Growth in Grace

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 112

Psalm 112 ESV

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor. The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!

Scripture Memorization: Genesis 50:19-20

Genesis 50:19–20 “But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Scripture Reading: Romans 2:1-11

Romans 2:1–11 ESV

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

Sermon:

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Speaker 1

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Well once again, and as always, good morning. I was glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord. This morning we will be finishing chapter 21 of The Book of Genesis. Looking at a rather interesting? Strange. Different passage in our text for today. In the theme of what's been going on in the life of Abraham. We've been waiting. And waiting and waiting and waiting. For the child of Promise, and then at the beginning of chapter 21, this child was born. The child. Laughter. Isaac. There is laughter and joy in the house because the child, the long-awaited child of Promise, has come.

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But then we saw last week. It wasn't necessarily joyous laughter for everyone. Ishmael was laughing over Isaac as well. And ultimately. According to the will of God. Hagar and Ishmael were. Sent into Exile is maybe the best way we could put it. Abraham sends them off. Because through Isaac, your son, your, your nation, your children, your Offspring shall be named. And so. Isaac. Stays. Ishmael and Hagar are sent away. And most of us are at least aware of the next big scene involving Abraham and his son, Isaac. It's maybe the most famous when I tell people I'm preaching through Genesis. This is the text, the one coming up next. Week's text is the one everyone wants to talk about.

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It's Abraham, he will offer. He'll begin to offer. He'll be told to offer. He will in faith, make steps to offer his son Isaac. As a sacrifice. And right, in between this, right? In between the birth and the Hagar and Ishmael story makes sense because we have to deal with the the this other son before Isaac can be the heir of all of this stuff. Those make sense in between these stories.

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This King, who shown up just chapter 20, he was there abimelech. He's going to show up again. In a very bizarre story involving a well Abraham's going to make a covenant with a foreign King. And it's a little hard to know exactly why this passage, why this story is here for us. So today, as we go through, my goal is to reveal to us what we can learn what this text can teach to our hearts. At the heart of this story, I believe, is this this is where, how I wanted to start thinking through this text?

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Our journey of faith is not a straight line.

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And we grow. And, and God works in us. The Holy Spirit empowers us. He gives us gifts. For the fruit of the spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control against such things. There is no law. But we don't go from dead in our sinning trespasses to the most holy righteous, portraying all the fruits of the spirit people in the universe. Instead, we grow in Grace, and we see in this story. Abraham growing? In our Stu two stories, we will have of abimelech last story. It was a bimelech taking Sarah as his wife, because Abraham was up to his old Shenanigans of, no, no, she's not my wife, she's my sister.

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And he's going to grow in Grace and need to get to a man of Faith who would be willing to obey God, no matter what God asks up to and including. The sacrifice of his son. And so the story we have today shows us what this growth and Grace looks like, how it manifests in our life. And then how we live a life in the grace of God. Genesis chapter 21, starting in verse 22 to the end of the chapter. That'll be verse 34. At that time, abimelech and fickle, the commander of his army, said to Abraham.

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God is with you in all that you do. Now, therefore, swear to me, hereby, God, that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity. But, as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned. And Abraham said, I swear. When Abraham reproved abimelech about a well of water that abimelech servants had seized, abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing you did not tell me that I have not heard of it until today. So, Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to abimelech.

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Then, the two men made a covenant. Abraham sent seven you Lambs of the flock apart, and abimelech said to Abraham, what is the meaning of these seven? You Lambs that you have set apart? He said these seven. You Lambs you will take from my hand that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well. Therefore, that place was called Beersheba. Because both of them swore an oath. And so they made a covenant at Beersheba, then abimelech and fickle, the commander of his army, rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.

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Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there upon the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines. These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's open our time together with the word of prayer. Oh Lord, Our Lord, how Majestic is your name in all the Earth? Thank you for your grace Grace that sustains us Grace that moves us Grace that works in our heart, conforming us into the image of your son, our Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank you that we were we, when we were dead in sin and trespasses, you made us alive together with Christ.

