good theories and Moses is one of them which I find to be a strong um suggestion and see some merit in that but we don't know exactly who wrote Job. The events of Job occurred during likely during the period of the patriarch. So be thinking on the time frame of this. Be thinking the times of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the patriarchs. And there's reason for that. As we'll see this morning, Job is sacrificing for his own family. He he's the family priest. The sacrificial system, the official sacrificial system given in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy is not in place yet. And so that's why it's early in the patriarchal period. But regardless of who wrote Job, when it took place, what we need to know, and what I want on your minds is that the Bible slash God treats Job as a real historical person. Job is not fictional. He is real. Because Bible critics will say, well, it's very poetic and there's poetry in the book of Job. But that makes it more like this is fiction. This is just a philosophical uh fictional fairy tale. But no, no, no, no, no, no. This is real historical narrative. And God himself treats Job as a real person. For example, in Ezekiel chapter 14, God is pronouncing judgment against Israel and its leadership and he says this. This is Ezekiel 14:12-14. And the word of the Lord came to me. Ezekiel's writing and saying the Lord's word to him, "Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it and cut off from it man and beast," God is basically saying, "When I judge you, judge Israel, even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they would deliver. but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God. Basically, what Ezekiel is saying there and what God is saying is that Israel at that time was so bad and its leadership was so awful that even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were all three there at the exact same time ministering and calling them to repentance, none of them would. and Noah, Daniel, and Job would only save themselves and wouldn't be able to turn Israel from their sin. That's how bad it was. But I say all that to say, because I know I'm not preaching Ezekiel 14, though that would be fun. Um, all that's to say that God treats him like he's no less real than Noah or Daniel. The New Testament treats Job as real as well. James 5:1 says, "Behold," James says, "we consider those blessed who remain steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful." Fascinating how James points to Job and says that that teaches us, his story teaches us about the compassion and mercy of God. M love it. So, as we get into this, I want you to remember that this is not fantasy or fiction. This is real life. And with that, let's pray. Father, we thank you for this morning. Thank you for your word. I pray that you would um soften our hearts, settle us down, Lord, and help us to see uh the truth here in your word and help us to see our suffering in light of your glory and in light of your wonderful, gracious, and merciful character. God, you are good, always good and righteous and holy all the time. Pray God that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear what the spirit has to say to the c uh the church here at Cross Church Phoenix. Lord, I do pray for those who are lost, for those who don't know you as their personal Lord and Savior, as I've been reminded in in just going through Colossians over the last few weeks, um to be praying for the lost every day. And I pray God that you would uh draw men, women, and children to yourself. And perhaps this morning, someone might get saved and turn and come to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in your name we pray. Amen. Well, let's stand as we read um some select portions of Job 1 and 2 together. We're going to read um Job 1 1-12 and then chapter 29 and 10. And again, you can read the rest of these in Bible groups. Job chapter 1 beginning at verse one. There was a man in the country of Oz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity who feared God and turned away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. His estate included 7,000 sheep and goats, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, [gasps] and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the East. His sons used to take turns having banquetss at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them. Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts. This was Job's regular practice. Verse 6. One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. Uh, and Satan also came with them. The Lord asked Satan, "Where have you come from?" From roaming through the earth. Satan answered him and walking around on it. Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity who fears God and turns away from evil." Satan answered the Lord, "Does, this is key, does Job fear God for nothing? Haven't you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face." "Very well," the Lord said to Satan. Everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself. So, Satan left the Lord's presence. Chapter 2, verse 9 and 10. His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die." "You speak as a foolish woman speaks." He told her, "Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?" Throughout all this, Job did not sin in what he said. Amen. Thanks. You can be seated. What we will see throughout the book of Job and in these opening chapters, what we will see is what our heading is this morning. God's character and our suffering. This is the there's a few one of the main overarching themes of the book. The entire book of Job is ultimately answering one question and that is chapter 1 verse 9. Does Job fear God for nothing? We have to understand that question rightly. The word nothing in Hebrew is kenam and it literally means without receiving or taking compensation or we could say for nothing in return. So does Job fear God for nothing? Think about Satan's accusation. Satan is telling God that Job only loves him, fears him, worships him because of the blessings God has given Job. And that's why the first five verses are laid out that way. The first five verses, the writer is basically telling us that Job is indeed a man blessed by God. Job is a man of integrity. He fears God. He turns away from evil. And yes, he has many blessings. He's got 10 kids. He's got many animals. He's got all these servants. Um he's the greatest man in all the East. He's so great that he wakes up early every morning and regularly intercedes daily for his family just in case they might have sinned. That's how godly and blessed Job is. That's what the introductory the opening verses are acknowledging and telling us. The writer is opening this story saying Job is a godly man and yep, he's blessed by God with a lot of stuff. So to put it in to to bring it down in summary, what we have is this. A godly man who is also rich. Okay, we have a godly man who is also rich. The question in the book of Job is, do those two things always go together? Does God bless people to get them to love him and then keep blessing them to keep them loving him? Does that make sense? Or can God allow his blessings to be taken from those who love him and yet they will still love him? That's the question that this book answers. So, this sets up Satan's first accusation. We'll have, if you have a handout, they're on there. If not, they're on the back tables. You'll have a 1A and then a 2A. Satan's first accusation number one is against uh Satan is accusing God not just Job but God's character. So Satan's first accusation against God's character. Your people only worship you for the stuff you give them. That is Satan's stance. Now I want to challenge all of us throughout this series to think through this book with high theology. It would be easy to make it all about us, right? And just see it from a human level. And yes, there are applications for us and we will see that. But I want us to see this higher than that. Because what we read and what we know in the book of Job is what? Something higher and bigger is going on that Job doesn't even know about. Think about it. Job has no clue about the conversation God is having with Satan. Not a clue. We the readers are have insight into that. The the writer is telling you and I that Job doesn't have a clue. So yes, he's going to suffer. Job will and experience many trials, but there's something bigger going on. The statement that Satan makes that Job only loves God for what he gets in return, right? His blessings and all this stuff is ultimately what? It's an accusation against God's own character. You see that? Yes, Job's love for God will be tested, but above that, God is allowing his own character to be tested. God's allowing himself to be put on trial, so to speak. Who brings up Job's name in the first place? God does. Satan's like, "I've been roaming around to fro on the earth, checking things So, Satan knows of Job, but Satan is honed in on Job only when God draws his attention to Job. Fascinating. Satan is basically saying this against God. God, your people don't love you just for who you are. They only love you because you manipulate them into it. You give them a bunch of stuff and that makes them love you. That's why Satan says, "Let me take away all of Job's blessing and watch what happens. He'll surely what? Curse you to your face." This mere human, Satan would say, doesn't love you for you. He loves you for what you give him. He loves you for your stuff. take away his stuff and he won't love you anymore. Walter Kaiser is a a doctor um and a theologian and a and a professor. He wrote a book on Job and he put Satan's accusation this way. I thought it was a good summary. Quote, "Humans love God out of self-interest." That's Satan's stance. Humans only love God out of self-interest. End quote. In other words, Satan's accusation against Job is simple. Of course, Job loves uh God. Who wouldn't with the amount of stuff that God's given him and blessed him with? Duh. But Satan's accusation against God is even greater. Satan is saying, "You have to buy God. You have to buy your people's love with stuff. take it away and their true heart will be revealed. They will be exposed and they will curse you as soon as you take away your blessings from them. So ultimately the greater than accusation against Job is the accusation against God's own character. So Satan has thrown down the gauntlet, right? He's made an allegation for the ages and God takes him up on the challenge. Right? Verse 12 is basically God saying, "All right, try me. Take everything away and let's see if Job curses me and only ever loved me for giving him stuff." In the rest of chapter 1, Satan is doing just that. He's taking away everything to test his I like to call this Satan's hypothesis against God and Job. Job's servants. If you read the rest of chapter 1, which I encourage you to in Bible groups and on your own, the rest of chapter 1, uh Job's