Standing When the Ground Gives Way

Well, good afternoon to everyone and welcome to you all online. We sure miss you and special prayers go out to you on that behalf. I'd like to begin and first by thanking Mr. Lux for doing the cliff notes to my sermon and also to giving you a handout so that I could shorten my sermon by twothirds. So well done Mr. Lux.

Appreciate that. So we're going to start in paragraph five of Mr. Lux's Did You Know. So all of you know where that's at. So we'll be turning with me here for as we begin to Psalm 46. Psalm 46 and verse one. Psalm 46 and verse one. God is our refuge and our strength, the very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear.

Even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, and though the water roar and be troubled, and though the mountains shake and swell, Psalms 46 was written against the backdrop of tremendous upheaval and instability. Think of the imagery The earth is removed. The mountains carried away.

The waters roared. The mountains shook. Sometimes we look at that and everything that seems stable seems to be moving nowadays. That is what sometimes it feels like when we have trials. Every year at the Feast of Tabernacles, I have the privilege of sitting down and writing my yearly goals. And for the past seven years, I've been doing it with my grandchildren.

And one of my goals for this year was to develop an understanding of what I was to learn from trials and how to respond to trials. And in doing so, the title of my sermon today is standing when the ground gives way. There's a subtitle to it that I have for my grandchildren this year. It is learning how to respond to and to trust God through trials.

It's my purpose today to provide a biblical framework. We call it scaffolding and teaching, but I'll give you a framework of how to respond to trials so that when the ground beneath our feet gives way, we know what the next step is. Today, I'm going to use a teaching technique that is called three paired action.

It's where you take a lesson and you pair two active actions with it. We're going to look at three lessons today and we're going to pair each of those actions with two actions. I'd like to begin with a story of a man who literally the ground beneath his feet absolutely disappeared. You know in life sometimes it feels steady and bright and stable.

Our health seems stable. Our family seems steady. Our emotions seem to be under control. Our finances seem to be sufficient. And our spiritual lives seems to be well grounded. But in a single moment, in a very single moment, your life can change. That's what I'd like to share with you real quickly here from a true story from John All in his book Icefall, the adventures of the wild edge of our dangerous changing planet.

Now, Jonan was a researcher. I got to figure out how to do this here real quick. Was a researcher and he was walking across the ice. And as he was walking across the ice, he didn't see any cracks. He didn't see any holes. He didn't see any upheavalss. Everything looked stable. Everything looks solid. In a moment, in a very moment, he plummeted through the ice and snow, ricocheting off of each wall of that creasse as he went down.

With each hit, he was breaking bones. He was tearing tendons, bruising, and cutting himself with each of the falls as he ricocheted down that creasse. Then suddenly he stopped when he hit an edge that was only 12 to 14 in wide, smacked right down on it. He was still alive. He couldn't believe it. And he remembered at that very point what he had been taught in training.

Do not panic. Do not let fear take over. Don't doubt that you're going to recover. Don't try to figure it out. Don't cause anxiety. Have a plan. That's what trials need. They need a way of which you can identify a process to walk straight through. There are times in life when you and I are walking and some of us have been in those positions and as the list that Mr.

L just read of all of those that are suffering and hurting. My wife and I were having coffee the other morning and in 10 seconds I could put a person that would had significant trials on my hands in 10 seconds and yet on the same day I got a call from a man who 30 years ago was paralyzed and he says Dave and I heard a joy I heard a hope I heard a different tone that I have heard.

He said, "I found I saw feeling in my foot today. 30 years. The joy and the hope that he had was amazing. I was touched. I couldn't believe it. I get to visit him here in about 12 days. We're going to celebrate because for 30 years he's been in pain and suffering and he had a whole week without any pain." As we learn from our trials, each of us can have a health crisis that devastates us.

We can have a death in the family that tears the very heart out of us. We can have discouragement and temptation that causes catches us off guard. That brings me to the first lesson. The first lesson's going to have two actions on both sides of it. The first lesson in sudden sudden trials. Stop and choose to seek God as your refuge.

Stop. Stand still. If you'll refer to Mr. L's, did you know, you'll see that I highlighted everything that he he I I don't have to provide in the sermon on here. But one of the interesting things that really caught me was says that there is that stand still refers and I'm going to read it straight from his handout on there.