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And buy this enlivening work you have given to us a new heart with your law written upon it. You have taken from us a Heart of Stone empowered us. May we walk in the good works prepared in advance, help us to live lives worthy of the calling. We have received help us to grow in Grace. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen. And amen. There's a few ways that we could look at this and. This passage was hard for me this week. And where I landed what I'd like us to do as we work our way through this text, and we seek to understand this text.

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Is to just look at the man Abraham. And remember back to all that we've learned about him over the course of his life. Just think about what's come before and what now has changed. Because. The. That we have. Is that God changes?

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He's talking to someone this week. So, it is a very difficult, rough type. And I looked in the eye and I said. You may feel hopeless.

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But I'm not. I have hope. That the God who made you the God who loves you? The God Who sent his son for you. The God Who will redeem you if you call upon his name. Can save and change. Even the most broken of all of us. He saved me. He redeemed me. He uses me. He's working in me. I know he can do the same for all of us. And so one of the things as we grow in Grace. One of the things that we might see change. We see it here in Abraham. As he grows in Grace, we can see a profound change in his reputation.

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Verse 22 at that time, abimelechan fickle, the commander of his army said of Abraham. God is with you in all that you do. Here we have a pagan man. One who, earlier, in chapter 20, Abraham looked at him and said. I had to lie to you because I didn't think you feared God at all. I had to lie to you because. Chapter 20 vers. 12, there is no fear of God in this place, right? That's verse 11. There's no fear of God at all. Abraham's reputation has now grown. He has his child. Estimates on how long in between the birth of Isaac and the story of abimelech are very broad? We don't really know.

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It occurs sometime between Isaac's birth and Isaac being taken to the mountain as a sacrifice somewhere in between that. Two years, three years, four years, maybe? The immediate context is this party of the weaning of Isaac. That's what came right before. So, maybe 3 years after the birth of this child? Four years after our last scene with abimelech, and now abimelech can come, and instead of. Instead of accusing Abraham. That's what came earlier. What have you done to us? What? How? How have I sinned against you? What's wrong with you? Hey, that's what Pharaoh said. Why would you do this? What's malfunctioning pharaoh?

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Has been condemning this man, Abraham. What's wrong with you? Why are you doing this and? His reputation has changed.

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God is with you and all that you do. God is with you and abimela can even see and know that Abraham is being blessed and will continue to be blessed. Because when abimeleth comes, this is what he wants. He wants a deal. The you will not deal falsie with me or my descendants or my posterity my descendants descendants. A biblak and fickle, the commander of his army, come to Abraham, and they think God has blessed him. God will continue to bless him. He will live long, and God will multiply and grow him. They see they know Abraham, now, in his growing in Grace. Abimelech can come and look and say, this man.

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God has blessed this man. God has grown this man. God is doing something.

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God is. What are you doing to me? Why would you lie? What's wrong with you? Is your brain broken? Gone are those accusations. Instead, he lives a life where people look and say. It's got a good reputation.

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And we know this is from God. This can be contrasted if we were to go back to chapter 16 when we had King Melchizedek and the King of Sodom. The King of Sodom looked and thought, well, maybe if I buddy up with Abraham, maybe if I go buddy with Abraham, then then it'll be good? Hey, versus. No, I'm not. I won't gonna deal with this. I'm not going to deal with you because I don't want people getting this confused. But here, with abimelech. It's God's with you! Your God will protect you, your God will provide, and so I need you to deal kindly with me.

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Not, let's work. This tip for Tat abimelech comes and says, we need to work this out because God is with you. He has this reputation. Of being. Someone who is worthy of Honor. Worthy here of Praise. As God grows Us in Grace, our reputation can change. Maybe not overnight. This is maybe an abrupt change over just four years in Abraham, but? God will change our reputation.

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As we seek to live for him. The people around us should see and know. Our lives should shine. It should be a reflection of the work that God has done in. As we work in the ways God has called us to minister to the people God has called us to minister to. We should have a reputation.

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And it should be a good one. This is why Paul, when he's writing and saying when you're selecting men to be Elders when you're doing that, they need to have a good reputation around the community. It's because we see when God grows Us in Grace. It changes the way people view. We should have a good reputation.

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With a minor caveat that we note this.

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They hated Jesus. So they will also hate us.

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This is the conundrum of the Christian Life. We live righteous lives. We have a good reputation. People look, he's a good neighbor. He's a good friend.