servants are struck down, his sheep are destroyed, his camels are stolen, and worst of all, his children are all dead. and you thought you were having a bad day or a bad week or a bad month or a bad year. Read chapter 1. Has all of that happened to you? Now, the question remains at the end of chapter 1, was Satan right? Will Job reject God now that his blessings are removed? The answer is in verse 20 to 22, which I want us to read. Then Job after all this happened to him, it says, "Then Job stood up, tore his robe, shaved his head." These are signs uh ancient signs of of mourning and and distress shaves his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped. Don't miss that. He fell to the ground and worshiped God after all of this, saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And throughout all this, Job did not sin or blame God for anything. So, Satan was wrong about both God and Job. Now, I want to bring this home to us as if this gives us insight into our own suffering. So point 1a, our suffering reveals whether we worship God for who he is or if we only love slashw worship him when he blesses us. What is your response to suffering? The suffering you've endured in your own life. I'm not going to pretend to know or to to know everything that you've been through. You know what you've been through. What is your response? And we have two options basically, right? Option number one would be God, I'm walking away from you. I thought you love me, but now look at what's happening. I'm done with this. It's one option, not a good one, but it's one. Or number two is simply what Job says, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now, this isn't to say that we won't struggle when trials happen, when suffering comes. Job will struggle too as we go through this book. You're going to see. But we must not live the Christian life thinking that God owes us material or physical blessings because we show up at church on Sunday and worship him. He owes us something back. Plus, isn't eternal life in Christ kind of already the greatest gift and blessing of all? If all God gave you was eternal life in Christ, that's it. The rest of your life was completely miserable physically here on earth, but all God gave you was Christ. Would that be enough? There's a song um that we sing. Maybe we could sing it next week. Um Christ is enough for me. Easier sung than done sometimes, right? But is that true? If all you had was the gift of eternal life and everything else was taken away from you, would you say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord. Now God can choose to bless us as he does does Job and he has us. But he doesn't owe it to us as payment for our worship. We worship him because we love him no matter what. And this leads us into chapter 2. So basically the difference between chapter 1 and chapter 2 is chapter 2 is that chapter 1 Satan is attacking everything that is external to Job. Chapter two the attack comes directly to Job. Of course you would say well like his children are pretty close to him. Of course Job loves his children deeply. We learned that in chapter one. He is making daily burnt offerings for them just in case they sin. But as as near and dear to Job's heart as his children would be, they're still not him. And that's Satan's point in chapter uh two as we come to uh our attention there. In chapter 2, Satan changes his tactic and makes a new accusation because God said in chapter 2:2 that Job retained his integrity. So Satan, in other words, you're wrong. You failed. Job still loves me even though you took all of these things from him. And so Satan responds back now with an interesting phrase, skin for skin. Skin for skin, God. And skin for skin is was a is a proverbial saying basically meaning that a person will sacrifice anything, his possessions, his own friends and family to save his own life or his own skin. It's talking about the the selfishness of of of any human um that you would sacrifice anything to save yourself. That's skin for skin. Satan is saying um his accusation against Job is that he's still selfish. And the reason he still loves God is because his own life, his own skin wasn't threatened after all God took from him. Yes, his animals have been killed and taken away and his servants have been struck down. And yes, all of his children died, but that's still all like that's not Job himself. Satan is saying given the chance, Job will curse God if his own life is threatened and made miserable. And so the second accusation uh again against God is our second point. Number two, Satan's second accusation against God's character. Your people will only worship you while they're comfortable. again to kind of put it in our terms. And once again, Satan is ultimately attacking God's character. Job is simply the test subject. Will a man or will a woman love God when their own life is at stake? It's easier to keep loving God when difficult things happen to other people. But what about when it comes to us directly? A modern example could be this. We hear of Christians being persecuted in other parts of the world and it breaks our hearts. Surely it does. And we offer our prayers and we offer our support any way that we can. But we nevertheless continue loving God. Well, Satan's response would be easy for you to do. Cross church Phoenix. You still love God when uh persecution's happening in China? Yeah, it's easy for you to keep loving God when you hear about persecution or suffering of others. But will