Weebles Wobble... But They Don't Fall Down

Thank you, Melody and Allison. You know, you look at this time of year, especially in the fall, and it seems as though creation does thing. You know, you get the beautiful color change and some of those different things. There's one thing that we missed in Mexico this year. There's not really much of a color change from a standpoint of leaves and trees. And I heard stories of people that went over to Montana and went over to Colorado and just seeing all the aspens change and all the beautiful colors. So it was nice to come home and to be able to see those things. Well, I would venture a guess that the majority of you in this room are familiar with weebles.

Some of you may, may not be. If you had younger children in the 1970s and 1980s, you probably had them kicking around underfoot. In fact, they are still around today. I did some digging. They are still around today. So those of you with children now, you may have some weebles kicking around underfoot now. For those of you that aren't familiar, weebles are little egg-shaped dolls that look an awful lot like Humpty Dumpty. And they come in a variety of these different place-sets. They had airplane place-sets and marketplace sets and city sets. And you could purchase and collect the whole set. They even had individual names. Each little weeble had its own name, essentially. But their most exciting feature, Bar None, was their inability to be knocked over.

The way these things are set up, they have a very unique round-bottom design, and they're denser material at the bottom than it is up top. And so when you push them, it shifts the center of gravity over a little bit, which makes it opposite the direction that it was pushed, and they pop right back up. And they kind of wobble a little bit there. As a child, I had some weebles, and it may surprise many of you, but I took the slogan, Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down as a personal challenge.

Kind of like unbreakable comb. Oh, really? Challenge accepted. See if I can do that. Well, it turns out unbreakable combs are not truly unbreakable, but weebles are an entirely different story altogether. As a child, try as I might, hit them as hard as I possibly could, the only thing those weebles did was rock back and forth on their little round bottoms, wobbling up a storm, but refused to fall over. I don't know if you felt the same way or not, but the news cycle over the past month and a half or so has been really difficult to watch. It really has.

One of the downsides, I think, with a 24-hour news cycle is the fact that it's a constant fire hose of a barrage of bad news. From the effects and after-effects of Hurricane Harvey to the earthquake that leveled parts of Oaxaca, and then again in Mexico City, killing 361, landfall of Hurricane Irma and the incredible devastation that it left in its wake, and then Hurricane Maria, which has absolutely devastated the island of Puerto Rico, islands, I should say, of Puerto Rico, and the barrier islands of the Caribbean. But it's not just natural disasters. Just last month, a young man took a semi-automatic rifle to his high school in my own hometown of Spokane, Washington. Just outside of Spokane is the little town of Freeport and Freeman High, and—or Rockport, I'm sorry—and shot up the hallway of Freeman High School. My high school friend Tim's kids go to Freeman High, and his niece was standing in that hallway and watched it all unfold. Thankfully, she's physically okay, more or less. But when the situation was neutralized, a shooter's friend, Sam Strahan, who it sounds like they're going to name a highway after in that town as it goes through town, tried to stop him when the rifle jammed, lay dead. His parents sent him off to school that morning, and he didn't come home. And then right before the feast, just before we all started getting ready to leave and head off to the feast, a man holed himself up in a room at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas and opened fire on the crowd below. When the dust settled, 58 people were dead. 546 were being treated at local hospitals. 58 people who went to enjoy a night of country music and never came home. And on and on and on and on it goes. And it's easy to watch these things on the news, and it's easy to become desensitized, particularly again in today's day and age when these sorts of news stories are more and more common. It takes more and more to shock us anymore because of the frequency with which we hear these things. And it's easy to forget at times that these are real people that have been impacted. People who have lost everything, they've lost property, they've lost loved ones, parents, children, brothers and sisters. Lives that have been completely upended and in some cases will never be the same again. How does someone react when something like this happens? When a disaster of this magnitude comes in and takes everything that you own? Or when you have an incredible trial that just shakes you to your very core? Lives that have just been upended. I came across a story that some of you may remember hearing about a little while back. It made the news rounds right after Pentecost. It made the news rounds right after Pentecost. It was a young mother of five. Her name was Carrie Declan that was diagnosed with glioblastoma in April of this past year. Now glioblastoma was kind of brought back into the news again because that's what John McCain was diagnosed with. So all of a sudden everybody was talking about glioblastoma again because John McCain was diagnosed with it. She underwent surgery to have the tumor removed back in April, and unfortunately in June the cancer returned. And it was right about that point in time where she found out that she was pregnant. There was a chemotherapy option to treat her cancer, but the doctors were 100% certain without a shadow of a doubt that chemotherapy would cost the baby's life. Carrie was pro-life. She had very strong pro-life convictions, and she made the very difficult decision, maybe not as difficult to her, but a difficult decision not to treat the cancer and to give the baby a chance to live. That's how I heard about this story because the news agencies picked it up and said, can you believe this person? Can you believe what she's doing?