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And yet. We get labeled bigots. Hateful.

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This is God working in all of these things. But just note here. Abraham goes for a man that abimelech Pagan king abimelech was going to come in, condemn. How dare you do this? Oh, why did you do such a thing to me to now? Here he can come and say God is with you and all that you do. Changes his reputation. Secondly, as Abraham grows in Grace as God works in his heart as he sees the Fulfillment of God's promises, the more he sees God do. The more he sees how God works. Abraham now has courage.

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We see Abraham's growth and Grace reflected in a growth in courage. Verses 25 through 32 are a long story about a well. Part of what makes this interesting is this is the second well in chapter 21, right. There was a well last week. When Hagar opened her eyes and sees a well, and there's a well here this week. This well dug by Abraham. And the long and short of it is Abraham, dugwell, and Wells would be important in the Arid, desert-like climate that he was living in. Your your livestock would die if you don't have a well.

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Your people would die if you don't have a well, you. Would die. If you don't have a well. Having a well is important. And so, for people to come and take over your well that you work so hard to build, that's a problem. Now Abraham before in his life. Anytime he had a problem anytime, there was armies and people involved. You get scared. And this is back and forth because he also went and defeated the Coalition of armies. But let's think of the last time he saw bimelech.

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He feared man. He lied because he thought. There's no fear of God at all in this place, and he will kill me because of my life.

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Back in chapter 12. You go down to Egypt. And he says they'll kill me. He was scared of man. Over and over again. Abraham scared of man? And here. Verse 25, Abraham reproved. Abimelech. This word would prove. Dive into the commentaries here. This is. One translator said berates. Abraham is going to the king of the land. He's currently journeying and sojourning in. And he calls him out.

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Y'all. People don't messed up. Is my well, you took my well. This is very brave of him. Because in, on one hand, abimelech could come and say, actually, I'm King. All the land is mine. A bit of light could come and say I don't care. Fickle, the commander of the army, is there? It's not a coincidence that that the commander of the army is included in this. What Moe's is trying to get us to see? Is Abraham has gone from one who will cower and lie and give his wife up? To protect his own skin to one who is willing to come and say, no, we're going to do this.

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And then Abraham covenants with abimelech. Abraham comes and says, no, no, we need to make a treaty here. We need to figure this out. Here's some Lambs. Here's some oxen. Let's make a covenant. We will cut a covenant. Abraham gives seven you Lambs to the king. This is reminiscent of when the king gave a thousand pieces of silver on behalf of Sarah. See, this is sealed. This is done. This is the deal. Abraham goes from one who cowers before King abimelech to one who will stand before him, make a covenant with him demand. His will say, this is mine.

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And here the best way to Think Through. This is probably the most simple way. I'll stand up for what's right?

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As we grow in Grace, we should grow in courage. Abraham, much more bold. Which we're willing to stand for what's right? He gets Witnesses. They make a place. It's now called the the. Well, Beersheba is The Well of the oath. This is where we made the promise. This is where we keep the promise. This is my well. And fickle. Go back and return home.

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But we're cowering. Abraham has courage. As we grow in Grace, may we have courage as well to stand up in the places God has called us to stand up. Against the darkness of the world. May we Proclaim boldly the hope of the Gospel. May we, too, have courage like here. Abraham has courage as we grow in Grace. And the beauty of thinking through this. Cuz this is a Grove. Abraham was still Gods. God still promised God's still covenant. God still worked with Abraham back when he didn't have a great reputation. And as he grows as God works and changes, his reputation improves.

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God, covenant. God cared for. God worked with Abraham. When he had? Way less courage. That's a nice way to say it. And God grows. Him and God changes him, and by his grace. From him grows in courage.

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It's all about our growth. Not Perfection, not having achieved him.

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And so, Abraham. To his credit, does what he's do done. This is the one place where it's not. Well, this is something different. This is what he does. And as he grows in Grace, he never moves past this. And maybe that's the best way to approach this next? Because Abraham will worship. Verse 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree. In The Well of the oath and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting. God.

