In Suffering, God is Enough

Well, thank you for allowing me to come back.

I want to thank Pastor Smith and his faithfulness and his commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ

! and to our ministry over in Burkina Faso.

And I do praise the Lord for that.

I believe that this church had taken us on when Brother Inman was here,

back when we were on deputation several years ago.

And I do thank you for that.

I want my wife to stand because she's the better half if she would stand.

This is my faithful help me for 42 plus years and God has blessed us.

And I thank the Lord for someone like her as my help me.

Okay.

On the table, there's a little brochure doesn't mean anything,

but basically it's just nothing but pictures.

And you're more than welcome to take that.

I wish I can give you all kinds of pictures, but I can't do it.

And then when we talk about pictures, we always want to stop and talk about something that we had done in relationship to them.

And I've had missionaries that would show their slides.

And before you know it, this is three hours later.

They're still talking because every picture has a story attached to it.

Now, I'm not sure how many people had heard me before.

How many people have been here with me before?

Okay.

So there's a few.

So if you find these stories repetitive, it's by design.

There are all kinds of stories.

There are all kinds of illustrations.

And the point of the stories, the points of these illustrations is to show you how God actually works.

Because the truth of the matter is, it has nothing to do with the missionary and everything to do with the grace of God.

And, you know, people say, well, the missionaries, the whatever.

And the truth is, I love what I'm doing.

I wouldn't want to do anything different.

So when people say, well, missionaries really suffer.

Not me.

I certainly enjoy what God has called me to.

And I would not want to do anything else.

And I know my wife feels the same way.

So turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter number 1.

And I just want to give you a couple verses.

And then another one in Ecclesiastes.

And then basically share with you what we're doing in Burkina Faso.

And what we continue to do.

And it's the same thing that what we as Christians ought to do right here in Lincoln, Nebraska.

And what we ought to do all over America.

And all over the world.

The truth of the matter is, if Christianity is in trouble,

it's because Christians are not fulfilling what God had called them to do.

And I'll talk about that in Sunday school.

But 2 Corinthians chapter number 1.

Look at verse number 3.

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies,

and a God of all comfort.

God is a God of all comfort.

Is he not?

Now this verse is written to who?

To us.

It's also written to Burkina Bay.

It's written to Chinese.

It's written to every single person in the world.

He is the God of all comfort for me, for you, and for all others.

And sometimes we don't really comprehend that.

Look at verse number 4.

Who, that is the God of all comfort, comforted us in all our tribulation.

Do we go through tribulation?

Who doesn't go through tribulation?

I think we all do.

Job said, man that is born of a woman is full of trouble.

Is that not true?

If you're married, you're full of trouble.

So, we live in a sin-saturated world.

We live in a body that is sin-saturated.

And so, certainly we're going to go through all kinds of trouble and tribulations.

That is the lot of life.

We can't escape the fallen nature of this world.

We can't escape the fallen nature of our own selves.

And so, we will go through tribulation.

We'll go through trials.

We'll go through temptations.

But listen to what he says.

That we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble.

Well, the question is, how do we comfort those who are in trouble?

See, that's the question that we have to pose ourselves, or that my wife and I pose ourselves, on a continual basis.

When we went to Burkina Faso, the average life expectancy was 37 years of age in our country.

Four out of ten children died by the age of ten.

Death is a reality in our country.

Now, I will say, we're over 60 years of age now.

So, we're increasing.

When we got to the country, we were the third poorest country in the world.

The third poorest.

Right now, we're the 19th poorest country in the world.

So, we are up and coming.

But the point I'm trying to make is that we see suffering on a daily basis.

We see people that are without constantly.

And we sit there and we pray and we wonder, how can we help these people?

How can we comfort them in their trials and tribulations?

That's a question that I think we all need to pose ourselves.

As we look around Lincoln and see people that are suffering.

Now, I'm not talking about people who put on that smile and walk around as if everything is fine.

Because we know, in the human heart, it's not fine.

We know, in our own families, we struggle.

And that's a fact of life.

And I want you to understand that.

How do we comfort someone who's going through all these trials and tribulations?

Many of the trials and tribulations that we ourselves have gone through and are going through presently.