She's sacrificing her life, and they were just very critical of her decision of what she did.

In mid-July, Carrie had a stroke and went into a coma and never again regained consciousness. The doctors kept her on life support as her daughter developed to the point that she could be delivered safely, and Carrie delivered by cesarean section on September 6th and passed away September 9th. Her daughter, life Lynn Dicklion, was born premature at 24 weeks and five days on September 6th and passed away 14 days later on September 20th. Carrie's husband, Nick, and their five children are left picking up the pieces and trying to make sense of it all. The article that I read quoted Nick as saying, a God that loves you so much, that allows your wife and your daughter to die, I don't know what he's doing. I don't know why this happened. He said, sometimes I feel like I'm being tested like Job. He went on to say that despite being confused and being overwhelmed by grief, that his faith remains strong. He said, I picture God saying to Satan, you can do whatever you want to Nick, but he will still serve me. And Nick says, and I will. Brethren, what do we do when life punches us in the gut? When it hits so hard that it takes our breath away? When we can't see the way out? How do we react when these fiery trials come? And what lessons can we learn from weebles? Well, brethren, we wobble, but we don't fall down. We wobble, but we don't fall down. The title of the sermon today, as you probably have already guessed, is Weebles Wobble, but they don't fall down. I got to thinking about this topic after the messages on trumpets that discussed the judgment of God on mankind. Seven trumpets, the resulting plagues that would be poured out upon mankind, three and a half years of the great tribulation, and the last year of that which we consider to be the day of the Lord. Those that survive this time and experience it are going to be shell-shocked as they've seen all these things happen over and over and over. Just like we see now, all these things happening over and over and over again. It gives you pause. You take a moment of shock at times when you see this. The degree of suffering and trial, as Scripture states in Matthew 24, will be unlike anything that the world has ever seen or ever will see again.

And frankly, right now, brethren, I think we all know brothers and sisters that are experiencing fiery trials of their own and struggling to get through those unscathed.

And while those trials might be difficult and really hard to navigate, we can take incredible hope and comfort from the word of God and knowing that He is with us every step of the way, now and until the time of God's judgment comes upon this world. Let's start today by turning over to Psalm 34. Psalm 34, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 1. Psalm 34. Psalm 34, verse 1. Verse 1 actually provides us with the context of this particular Psalm, kind of along the lines of what was going through David's head when he wrote it. Psalm 34 and verse 1, kind of building off of that concept of happiness and Alfred Einstein's theory, those who trust in God, the happiness of those who trust in God, says, in Psalm of David, when he pretended madness before a bimilec who drove him away, and he departed. So we have an idea of the context of this particular situation and what his mind and process was going through as he's thinking about writing these words down. Psalm 34, verse 1 starts again with the Psalm of David, when he pretended madness before a bimilec, and he drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. Verse 4. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all of my fears. They looked to him, and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. The poor man cried out, this poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles. What kind of troubles was David in at this point in time? As we think back to the story and as we consider the story, what sort of trouble was David in? What trial was he dealing with at that point in time? Do me a favor, put a bookmark here in Psalm 34, and let's go find out. Let's go over to 1 Samuel 21. 1 Samuel 21, we'll get an idea of the events that led up to this particular point.