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He worships. God has brought him to this point. God has blessed him. God has fulfilled every promise. God has worked in Abraham. God has done this God has changed his reputation. God has grown him in courage, and the correct response is worship. He plants a tree. He's rooted here, and he does what he calls upon the name of the Lord. The Everlasting. He calls upon Yahweh, the one who does not ever end. He calls upon the covenanting God, the one who has no beginning or no end, the Everlasting, Eternal God. That's who he calls upon.

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He worships. Where does his reputation come from comes from this worship? How does abimelech come in? No, God is with you. Because Abraham is bold in his worship, he's planting trees. Earlier Jazz, we see. He builds altars where he goes. He leaves reminders for him and anyone else who's coming. God did this for me. God did this. For me, it's his worship. What stirs up his courage? I would say. The root of it at the heart of it. It's worship. For, he's praising the god, the Everlasting God. And if the covenanting Lord Yahweh? Is Everlasting, and he is with me, and he has promised me his promises will never end because he will never end. His goodness will never end because he will never end. His grace will never end because he will never end his. All of these things we trust in the Everlasting God. How do we grow in Grace? We look to him the Everlasting God. We cry out to him, the Everlasting God. We don't do this in our own strength. We don't do this in our own.

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We don't do this, thinking we have something to give to him. He's the Everlasting God, so we plant trees and we worship him.

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We come and say, this is what God has done. And here are my my remembrances, and we look back. And we see all the times God has done this.

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I mean, maybe for some of us, we physically plan a tree to remember these things. This is the point. We have things we look at every day and say, this is what God has done.

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Maybe we look at our children that God has blessed us with?

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So, this is what God has done.

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We count our many blessings, name them one by one. Encounter many blessings. We see what God has done.

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There's the key to growing in Grace.

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As Abraham grows in Grace, his reputation has improved the people around say, this man God is with him. God is with you in all that you do. Something is worked up in Abraham's heart. He now has courage and boldness to stand in the places God has called him to stand. And so he worships.

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But I want us to note this too. Abraham still wanders. This passage ends. With Abraham's wandering.

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As we look around, there's. The New Testament talks about Abraham spent his whole life wandering. Looking for some sort of land? He ends up the only land he has is a burial plot for his wife.

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And land wise. Yes, that's the land he has, but. He has the burial plot for his wife, and in fact, he has a well. Here we read of this.

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And he's still gonna wander, verse 34, Abraham sojourned many days. In the land of the Philistines. Still watering. And God has promised a great many things, one of which all of the land. Twice, God said. This lands right when he first walks in. He's standing by The Oaks of memory. God says, all this land will be yours. Then we have this deal where he splits up with lot. God tells him go look north, south east, west, look every direction. All this land is yours. And so, here we have Abraham living in what I would call the already, and not yet. He is already seen many of God's promises. He is holding his son, Isaac. He has seen God's promises come true. He has already seen them, but not yet.

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Where's the land?

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He doesn't have it. This, too, I submit to you today is how we grow in Grace.

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Growth and Grace. Involves our own wandering.

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We are. Strangers. Aliens. This world is not my home. But my time wandering here on this Earth. God will Faithfully use to grow me in Grace.

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He will work in my heart. Working my soul? He'll grow me and change me. Like a child, he will discipline me.

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I know that. I will count it all, jo. When I Face Trials of many kinds, knowing that God is working this about, these trials will bring about all sorts of things, which will lead to patience, and when patience has run its course, I will be lacking in nothing. James, chapter 1. Verse 2 count it all! Joy, my brothers, when you meet by Trials of various kinds for, you know? To just use a little bit of the language of Genesis here to help us count it all. Joy, my brothers, when we are forced to still wander here on this Earth.

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For, we know that this watering tests our faith and the testing of our faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing. Are wandering our time on this Earth. Our time waiting and moaning for God to move and work is the instrument God uses to grow. In Grace.

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Too many times, we think.

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Well, I'll just come to God and everything will be perfect immediately all the time.

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There's no way. If you think that? You're not reading the Bible.

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Because we wander. Abraham, though God had fulfilled his promise, and God had been faithful, and God had been working him. Abraham still wanders. And for us. We should count it Joy when we Face Trials of many kinds. These are not curses. These are not burdens. If we are God's children, he will love us and care for us. He will work in us, sanctifying us. May we trust in him? As we ourselves Endeavor to grow. In Grace. Let's pray.