you keep loving God if persecution comes knocking on your own door and it's you they want, not the underground church in China, you that they want. Would you keep loving God then? And that's Satan's question. What about when his own life is on the line? Not just the lives of his family or his servants or his animals. What about his own life? And so this leads me to second point 2a. Um our suffering reveals our expectations of God. And if we will continue to worship him, love him, fear him, all of those synonyms, right? To worship him when we experience affliction. And I'm using the word affliction because its definition according to uh Webster and all that is a state of great pain, distress or suffering. And I guess I could add to that up to and including possible death. Right? This could be physical illness, mental burdens, a tragic event not that you hear about but is happening to you. you yourself are struck with some kind of personal affliction, what will your response be? And as we see in the rest of chapter 2, Satan is given permission by God. I love um old one of the reformers, Martin Luther, uh said that um Satan is God's devil. And there's a lot behind that statement, but he Satan is on God's leash, so to speak. He can only do what God lets him. He's not a free roaming um completely autonomous spiritual being. Um but that's another conversation which is wonderful. Um but we see Satan leaves the presence of God and he doesn't waste any time. He infects Job with terrible boils from head to toe. What if you woke up tomorrow morning with boils from head to toe? You think things are hard right now. Can you imagine? or you leave church and you are struck with boils, not just one or two, from head to toe. Well, as we see saw in chapter 1, same in chapter 2, two response options. The first one is um given to you by Job's wife um curse God and die. Well, I hope that's not your response. She doesn't seem like the most helpful spiritual guide. Or you can respond like Job. Fascinating. Think through what he is saying. Should we accept only good from God and not adversity? Fascinating statement. Dwell on that one for a while because what the Bible says is what? In that response, Job did not sin. And all that he said, he didn't sin. Meaning what? He ain't wrong. Should we only accept good from God and not adversity? Right? And Job didn't sin with that attitude, that response. And if we maintain that attitude, neither will we. You won't sin if you're submitted to God. regardless of what he allows to happen in your life, you won't sin. As I was studying this, I was reminded of how really honestly how the prosperity gospel is not only a false gospel, but I'd ra I'd like to use stronger words. It's satanic. The prosperity gospel is satanic. If you think about it, Satan's argument is prosperity gospel. So prosperity preachers who treat God like a cosmic vending machine are saying exactly what Satan is saying. Love God or use God for the monetary or physical blessings he'll give you. Okay. What we're learning in Job is that our worship and devotion to God is not dictated by any monetary or physical blessing that he gives, but simply by who he is alone. Job didn't treat God like a divine vending machine, only expecting good from him because of his daily worship of God. So, here's what I'm trying to say. Job didn't curse God and say, "God, what's up with this? I worship and sacrifice to you every day, and this is what I get in return." Or, "We had a deal, God." Right? I worship you. You keep prospering me. I've got 10 kids, a bunch of animals, all kinds of servants. I've got I'm doing great. Right? Isn't this whole this this is our little deal, right? This is our deal. I worship you every morning and make sacrifices to you and you keep prospering me. Isn't that the deal we had, God? Job doesn't say that at all. Job's worship of God was never motivated by what God had given him. And yet we see that in the prosperity gospel all the time. We come to him for what he gives us, not for him alone. It would have been a win for Satan if Job responded that way. But Job genuinely loves God. Not just because he had a big family, a bunch of servants, a bunch of animals, but because he loved God himself. And Job did not resort to questioning God's goodness the moment things got difficult. And I have had conversations and times with people pastorally and I've heard people say like, "I'm just mad at God right now for all of this." Right? And I get that and and in counseling it gets real and and I, you know, but I I also I listen and I take it in. But I will respectfully, kindly, lovingly say that's also a dangerous place to be. That's why I want us to have a high view of God throughout Job because it is ultimately Satan is going after God. Job is secondary to this whole thing. And when we uphold God's goodness, graciousness, mercy, love, compassion, patience, all of the wonderful attributes of God, when we uphold that in the midst of our own suffering, we are giving glory to God and showing Satan that he's an idiot. The end of Jo chapter 2, Job's friends will show up. You can read about that. For now, they'll just sit with Job and not say a word. That, of course, won't last long. They'll open their mouths and put their foot in their mouths and say stupid things. Um, they'll get some things right and then some things are completely wrong. Um, you know, a broken clock's right twice a day. So, um, that's kind of the friends. The bottom line is this. How do you respond to suffering? Is it to turn away from God, to run away from God, and to be done with God? then Satan, if so, Satan is being proved right. Right? But if it's to bless God more, to love him more, worship him more, and adore him more, you're proving Satan wrong. Not only about your love for God, but about God's character and love for you. God's character and love for you is is right. and regardless of what you think. Um, but what I'm saying is that you are showing Satan that he is wrong and that your personal love for God is motivated by your simply by God himself, not his stuff. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Remember that? Uh, it's a verse and a song. Um, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. His creation is all his. We already know that the breath in our lungs is a gift from God. He owns everything. So everything he's already given you is a blessing on top of blessing. But I want to bring it back. Is Christ alone enough for you? What if he took away your job? He took away your home. He takes family. We lose loved ones. Can you imagine 10 kids? Losing 10 kids. Not going to say it's easy. not going to say it don't hurt will say what would your response be do you love God simply for who he is and not just for what he's given you got back from the Philippines and Pastor Chad on the way home was asking me so what's your biggest takeaway I said honestly it's just perspective come right out and say perspective um 90% I would say of Cebu City where we were lives in poverty the uh really only the political elite or the rich live nicely, but 90% is poverty. It's run down buildings, um shacks put up. Um and when there's storms and stuff, it gets destroyed. You got to put it back up. But it's it ain't this. Tell you right now, if it's easy to compare ourselves if we were to in 9:00 a.m. I picked on North Scottsdale. I just picked it because it's affluent. Pick any affluent place. I don't care. Um, but like if we if you say, "Well, 19th and Grover is in North Scottdale. Oh, we don't have it." If we if we compare to Philippines, this place is the Taj Mahal. And so, honestly, it gives me perspective. I might find some uh trash on the property or some leftover blah blah blah from Okay, fine. I'll I'll throw it away. I got nothing to complain about cuz we are so blessed. just you're sitting here in a air conditioning that's working better. Um that's great. Ain't got that there. They'll worship in like 93° room with high humidity and you're sweating it out. But praise the Lord, there are some of the most happiest people. I'll tell you that they have more joy with less material blessings and less stuff than we have. And we have all kinds of stuff and less joy. something to think about. But ultimately, the bottom line is I want us to see our suffering, anything you're going through, whatever you're going through, have gone through, or will go through in light of God's character. He is good. He is righteous, and he is just. But should you should we only expect good from God and not adversity? Fascinating statement. I want to invite the worship team uh up here as I as I close in prayer for us and and I do want to acknowledge those who may not know Christ this morning. I pray that uh and implore you to come find me afterwards and and we can talk because I would love to introduce you to Christ because Christ is everything. Christ is everything we need. We don't need uh salvation from not having enough money. We don't need salvation from not having enough uh not being perfectly healthy. Um we need salvation from sin. And God did it through his son Jesus Christ. And if you don't know him as your personal Lord and Savior, please come find me. Please come find me. Cuz that is your ultimate need. And it is satisfied in Christ. And for those of us who are here this morning and we say we know Christ and we've been we're Christians, we're believers, part of the church for a while. If God took everything away from you, allowed it to be taken away from you, would you still love him? It's good to reflect on your love for Christ. What is your motivation for loving Christ? Is it just because of him alone and who he is or just because you want him to give you more stuff? So, let's pray. Father, I thank you for this morning. Pray for the lost. I pray for people who don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. I pray Lord that you would soften their hearts that you would draw them to yourself because the truth is that non-believers suffer as well and they're hurting and they're in pain and they experience sin and the effects of sin and the fall and they experience hurt, pain, sorrow, tragedy and loss in their own lives. The difference between um an unbeliever and a believer is that we mourn and we grieve as those who have hope. But the unbeliever has nothing to hope for. That's the reality. But the truth is that the gift of salvation is open to them through the Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray that you would soften their hearts and draw them close to yourself that they would find hope in Christ in the midst of adversity and in the midst of affliction or any kind of suffering that they experience. And I pray for those of us who do know you, Lord, that we would see our suffering in light of your character, in light of the gospel, in light of truth, and not get blinded by things that are false. God, help us to to see our suffering rightly in Jesus name. Amen. Let's stand as we sing our last song.