1 Samuel 21, and we'll pick it up in verse 10. 1 Samuel 21, verse 10, just kind of a brief kind of summary, so to speak. Saul, at this point in time, was attempting to kill David, and David fled for his life. He arrived at Nob, speaks with the priest to Himmelek, who assured to provide him with the day's showbread for him and his men, and ultimately gave him Goliath's sword.

Ultimately, this assistance cost to Himmelek, and a number of the other priests had nobed their lives at the hand of Doag the Edomite, who was ordered by Saul essentially to kill 85 of the priests who had nobed and then turn around and lay waste to the city. Well, David left Himmelek and crossed into enemy territory after that, coming into the king of the Philistines' land, Achish of Gath. So 1 Samuel 21.10 kind of picks up this process.

It says, Then David arose and fled that day from before Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath. Then the servants of Achish said to him, Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another, and dances, saying Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? Which was one of the reasons Saul was upset, was this comparison between him and David. Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish, the king of Gath. I mean, here you are, you're David, you show up on the enemy's doorstep, so to speak, and they're like, you thought King Saul killed a lot of people?

Oh, this guy ten times that! He's amazing! David's thinking, wait a second, quiet, don't be sharing these kinds of things. Then David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish, the king of Gath. Verse 13, very much afraid, noticed in verse 12. So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let its saliva fall down onto his beard.

He acted mad. Then Achish said to his servants, look, you see, the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? Have I need of madmen that you've brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house? Essentially, like, look, this guy's crazy. Don't bring him in here. I don't want him in my home. Don't want him in my land. Get him out of here. There's a slight aside, it's kind of interesting. It says the account says that he was brought before Abimelech. I'm kind of going, wait a minute, I thought his name was Achish.

Abimelech actually translates to my father the king. It can also mean, like, father leader or my king. There are actually a number of Abimelechs recorded in Scripture in the Philistine historical records as well, which gives us a little bit of evidence that Abimelech may have been a Philistine title kind of like unto Pharaoh or Caesar or something along those lines. So, yes, the man's name was Achish of Gath, but he was Abimelech as he was the leader at that time of the Philistines.

Regardless, Achish became concerned as David's fame and his fighting prowess was made known to him that he's a mighty warrior and here he is with a bunch of men and the sword of the man that he conquered that brought him so much renown happened to also be a Philistine. Here he is on his front porch and David, concerned that he might cost him his life, hatched a plan to feign madness so he'd be spared.

Achish eventually drives him out and he departs. So this event, these things, all of these, all this context is in his head as he contemplates the words in Psalm 34. So let's go back to Psalm 34. We'll pick it back up in verse 7. Psalm 34 and verse 7. Again, with all of these things in mind, these are what is fresh in David's head as he contemplates and as he writes these words.

Psalm 34 verse 7. Psalm 34 and verse 7 reads, The angel of the Lord encamps around all those or all around those who fear him and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him. O fear the Lord, you his saints. There is no want to those who fear him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord, who is the man who desires life and loves many days that he may see good. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.

Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

Verse 17, the righteous cry out and the Lord hears and he delivers them out of all of their troubles. David makes the point here that God hears and delivers those who cry out to him from their troubles. Verse 18, he goes on, the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and save such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of all or him out of all. He guards all his bones, not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.

Verse 22 of Psalm 34, the Lord redeems the soul of his servants and none of those who trust in him shall be condemned. Yet we see that many are the afflictions. That's the Hebrew word ra'a, which is evil's grief's afflictions. Many are they of the righteous. Many are the trials and the difficulties which beset the righteous, but as the psalmist said, the Lord delivers them out of them all. Many of you are probably familiar with Joel Austin. At least have heard of the name, probably. Maybe you're not super familiar with him, but you probably heard of him.