Where does that comfort come from?

Well, turn over to Ecclesiastes chapter 4.

Ecclesiastes 4 · chapter mention

Now, as you're turning over there, when Jesus says in John 14,

If I do not go away, I will not send a comforter to you.

Who was he referring to?

The Holy Spirit.

Is that not true?

The God of all comfort.

God himself, the Holy Spirit, is the one that comforts.

We don't have the ability to comfort people in tribulation.

We don't have the knowledge.

We don't have the know-how.

We don't have the resources to help others that are going through tribulation.

But there is something we do know.

We know one who can.

Is that not true?

Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 4, verse number 1.

Ecclesiastes 4 · chapter mention

The wisest man in the world that ever was.

The smartest man.

The richest man.

The one that said he tried everything under the sun.

This is what he said in verse number 1.

He said,

So I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun.

So I looked around.

I saw the oppressions.

I saw the trouble.

I saw the tribulations.

I saw the afflictions of people throughout the world.

He said,

That are done under the sun.

And behold, the tears of such as were oppressed.

And listen to what he said.

And they had no comforter.

The comforter is the Holy Spirit.

When a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior,

according to the Word of God,

they receive the Holy Spirit of comfort.

The moment they're saved.

One of the hardest things that I have in relationship to teaching the Burkina Bay

is that, hey, the same Holy Spirit in my heart

is the same Holy Spirit in your heart.

See, they think,

Well, because you're an American,

you don't have the need of the comfort of the Holy Spirit

because you have all you ever want.

They don't understand human nature at this time.

And Solomon continues,

And on the side of their oppressions,

there was power.

But,

they had no comforter.

The point I'm trying to make is,

the greatest thing that we can do to anybody in trial and tribulation

is to present to them the Lord Jesus Christ.

To point them to the Savior of the world

that will send them the Holy Spirit of comfort.

That will lead them and guide them

and help them overcome the trials and tribulations

that they're going through.

Anywhere in the world,

it works.

You say,

Well,

what do you mean it works?

I mean the Word of God is true.

I mean the Word of God is effective.

If I could solve all the problems in Burkina Faso

with my own intelligence,

I would.

If I had a pocketbook big enough

to alleviate all the suffering

because of the financial distress that people are under,

I would.

If I had all the knowledge of

the greatest medical profession in the world,

I would help if I could.

But I'm not smart.

I'm not rich.

I don't have a whole lot.

But this one thing I know.

I know Him.

And I know He is able

to help them

that call on Him by faith.

And one of the greatest joys

that I see in ministry

is to be able to

point people

without any knowledge of Jesus Christ,

point them to Jesus Christ

and let God work in

and through their hearts and lives.

And you know what's amazing?

He does!

That's just amazing.

God's Word is true.

It actually works.

What do you mean it works?

I mean,

when a person comes to Jesus Christ,

immediately they get that

Holy Spirit of comfort in their hearts.

How does he do that?

I don't know.

I never claimed any knowledge.

You know,

I'm like that blind man in John chapter 9.

John 9 · chapter mention

I don't know anything.

But this one thing I know.

Where I was blind,

now I see.

We don't need to have

all the knowledge in the world.

We don't need to figure out

what these people

ought to do

and ought not to do.

That's not my function

as a missionary.

I wish I could.

I wish I understood

the problems of the world.

I'll give you a little hint.

I'm still trying to figure out

the problems in my own life.

To worry about the problems

that everyone else has.

But I'm not there

to solve the problems

of the Burkina Bay.

I'm there to introduce them

to the one who can.

And that's our goal.

I'll give you an illustration.

Actually, there's several.

And I'll give you more

if you ask me afterwards.

But these are the three

main illustrations

that really touched my heart

and proved to me

that I don't know anything.

But God does.

And God actually fulfills His Word.

We had a young lady.

Of course, everyone's young

compared to my wife.

I want you to know.

But we have a young lady.

For some reason,

she knocked on our door

in Wagadougou.

And so I went out

and answered the door.

She said,

Hey, I understand

there's this old fat missionary

that picks up people

to come to church.

And I looked at her

and said,

Well, I don't know about

the old and the fat part,

but we pick people

to come up to church.