The Hebrew word transferred be still can mean to stop, to let go, or to cease from striving. Stop. of everything that I learned in going through this whole process of identifying 25 things that I learned from trials and the process that works for me. And I hope that will provide you a stimulus to build your own process for dealing with trials that you will find that when we stand still and stop, not react.

Because remember, when you react, something else is in control. When we respond, we're in control. Think about the Red Sea. Israel was trapped. They had the Red Sea in front of them. They had Pharaoh behind them. And what happened? Fear took over immediately. We can uh read that over in Exodus 13, but I'm just going to refer to it real quickly. It says, "Do not be afraid.

Stand still. Stop. see the salvation of the Lord and the Lord will fight for you. Do you believe that? As you continue down into verse 15, God told them to look forward. Notice that the order stand still and then go forward. Stop doesn't mean that we stop doing things. What it means is that we replace those doubts, fears, human reasoning and anxiety with a plan.

You know, just Jehoshaphat, King Jehoshaphat of Judah had the same thing in 2 Corinthian or 2 uh Chronicles 20. He had there, you remember the story that he's sitting on the standing on the wall. looks out at this huge army, a massive army. And they there and this is what he prayed to God. He said, "Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.

" God answered, "Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." When we stop, we have a period. It is a period of choice. And that period of choice allows us to remember. We had a sermon last week on remembrance. And there I encourage you to go back and listen to it because I'd like to take some of the points that were there that Mr.

Loss borrowed and then put it into this sermon. Well, actually, we shared on there. So during this period of choice, what do we do? The first thing we do is we stopped. But what do we do right then? I want to change your paradigm. I want to change your paradigm because we think of trials as testing. And if any of you have ever taught or been with an individual that has test anxiety, you cannot believe the actual physical gut-wrenching rem uh response that you get when you tell a young man or a student or there you have a test violently. You can see the face change.

You can see the stomach churn. You can see the headache. You can see the pain. while teaching. For those of you here that have taught, you know that when you recognize in a class, you change your approach. And that's what God does for us. He changed our approach. How did I change their approach? I would go up to them and I would hand them the test and say, "Test me.

" That immediately changed it. What happens? You put them in a positive learning environment of which they can share what they know. You're not looking for failure. God is not looking for us to fail. He loves us. He cherish us. He wants us part of his family. He knows what's best for us. And yet we doubt. So when a young man cannot write it or a young lady cannot handle it on there, I would simply say, "Tell me what you know.

" Sometimes when we have a trial, that's what we have to do. We have to kneel down and tell God what we do. Recognize what we remember the blessings, the amazing difference that they've made in your lives. Look at the calling we've been given. Where would we be if we were not right here right now? Where would we be doing the same thing the world's doing? But we're not. We're different.

because during that period of choice and beg and those trials we remembered on there. So the teaching point I want first teaching point to you under point number one is this the the trial tests my faith but the response reveals my faith. The response is so important to God because that gives him our character.

It shows our character. It shows our processing and our and the way of which we respond to him. We know what the biblical definition of faith is. And that's already there is now the substance of things substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen in Hebrews 11:1. But what destroys our faith? When John was plummeting down that crevass, what was going through his mind? It's no different than what goes through our minds when we get hit with a with a trial that we don't know how to handle.

We have fear. We have doubt. We have human reasoning. And we have anxious care. All enemies of faith. Once again, in Mr. loud sermon from August the 29th, the things that God wants us to remember. And the third point, he emphasized that we need to stop and remember how God has been with us and what he has done for us.

So, what I'd like you to do is I'd encourage you all to make a remember list. So when you face your next trial, all you have to do is I have in the front of my Bible right here mine. I just open it up and it gives me a stepby-step process. Six simple words. Six simple words with scriptures that goes with each one that changes how I look at a trial to how I look at it is training.

training our character, training our hearts and minds to think as he thinks. I'd like to share part of my list with you just very briefly. I'll I'll just quote through the scriptures, but I want you to give you a a remembrance list that when the trial comes, we stop and during that period of choice, we choose to look to our refuge and salvation and our place of safety, God.

The first thing I do is once I've stopped is to remember who God is. He's our father. We forget that he is our father. And what does it say in Isaiah 64:8? Not only is he our father, he's the master potter. And the master potter, we are the clay. And he molds us. He shapes us. He forms us.

And he refineses our character. Remember what God is. God is spirit. God is spirit. John 4:24. there. God is spirit and those who worship, that's you and me, that's all of us. We worship him in spirit and truth. We know what the truth is. God has opened our hearts and our minds to understanding it. John 17:17 says that we are sanctified by the truth.