Joel Austin has become fabulously wealthy, peddling a lie to a lot of people known as what is called the Prosperity Gospel or what is sometimes referred to as the Health and Wealth Gospel. Ironically enough, when you go to Africa, there are billboards everywhere of these different pastors in these churches all over the place. And almost inevitably, the billboard will show the pastor dressed to the nines, gold watch, gold chain, standing next to a Bentley or a Maserati or some fancy car, and then has the church in the background. And the idea is they're bringing people in on the assumption that look how prosperous our church is.

And it's the essence and core of this prosperity gospel. Essentially, what it maintains is that God desires only good for you and that enough belief and donations and positive speech will ensure that you continue to prosper. And as with most false teachings, there is a shred of truth to it. And that's what makes it easy to look at and go, oh, that sounds legitimate. There is a shred of truth to it. God does desire good for you. That is absolutely true. Jeremiah 29, verse 11. Jeremiah 29, verse 11.

As we look at the shredded truth that the prosperity gospel contains, Jeremiah 29 and verse 11. Jeremiah 29, verse 11. Breaking into the context, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. The only immediate context of this particular passage is in reference to the nation of Judah related to their captivity, but we can connect it to the modern era of the church, His spiritual Israel, and it applies to us as well. God does desire good for us. Jesus Christ was sent to earth for us to have life and to have it more abundantly. He was sent to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives in the recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed. Those were the purposes for which Christ was sent. Yet during His ministry there were a couple of terrible situations that occurred that required Him to address the tragedy before the crowds, to help them to understand suffering and tragedy. Let's go over to Luke 13. Luke 13 will pick up an account that addresses these couple of tragedies, kind of how they're connected into this concept of the prosperity gospel.

Luke 13, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 2. Well, okay, verse 1.

Luke 13 and verse 1 says, "...there were present at that season some who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices." This has been a situation where a number of people were killed, their blood was mingled into, the sacrifices that were given. And he goes on to say, "...do you suppose that these Galileans..." It says, "...Jesus answered and said to them, do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered such things?" Verse 3, he answers his own question, "...I tell you no, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." Verse 4, "...or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them." Do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? Again, he answers his own question, "...I tell you no, but unless you repent you will all likewise perish." You know, were those in Galilee greater sinners because of what they experienced and what they suffered? The men in Jerusalem that died when the tower of Siloam fell? No. Difficult and tragic things happen to good people. We talked about this during the Feast of Trumpets a little bit, the judgment that God would have acted upon this earth, the plagues that are poured out upon mankind, the terrible consequences that come upon the world during that three and a half years of the great tribulation and that final year that we reference as the day of the Lord. Will there be good folks caught up in those things? Yes. Will some of God's own people die during the events of that time? Yes, absolutely. Does that mean that they weren't somehow faithful enough? They didn't pray hard enough, didn't believe hard enough? No. No.

So there are aspects of truth in the prosperity gospel. God does desire good for us, but this is, for the time being, and we recognize this, this is Satan's world. The problem with the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, though, is the unfortunate natural conclusion of it is dangerous and twofold. The natural conclusion of it is if you're therefore not prospering in material health and wealth, then you must have somehow sinned against God and are being punished. Or two, when you do all of those things and bad things happen anyway, you begin to question whether or not God is there. Instead, what does the Bible say about suffering? What does the Bible say about difficulties and trials? Let's go to 2 Peter. 2 Peter. And we'll go to 2 Peter 4, and we'll pick it up in verse 12. 2 Peter 4, verse 12.

Sorry, 1 Peter 4, verse 12. If you went to 2 Peter 4, you'll realize there isn't a 2 Peter 4. My apologies. And I'm not planning on writing something in, so... 1 Peter 4 and verse 12.

It says, "...Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. Think it not strange..." Expect it!