So she said,

Well, will you start

picking me up?

I said, sure.

So Mary and I,

we went out every Sunday morning,

picked her up in our car

and brought her to church.

She would come

with her three kids

and they were faithful.

They were excited.

It was amazing.

And then one Sunday,

she came forward

and got saved.

We were excited about it.

She said,

I'll never get baptized.

Well, guess what happened?

She got baptized,

became a member of the church.

Everything was going great.

Now, you understand

that she's a typical Burkina babe.

She did not have any education

being a woman.

She was from a village,

married a man,

and they moved into Ouagadougou

and had three children by him

and then he left.

Here she is in the capital city,

two to four million people,

without any income,

without any ability

that they even communicate effectively.

and she had to go

and do whatever she could

to feed her kids.

I've seen her

out there on the street corner

with a mango in her hand

that fell from a tree,

holding it up

for the pastor buyers

and the cars

and the mopalettes

to stop by

and buy that mango

for a penny

or less than a penny.

And she did that

over and over again.

And I remember one time

going to her house,

and this was after a while,

that she had a goat's head

that she was cooking.

And I said,

wow, I said,

your kids are going to eat good today.

She said,

oh, no, missionary,

that's not for my kids.

I'm going to take them out

on the street

and sell them

to the pastor buyers.

That's how she made her money.

Now, she also had

one advantage

that most of these other ladies

don't have.

She had her in-laws

live in the capital city.

So they said,

we'll give you money

each week

to feed our grandchildren.

So she took it.

Well, one Sunday,

Mary and I went to pick her up

and she got in the car

and she was really quiet.

We come to church.

She got out of the car.

She went into church

and she sat down

in the front row

as she always does.

But when the singing commenced,

she did not sing.

That's unusual

because she's loud

and boisterous

when she sings.

But she wouldn't sing

and she just kept

her head bowed.

After the services,

we said,

something's wrong

with Jermaine

and so let's bring

her home last.

So we brought everyone

home first

and then we brought

her home last.

She was getting out

of the car.

I said,

Jermaine, honey,

tell me what's wrong

with you.

And tears began

to flow down her cheeks.

She said,

missionary,

she said,

I don't know

what to do.

I said,

what do you mean?

She said,

my in-law said,

if I keep coming

to your church,

they will not give me

any more money

to feed my children.

And that made me mad.

And I thought,

well,

who are they?

Don't you worry about it.

I will take care of you.

I got the money.

It wouldn't cost much,

two dollars a week

to feed her kids.

But I really felt

God touched my heart

and said,

now wait a minute.

Are you her God?

Or am I her God?

And I knew God

didn't want me

to say anything.

And you know

how hard that was?

It's devastating.

And so I said,

Jermaine,

we can't,

we can't do anything.

We don't know

what to do.

We can't answer

your question.

But we'll pray

with you.

So we prayed

and she got out of course,

tears still flowing

down her cheeks.

And we didn't know

what to do.

We prayed that entire week

about what we should do.

I thought about

giving money

to the neighbor

to give to her.

I thought about

sending it indiscreetly

and everything.

And God kept saying,

no, no, no,

she has to trust me,

not you.

And so we,

when it came time

for us to go pick her up

on Sunday,

I actually thought

about not going.

Why waste her time?

But we went there anyway

and she actually

got in the car

and her kids

and came to church.

But she's still quiet,

wouldn't say anything,

sat in the front row,

didn't sing.

And we didn't know

what to do again.

So we brought her back home

and she got out of the car,

still quiet.

Second week,

same thing happened.

By the third week,

she's out there

singing

and just like her old self.

Well,

being the nosy preacher

that I am,

I wanted to know

what happened.

So after church,

I said,

Jermaine,

whatever happened

between you

and your in-laws?

And you know

what she said?

She said,

me and my in-laws?

Oh,

I'm just trusting the Lord.

I don't understand that.

She has no education.

She can't read and write.

She has no job.

She has three kids to feed.

Her husband had left her.

Her in-laws

had discarded her.

And yet,

here's this girl

with every problem

in the world

and she's saying,

I'm just trusting the Lord

and smiling about it.

How did God

comfort her heart?

Because who she had

in her heart.