Thy word is truth. John 8:32 tells us what happens when we take the truth and we put it inside of us. What does it do? It sets us free. And that freedom takes us away from those trials that seem to overwhelm us. That anvil that sits on your chest at night, that burden that we feel. We know what to do with that burden.

We've heard Mr. Lau tell us many times what to do with that burden and what burden to take on. Let me do just a couple more. I have numerous ones, but I want to get to the main issue. Another point I have as far as remembrance and my progression. So I think of it as a scaffolding. I just go point one, read it, point two, read it, point three, and my mind begins to change.

Why? Because when we occupy the mind, we occupy the hands and the body. See, when you discipline yourself, you don't others don't have to discipline us. When we are able to tell ourselves no, we have matured to a different level of character. Whether it be through thought or action or behavior, we change. We remember God is always present.

How easily I have forgotten that. Always present. When we turn our back on God and we know that happens through our iniquities or sins as Isaiah 59:2 tells us that there that separation is on us not on God. Just think of what happens when we kneel down and we repent and we turn and we go back. He is there immediately.

He is right next to us. And yet we doubt, yet we fear. Yet we have anxiety that he won't show up. We have human reasoning that makes a problem so big that we say that God can't handle it. It's too big. We build it up in our minds to a point that we say he can't help us. It's not true. Not true at all. But with those with that what we call remember list, there's one thing that I learned very quickly here in the last probably eight weeks.

Remember and recognize and counter and counter the enemies of faith. Just real quickly, I'd like to read from my personal one. I encourage you to build your own. I'm not saying this works or that. This is what worked for me. Fear focuses on what might happen. Fear magnifies the trial until it begins to appear greater than God's ability to help us.

But what does God say? God says, "Fear not. I am with you. I will strengthen you. I will rah raise you up with my righteous right hand." Let's go ahead and read that over in Isaiah 41. In Isaiah 41 and verse 10. Isaiah 41 and verse 10. Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed. Now, be not dismayed.

You know, do not allow the trial to overwhelm our thinking. Take control of it. Put boundaries on it. bring our focus back to where the main issue is. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will strengthen you. And yet we doubt. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. What does faith do? Faith shifts our focus from the size of the trial to the presence and power of God.

Doubt doubt kept questions whether God can will be there for us. Will he really can we really trust him? That's what doubt says. God says, "Believe me." As it says, Jesus told his disciples in John 14:1, just to quote it here for you, he said, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.

" Can we do that? You know, we are told at camp when it's asked, "How can we believe God?" There would be each of the counselors in there and each of them was responsible to have one scripture. The first three scriptures that came out was Titus 1:2. The second was Hebrews 6:18. The third was Numbers 23:19. One right after the other.

The other three were there to support the other other campers that ask, "How is it that we doubt?" At camp, what we do is there's a 12-in round post that sits about that high behind one of the dorms. We'd go there and I would get up on there and I'd turn to them and I say, "I trust you. I trust that you will car catch me as I fall off this If you do not want to be a part of it, step aside.

They'd all care. Each of them put their hands out, interlock between each. I would explain it to him. I'd have the counselor go to the end of the group. I'd have him hold his hands up to catch my head as I fell. I'd put my arms on there and I would fall straight back into their arms. I didn't have doubt that they would catch me, but they did because my weight, my size, my height, not experiencing it.

See, God challenges us with different opportunities to prove our character. But then comes anxious care. We carry today's burdens for tomorrow and on and on and on. We look ahead instead of taking that anxiety and removing it. You know what anxiety causes? Proverbs 12:25 tells us that anxiety causes us depression.

And what is depression? Depression is that feeling you feel. It overwhelms us when we can't see the joy that God has placed before us. God says to anxiety or he in Philippians 4 and:e 6 it says be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication and thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.

So what does faith do? Faith takes the burdens we carry and places them before God in prayer. But we have to do that. It takes action and human reasoning. The fourth enemy of faith relies on our understanding is set of God's direction. So when human reasoning says I know what I know what makes sense to me, God says trust me and direct and and and and seek my direction.

Turn I'll read it to you here in Proverbs 3 5 and 6. It says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path. Do we believe him? Sometimes the victory is in the first moments of a trial by simply refusing to allow the emotions determine your next action.