Expect that it's going to come. Know that it's going to come. Some of them will be extremely fiery trials that will test us and try us and will cause an incredible amount of suffering in our lives. What should our attitudes be when we deal with these things? He goes on in verse 13, of 1 Peter 4, verse 13. "...but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified." You know, happy are we when we are reproached for the name of Christ. What are we happy in? Well, we're happy that God's Spirit rests on us. Others curse God when bad things happen. They scream at God. They get angry. But when we suffer, we still praise Him. We thank Him. We praise Him. We hope to learn the lesson of what we're experiencing. But we glorify Him in these difficult times. It goes on in verse 15, 1 Peter 4 and verse 15. "...but let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters." You know, suffering as a result of the choices that we make and maybe not thinking something through and ultimately experiencing consequences, that's not the same thing. It's not the same thing. If we choose to murder somebody and get locked up for life, we can't turn around and say, oh, I'm being afflicted. Your choice puts you in this place.

We can't then turn around and say that we're being afflicted because receiving the consequences of our actions and our choices is a godly principle. But if we suffer as a Christian for something that's undeserved, He goes on in verse 16, 1 Peter 4 and verse 16. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those that do not obey the gospel of God? Now, if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good as to a faithful Creator. We commit ourselves into God's hands according to His perfect will come what may. Come what may. Let's go to Acts. Let's go to the book of Acts real quick. You know, the book of Acts is a wonderful, wonderful read. It is so encouraging to see the church growing and flourishing and spreading and the energy levels and just moving so quickly. It's really, really a wonderful, wonderful read. But in Acts 14, we'll take a look at verses 19 through 22. Acts 14 verses 19 through 22. Take a second and put yourself in the shoes of the Apostle Paul. Hey, this was a situation the Apostle Paul could have done the Apostle dance that Mr. Janisic mentioned at the beginning here. Went in and told him something and they didn't want to hear it. You know, Acts 14 verse 19, as we dig into a little bit of the journey and the travels of Paul and Barnabas here. Acts 14 and verse 19 says, Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and they dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and he went into the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby. Put yourself in Paul's shoes for a minute here. You've arrived to preach the gospel to a group of people. They've been stirred up against you, and all of a sudden here come the rocks. You know, I've never actually had the experience of having rocks thrown at me, especially large rocks with the intent of killing me, but I can imagine that that's a very surreal experience as you're sitting there preaching and sharing the gospel of God with people until that first rock hits you, and then that second rock hits you, and that third rock hits you, and pretty soon you hit your knees, and you're bleeding, and you can't see through the blood, and then finally you go unconscious. It was to the point they thought he was dead, and they drug him out of the city.

And then what do we see that he does? Disciples gathered around him. Maybe they prayed. We don't know. It doesn't specifically state it. He got up, and he went right back into the city. They just stoned him and threw him out. And it says not only that, he stayed overnight. And the next day, he then departed with Barnabas to Derby. Paul went into that city with no thought or concern to his own personal well-being. He went back into a place where people had just tried to murder him, because the gospel of God needed to be preached. There was no thought or concern of his own well-being. So what was the message that that city, and Lystra, and Iconium, and Antioch, got? Acts 14 verse 21 says, And when they preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, Here's the message they got.

We must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. That was the message that was given to the people in Lystra, in Derby, at Iconium, and Antioch.

Because Paul didn't want them to think that it was strange when bad things happened to good people.

He didn't want them to question whether God was there, whether God loved them or not.

He wanted them to expect trials and to expect tribulations in difficult times.

He elaborates on this concept in Romans 5. Let's go ahead and turn over there. Romans 5.