Do you understand that?

God worked

in her heart.

Wow.

That's just amazing.

And we get to see

what God does

all the time.

I'll give you another story.

Caddy,

actually Mary

knew Caddy's older sister

and she said

her sister needed a job.

She was a young Muslim woman

and so Mary hired her

to come into our house.

And Mary is very evangelistic

and so she started witnessing

the Caddy

and Caddy pretended

she didn't want to hear it.

But she did

and she just kept quiet.

Mary would bring in

these vegetable ladies

to her house

and she would witness to them

knowing that Caddy

was listening.

and Caddy,

even though she was raised

with her dad

and the two wives,

grew up in Ouagadougou

as a Muslim.

But after,

I don't know,

several months,

if not a year,

she came to us.

She said,

well,

you know,

I'd like to start

going to your church.

We said,

okay.

So we started picking her up

to come to church.

She started coming

and started listening

and before you know it,

guess who got saved?

Caddy got saved.

Caddy got baptized.

She really began to grow

and it was exciting

to see God transform

this young Muslim woman.

Well,

as is a habit

in Burkina Faso,

you get a month off,

a complete month,

30 days off

and many of them

will take time out

to go visit family

in the villages.

Well,

Caddy took her month off

to go visit

in her village

and she brought

her little

10-year-old nephew

and something terrible

happened.

She said that,

and with tears,

again,

flowing down her cheeks

as she related the story,

she said,

missionary,

I demanded,

I asked,

I pleaded with the boy,

her nephew,

to go greet

his grandmother.

His grandmother

was a shaman

and so

with Caddy

deer prodding him,

he went

and

introduced himself

to the grandma

and the grandmother

placed a curse

upon him

and he got sick

that night.

Caddy

got worried

so she brought him

back to Ouagadougou,

put him in the best

children's hospital

we had in the entire

country

and he died

because of a curse.

I don't know,

but he died.

Caddy come to work,

tears flowing down

her cheeks.

She said,

I can't,

I don't know what to do.

Why did God

allow this to happen?

What do you say?

What do you say?

We're going to try

to defend God?

We're going to try

to speak for God?

We just watched her

cry

and we prayed

for her.

She said,

missionary,

I don't think I can

go to church anymore.

So she stopped

coming to church.

We watched her

cry

day after day,

week after week.

Why

did this happen?

Well,

after a while,

she came to us

and said,

well,

I think I need

to start going

back to church.

And she started

going back to church

little by little.

And after

a few

months,

she was back

to normal,

singing

and

fellowshipping

and having a good

time just like

she did before.

In fact,

in our Bible

Institute,

all the guys

didn't even

understand or

didn't even know

what had happened

to her and

her nephew

because something

had completely

changed in her

heart.

How did God

wipe away her

tears?

I don't know.

But I know

He did.

Why?

Because He's God.

And He is the

God of all

comfort.

He didn't say

that we're the

God of all

comfort.

He said He's

the God of all

comfort.

So when we

point people

to Him,

He's the one

who will deal

with their heart

and comfort

their heart

through the

trials and

tribulations

that they are

presently going

through.

That's what He

did.

I'll give you

another

illustration.

Dominic

was raised

in the village

of Uwando,

one of the

first works

we started.

His parents

had died

when he was

young,

a young adult,

a teenager.

So he lived

on his own

in his own

hut.

He decided

by his own

testimony,

he was

determined to

be the best

animist that

he could be.

And then we

came to the

village and

God allowed

us to go

from hut

to hut

to hut.

Now we

were going

hut to hut

to hut.

We didn't

knock on

doors,

so we

would clap.

People would

come out

and then they

would sit

under a tree

and then you

talk to them

for two or

three hours.

Visiting over here

is a long

time.

But their

point is,

hey, you

asked them

to come

out, so

now you're

going to

talk.

And you

can't leave

until they

give you

permission to

leave.

So sometimes

you're stuck

there for

hours.

But anyway,

we were out

there and we

were witnessing

to the family

after family

and Dominic

saw us and

saw the car

and came up

to us the

first day and

he started

following us

around.

First day,

followed all

the huts.

Second day,

he met us

in the morning,

followed us

through all

the huts.