We stop. We take the period of choice and we choose the process to stop and to seek God as our refuge. The enemies of faith of fear, doubt, human reasoning and anxious care turn our focus inward towards us, towards our human weakness. Faith turns our focus outward to God's word, to his power, to his presence, to his promise, and to his purpose.

We stop and we seek. As we opened up with the sermon in Psalms 41, God is our refuge, the very present help in our troubles. referring also to what Mr. Lux put inside of the did you know in Psalms 46:10 restates it be still stop and know that I am God. I will exalt among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord of hosts is with me and the God of Jacob is our refuge. So lesson one gives us two simple actions. Stop and seek. You know when you think of it, you can hardly think of a trial without thinking of Job. You talk about the earth absolutely disappearing under him. Can you be imagine being there? and four four devastating blows in a row without the without the messenger even leaving the next one is there.

There's some of you in this room and some of you online have had days like that. Let me just recap it real quickly for you. Here's Job. In comes a messenger. The messenger says to him, he says, "First, the Sabian have or Sabines have raided your ox and your donkeys and killed your servants." And before that me messenger even let was even finished, another reported to him and said, "Fire has consumed your sheep and more of your servants.

" And a third report, the Calaldanss have stole your camels and your killed more of your servants. And finally, could you imagine the blow it would be? Your three daughters and your seven sons are in a house and a wind, a tornado there. Kills them all. Kills them all. But what's amazing about Job is that he stopped and what did he do? He humbled himself.

Over in Job, Job 1 and verse 20, Job 1 and verse 20, we see a remarkable response to a trial. Absolute remarkable response. Job just heard all of this. And what does he say? And this is amazing. Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, so he humbled himself, and he fell on the ground and worshiped. I don't know about you, but in the past, that wasn't exactly how I went about it.

I went about, okay, how do I solve this? What do I do now? How do I eliminate the pain, the suffering, the tragedy? No, we stop and we use the period of choice to seek our refuge. And listen to what he said there. Fell to the ground. And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there.

" And God gave the and and the Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And what in that response? What do you see in all this? Job did not sin. Nor did he charge God with wrong. So when we doubt, are we charging God with wrong? We say, why am I suffering this? Why am I hurting so bad? What is the thought process for me? It was changing it from test to training.

You know why? Because there's a principle in training. It's called the overload principle. Matter if I had a brand new athlete that had never done anything or an Olympic athlete or a professional athlete, it would didn't matter. They all had the same principle. It was called the overload principle. And the overload principle simply said, in order for improvement to happen, you have to change four things.

You have to change four things. Intensity, which is how hard, duration, which is how long, frequency, which is how often, and rest. Four components. One of those must be changed for improvement in the overload system. Boy, doesn't that sound a lot like a trial? Doesn't that sound like God saying, "I want you to be stronger.

" So all of a sudden the intensity of the trials there. Could you imagine being in Abraham's shoes and tried as we heard last week at 114 with his son there on the altar? Can you imagine what that feel like? I can't. I've held my child. I know what that feels like. Intensity, duration, how long a trial lasts. Some of us have had trials our whole life.

Maybe small ones have that built up. Some of us have one that lasts our whole one like Paul or their frequency, how often they come. Rest. He gives us rest. If you look back on your life, there are periods of rest where God allowed us to increase our strength, our character, our faith. But did we recognize it then? No.

We looked at it as a reprieve. I did, not you. I did. As a reprieve, not a rest. And what does rest do? Rejuvenates. Allows the cells to strengthen. Allows the sarcimeir to increase. Allows the strength of the muscle and the cardiorespiratory system to improve. They're there. But sometimes trials aren't over quickly.

The shock may be immediate, but the climb is gradual. So what do we do? We ask for wisdom and we seek God's direction. So, we stopped, we seek, we ask, and then we search. I'd like to quote from Mr. L's, did you know? From July 10th, 2026. Quote, "But trials can leave us confused.

We may know that we need it to endure, yet still not understand how to respond. some or should we speak or should we remain silent, act immediately or be patient? What is God trying to teach me? How can we face a situation without becoming bitter, discouraged or afraid? That's the context in James. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God.

The wisdom James describes is not merely knowledge. It's the ability to see a trial properly and to respond to it according to God's will. God may not immediately remove the difficulty, but he promises to provide the wisdom needed to walk through it faithfully. Of course, that comes in there. We know in James 1 2-5, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, who gives it all liberally without reproach." And now without reproach means that God doesn't criticize us for not knowing what to do. Us admitting it is a is as we go before God. That's what he wants us.