Romans 5. We'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 1. Kind of looking at, again, there's a progression that comes from experiencing difficult times spiritually. There's a progression that comes. Romans 5. We'll pick it up in verse 1. I'm examining this particular progression. Romans 5 in verse 1 says, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in our tribulations in those times that sock us in the gut and take our breath away. We rejoice, and we glory in those tribulations knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character and character of hope, that character produces hope. Verse 5, And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. We're able to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, knowing what we know about the plan of God. It doesn't take away the sting, it doesn't take away the difficulty, but knowing what we know, we can rejoice in what God has brought us to. Our trials create patience. Patience brings experience, and experience brings hope. The kind of hope that allows us to shakily rise back to our feet, to shakily step up from our knees and rise back up to our feet. Again, verse 5, Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love towards us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation, or the atonement as some translations state. Brethren, we can take heart when our lives become difficult, that the events pictured by the recent Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, will take place. They have been promised by God to take place, despite the trials that we face, uncertainty, tragedy, that Jesus Christ will return, and has, while we were still enemies, still in our sins, died for us, so that through His sacrifice we might be reconciled to God the Father and live. But think what compounds the difficulty of trials when we look at tragedy and when we look at struggles in this life. We look at them with very temporal eyes. We look at them with very human eyes. God's ways are so much higher than ours, and time to Him is so different than it is to us. You know, our lives pass like the blink of an eye in eternity. But to us, obviously, it's all we've ever known. Never known anything else. Let's go over to Romans 8. Romans 8. Romans 8. Paul writes a little about the difficulties, the sufferings of this time, difficulties and tragedies of life.

And in Romans 8, verse 18, he records, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time, the things that we face, the difficulties, the struggles, the trials, are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, that the ultimate, final fulfillment of God's plan is so much more than this, so much more than this, this life that we have here, so much greater. When we experience difficulties and when we experience trials, we have to have the attitude that that which is coming, the kingdom of God, that promise of eternal life, is so much greater than anything that we can possibly experience here on the earth. These sufferings, Paul states, are not even worthy of being compared to what is coming. He goes on in verse 19, For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. We groan and we travail. We await the adoption, the redemption of this weak and frail physical body to a glorious spirit body, free of the aches and the pains and the difficulties of this life. It goes on in verse 24, For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. It talks in Hebrews 11 of all of those who eagerly look forward to this city without foundation. Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weakness. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know, verse 28, that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, those he also called, whom he called, these he justified, whom he justified, these he glorified. When we take a look at the world around us through temporal eyes, we can look at a passage like Romans 8, 28, and say, there, God said it, he'll heal me, he'll fix this, he'll take care of it, he promised. And when we look at it with temporal eyes, that is absolutely true, he will. It will work out for good. It is assured that it will work out for good. But it will happen on his timetable, not ours. And that's when it's tough.

We've said this before, it may not happen in this life. It may not happen how we wanted it to happen. It may not happen on the timetable that we had set forth. But it does not mean that he will not work it out for good. This life, brethren, is a proving ground. It is an opportunity for us to learn an incredible variety of lessons. All the lessons that we learn in this life will prove useful in the kingdom of God, when we have opportunity to teach the people who remain, who have just gone through the terrible events of the great tribulation in the day of the Lord.

Perhaps what we're experiencing in this life teaches empathy, teaches sympathy, or helps us to understand how to teach a godly attitude in response to adversity to others in the millennium. If we've never experienced difficulty, struggles, trials, how can we teach the multitudes who remain?

The school board of Proverbs 24, verse 16 today to close. Proverbs 24, verse 16.

Proverbs 24 and verse 16 is the essence of a weevil. Proverbs 24, verse 16 is the essence of a weevil. For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity. Brethren, difficult times are going to come. They are to be expected.

What happens when we experience them? That's entirely up to us. Our response to what happens to us is the only thing we can truly control. And it's all up to us. Will we allow these difficult times to do what has been done to so many where it's ground them into the dirt and they've questioned God, and they've questioned whether he can really be there, whether he can really allow a world that has so much suffering to exist? Or will we hold on to that hope that God has given us through His promises and anchor ourselves in it? Can we take those hits and get right back up again, and get right back up again, and right back up again, just like those little weebles? Because it doesn't matter how hard you hit a weeble, I can assure you, I smack those things around as a kid like you wouldn't believe. I can assure you how hard you hit a weeble, they get right back up. They just wobble themselves right back upright again, and they're ready to take the next hit. Still have that little smile painted on their faces.

When trials come in our lives, when things get tough, and life punches us in the gut with our trials and our tragedies, will we be a weeble? Rather than weebles wobble, but they do not fall down.