Third day,

he did the

same thing.

He didn't

respond.

Dominic had

a sixth

grade education

which was

pretty high

for that

village.

We held

our first

services that

Sunday and

Dominic came

forward and

got saved.

It was a

blessing.

And so

soon after

he was

baptized and

we were

beginning to

start our

Bible Institute

so I asked

Dominic if he

would like to

come in and

be a part of

our Bible Institute.

He said,

sure.

So he

started coming

into our

Bible Institute.

He'd come in

on the

weekdays and

be a part of

our Bible Institute.

After two

years, I

realized God's

hand was upon

him.

So I said,

Dominic,

would you like

to go out to

your village and

preach?

He said,

sure.

So we

got him on

Mopelet and

every Sunday

morning he'll

make that

trip out

there to

his village

about two

and a half

hours away.

He'd preach

and come

back that

Sunday evening.

Well, in

our Bible

Institute, we

had a get

together and

I asked

Dominic if

he would

like to

give a

testimony to

the other

Institute

students.

He didn't

tell me what

he was going

to say.

He didn't

say anything.

He said,

yeah, I'll

do it.

So without

saying anything

to me,

he got up

there in

front of

all the

other students

and he

related this

story that

I want to

tell you.

It's the

first time I

ever heard

of it.

He said

that one

Sunday he

was going

out to

his village

and as

he was

driving his

Mopelet,

he came

upon a

rock quarry

which was

on top

of a

hill.

As he

started

going up

to the

top of

the hill,

he looked

up and

he saw

a man

all in

red.

And he

was hovering.

His feet

was not

touching the

ground.

He said,

did he

really see

that?

I don't

know.

He thought

he did.

So he

stopped.

He said,

I didn't

know what

to do.

So he

said,

I started

praying and

asking God

what I

should do.

As he

was down

there

praying,

another

Mopelet

come by

and he

jumped up

to get

the guy

to stop

and the

guy

wouldn't

stop.

So he

watched the

guy get

all the way

up to the

top of the

hill where

that man

in red

was.

When he

got up to

the top,

the Mopelet

crashed.

So Dominic

immediately ran

up there

and helped

this man

on his

Mopelet

and brought

him into

the next

town of

Moteiru

and dropped

him off

at the

clinic.

Never saw

that man

in red

again.

As he

got out

to his

village,

he began

to walk

towards his

hut and

he looked

around and

there was

blood all

over the

place.

There was

chicken

pieces all

over the

place that

was spread

around,

all around

his hut,

his house.

And he

knew what

it was.

See,

that's a

curse.

It's an

animistic

curse.

See,

they slaughter

a chicken

as a way

to say

that you're

in danger

and you

need to

leave.

So Dominic,

he understood

what was

happening.

He understood

that somebody

was trying

to drive

him out

of that

village.

It ended

up being

his brother.

But he

said,

he said,

I did not

know what

to do.

He said,

I looked

around,

I saw

all that

blood,

I saw

all those

chicken

pieces.

He didn't

know what

to do.

He said,

so I picked

up all

these chicken

pieces and

I cooked

them and

I thank

God for

my meal

that night.

God is

God.

God is my

witness.

That's

exactly what

he said.

He said,

well,

how could

a guy

who grew

up in

animism,

not fair

animism

anymore,

who he

had in

his heart?

We're

not

supposed

to solve

the problems

of the

world.

That's

his job.

And so

many people

try to

solve other

people's

problems

without

introducing

people to

the problem

solver.

You know,

as you read

the Word of

God,

you see

where God

says he

brings

tribulations

and trials

into people's

life for

them to

say,

hey,

wake up,

pay attention.

I love

you and

I want

you to

come to

me.

And

sometimes

those trials

and tribulations

are actually

all the time,

it's meant

to draw

each one

of us

closer to

him.

And

right in

the midst

of all

the trials

and tribulations

that we

go through

and that

others around

us are

going through,

God says

I have

an opportunity

to use

you,

to reach

others

with the

gospel

of the

Lord

Jesus

Christ.

And it

does not

depend on

how much

knowledge

you have.

You don't

got to

get a

psychological

degree,

you don't

got to

get a

medical

degree,

you don't

got to

get all

this other

stuff.