He wants to be a part of our lives and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith. Ask in faith. And what does it say in the next sentence is that without doubting, without that enemy of faith, without that doubt, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven, tossed by the wind. For those of you that have recently been out on the ocean or out on the water, you guys well know what happens when an outgoing tide with the northwesterly comes in and we call it the washing machine.

There is it's every angle, every there tossed to and fro. You talk about a vivid experience. Yeah. Don't see your bow, then you see your bow. Next one's on the side, off the stern, off the port, off the starboard. You never know where it's coming from. That's a person in doubt. And there, you know, Satan, he te Satan tempts us to sin.

He does. He provides it all over. But God tests us to develop and strengthen our character and our faith. God does not reveal the whole journey to us. Sometimes for those of us that have had interesting and challenging health issues, we thought we knew the answer. Wasn't even close. We learned an important thing.

And when you go out and you visit people that are struggling in a way that you don't understand and they encourage you, their trial strengthening my faith. Unbelievable. The words, the body language, the open hand of kindness, the tone of their voice, the encouragement of the words they use and the scriptures that they support with strengthen us in a way that somebody who has not suffered through it doesn't understand.

That's why it's so important that we remember those people that are suffering. Yes. But God allows us to learn from other people's trials. For those of us that have been praying for individuals like I have for my friend and had movement this week, strengthens my faith, strengthens my belief, strengthens my trust and my confidence in the one who can do all.

In ongoing trials, God teaches us to endure one faithful step at a time. Mr. Lux, you did not tell me that when I tapped this it had jumped to the end. Thank you, sir. In ongoing trials, God teaches us to endure the one faithful faithfully, one step at a time. I want you to think of Paul, man. Man, Paul, how much hardship can you go through? beatings, imprisonments, rejection, fe physical suffering, danger, shipwreck, exhaustion there. Unbelievable.

But in Colossians 2, uh in 2 uh Corinthians 4 and verse 16, 2 Corinthians 4 and:e 16, I'll turn there for you. One of the most encouraging scriptures when you see the courage and the faith of Paul. It says, "Therefore, do not lose heart. Don't doubt. Don't fear. Don't let anxiety take over even though our outward man is perishing.

" And boy, we know that for some of us, for most of us, for all of us. Yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. Our light affection uh afflictions, which is but for a moment, is the working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Why we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

For the things which are seen are temporary. Boy, that's hard for us to believe. But the things which are not are eternal. Do we believe that? You know, when Paul was struggling with the thorns of the flesh, three times he asked God to remove them. Three times. And what did he say? My grace is suff sufficient for you. My strength is perfect in weakness.

When we are weak, God will make us strong. But we can't doubt. We cannot doubt. You know what's amazing is that John all all fell in a blink of an eye. He went down so fast he did not even realize it. And in his reacount, he says from the time he he went through the ice till he hit that 12 to 14 inch lead with a smash and his body crumbling.

He said it was like a blink of an eye. 70 feet he fell straight down, bouncing off the side to side. Some of us feel like that with each of our trials, the pain and the hurt. But you know what's amazing? John All never left camp. He had a rule. He never left his tent without two tools. His iceaxs and his krampons. He never left.

And that day, those two tools saved his life. Why? Because on the descent down through inst uh instinctively he took his axe and he drove it into the ice as he was bouncing down slowing his descent. The krampons caught the edge when his fit when he was spinning through caught the edge that stopped him right where we are.

I ask you today, what is your iceax? What is your krampon? Do you have one in your hand right now? When life is steep and trials are hard and long and the footing is uncertain and the ground opens beneath our feet and fear and discouragement overwhelm us, faith becomes our Isax, we drive it deeply into the promises and character of God deeply.

Why? It anchors us. But faith takes movement. Our krampons. God's word applied through obedience can become our camp can can be our krampons. God does not merely tell us what is true. He shows us how to walk. Christ gave us that example if we're willing to follow. And Paul tells us when he was talking about the armor of God, he says there in Ephesians 6:1 that we're to sh our feet with the preparation of the gospel.

So when the ground beneath us gives way, knowing where to step is not the same as taking that step. And what does that mean? When we close the gap between what we know and what we do, that's growth. That's spiritual growth. That's developing the faith. So when we climb because and so when the climb becomes difficult, drive your axe faithfully, your iceaxs faithfully into God's promise.

Plant your krampons of obedience firmly into the word of God and take the next faithful step. Lesson two. In ongoing trials, God teaches us to endure one faithful step at a time. We ask for wisdom. We search his word for direction. And we take the next faithful step. John all didn't spend his whole day when he was down in the hole of that creasse because he was face down.

He turned himself over and looked up and saw the light. The light gave him hope. His iceax gave him the ability. But you know what? 15 broken bones, 12 fractured vertebrae, dislocated shoulder, internal bleeding, and cold, numb. He rolled over and he looked up. He turned. He turned and he looked and he was renewed. What do we do when we're down and discouraged? What do we do? Lesson three.

In deep and difficult trials, God teaches us to look beyond the present pain to the kingdom of God and his resurrection. So, we choose to trust God. We choose to trust him that it will work out. He loves us. He wants us to be in his family. And it's our choice. Think of Joseph. Joseph endured 13 years of hardship. From the time he was put into slavery to Piper's wife's accusation to prison, 13 years.

But God had a purpose for him and had a journey for him. Abraham 25 years waiting for the promise of a son. Moses 40 years in Midian being prepared for what God had ahead for him. Different trials, different circumstances, different lengths of time. In Hebrews, it tells us they had something in common. They live by faith in what God had promised beyond their present circumstances.

Do we have the faith to do that? Do we have the trust? Do we have the courage? Do we have the commitment? Questions for us to answer. But what does it say in Hebrews 11:13? These all died in the faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them a far off, were assured of them and embraced them. Seen a far off.

You know what it does? Faith allows them allows us to see beyond what is happening right now. It allows us to look out and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is going to be in God's best interest, in his will, and with his direction. Do not allow today's pain to be your entire horizon. When you wake up in the morning, your first thought is what the key is to know what your f first thought needs to be.

God tells us what to focus on, but it is our job to do it. So, looking beyond the pain, Christ and Christ's return, the resurrection, and the kingdom of God that God has promised us are there. Let's notice in Hebrews, it also states in verse two of chapter 12, on there 13, I'm 12, it says there, God tells us to run with endurance.

For those of you that have run long races, you know what it feels like when the body hits the wall. Most of the time, it's somewhere around 20 miles in the marathon. the body stops burning or starts burning lean body mass literally starts burning it to survive and to finish. Some of us could feel like we're in that point right now.

But we run with endurance the race that is set before us looking where? Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He is the finisher of our faith. Christ knew that the suffering he uh was not the end of the story when he gave his life. He knew he knew what he had to go through. None of us have had to even come close to that.

Joseph looked forward. Abraham waited for God's uh for God's city. Moses looked to the reward. We look to Jesus Christ as the resurrection in the kingdom of God. And that requires a choice. God sees what we cannot see. He gives us the strength to be able to travel that path that he has lit for us. And sometimes, if any of you have hiked at night with a flashlight, like our family always did.

We would always go out at night. That flashlight only shows you your next step. It doesn't show you where you're going to end up. Sometimes God does that for us. He lights our path to see what we need to learn, to faithfully take that next step, to develop that endurance, to develop that confidence, that commitment, that conviction that we're able to move forward, one step at a time.

So, choose to continue walking in God's way, and we trust him with where that path leads. God can use trials to test and prove our faith, develop godly character, humble us, and teach us greater dependence upon him. God sees the whole picture. He knows where he's leading us, and he knows our character, and he knows what he wants to develop within us.

So when we cannot see the outcome, we choose choose what God has shown us and trust him and trust him with what we cannot see. Let's conclude over in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 16. We've already read it, but let's read it again. Let's read it again. And when the ground gives way, we can know what is next step.

When fear takes hold, stop. Use the period of choice to remember what God has done for you and for us and for others and been in our presence and to seek God as our refuge. And when we do not know what to do, we ask God and we search his word for direction. And when trials continue and we suffer and we don't see the end, we choose to trust God.

What is our biblical framework for responding to a trial? Three pairs. Stop, seek, ask, search. Choose, trust. 2 Corinthians 4:16 tells us, "Therefore, we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us as a far more exceeding and more eternal g weight of glory.

While we do not look to the things which are seen, but to the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Take the next faithful step. Turn to God, believe him, obey him, trust him, and move forward in faith.