What you

really need

and what

I really

need is

just a

relationship

with

him.

And our

goal is

to point

to

him.

Behold

the Lamb

of God

which

takes away

the sins

of the

world.

after saying

all that,

guess what?

Who's

qualified to

be a

missionary?

Those who

love the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

Show me

in the

Bible where

the

qualifications

are your

knowledge.

Huh?

Well,

what did

the Sanhedrin

say about

the

apostles in

Acts chapter

Acts 4 · chapter mention

4?

These are

unlearned and

ignorant

men.

I qualify.

Right there,

I qualify.

These are

unlearned and

ignorant men,

but they

took knowledge

of them that

they had

been with

Jesus.

The issue

is not

our knowledge.

The issue

is our

faith in

him.

Is it

not?

So,

when people

say I

don't

qualify to

be a

missionary,

what does

that mean?

I don't

understand that.

If I

thought that

everything in

Burkina Faso

depended on

my knowledge

and Mary's

knowledge,

we would

last.

We would

not last.

But see,

the ministry

does not

depend upon

me or

my wisdom.

it depends

upon him.

And our

goal in

Burkina Faso

is to say,

hey,

look,

the Savior

of the

world,

he died

for you.

He will

give you

that Holy

Spirit of

comfort if

you just

turn to

him in

faith.

I mean,

that's exactly

what we

do.

We don't

go around

and try

to solve

all the

problems

in

Burkina Faso.

My goodness,

that would

take a

lifetime and

I wouldn't

even have

done anything.

But we

are confident

in one

thing,

his ability

to help

people,

his ability

to help

my family

here in

America,

his ability

to help

my neighbors

right here

in America.

Because it

doesn't depend

on us,

it depends

on him.

and the

work we

do in

relationship

to Jesus

Christ is

simply

single-fold.

We have a

single purpose.

Look.

Look.

Look.

What's that

song?

Look and

live?

That's what

we do.

We point

people to

Jesus.

Anything

else doesn't

matter.

You want

to know how

to help

people in

the flesh?

You've got

a whole

world out

there trying

to do

that.

The whole

world is

trying to

help people.

Are they

not?

You walk

around and

people are

trying to

say what

this world

needs.

Well,

we need

what's that

thing called?

We need

democracy.

We need

these other

things.

Really?

You actually

think democracy

is going to

change the

heart of a

person.

Well,

a person

really can't

hear unless

you feed

them.

Okay?

You give

them food.

So they

go to hell

with a full

belly.

What does

that change?

What does

that change?

I'm trying

to encourage

you,

however

feeble

I'm doing

it,

is for you

to realize

that what

you're doing

for this

month during

the missions

emphasis

month that

you're in

right now

is to

realize that

the greatest

need in

this entire

world and

even in

Lincoln is

him.

It's for

this church

to stand

pointing to

him.

Try that.

Walk

outside

downtown

Lincoln and

just start

staring out.

Others will

start looking

up with you.

What you

looking up?

Jesus,

that's who

I'm looking

at.

It works.

It works.

Why?

Because it's

not about

us.

It's about

him.

And so

as you go

through this

missions month

and you hear

these different

missionaries

realize

it's about

you.

It's about

what you're

willing to

do to

point others

to him.

Does that

mean you're

willing to

go to

your neighbor?

to that

family member

that told

you don't

talk to me

anymore about

Jesus?

Yeah,

there's a lot

of problems

that we all

go through.

We're not

exempt because

we're in

church.

We're not

exempt because

we're Christians.

We still

live in the

flesh.

We still

live in the

fallen world.

Paul can

say at the

end of his

life after

writing 13

New Testament

epistles,

this is a

faithful saying

and worthy

of all

acceptation

that Christ

Jesus came

in the

world to

save sinners

of whom

I am

present

and chief.

See,

now that's

the first

error in

a Bible

I ever

found.

Paul could

say that

but he

didn't know

me.

That's the

truth.

We have

not arrived

yet.

And if

any man

thinks they

have arrived,

they have

deceived

themselves.

Each one

of us

struggle in

the flesh

right now.

And our

need,

each one

of us,

is him.

And in

the midst

of our

own

struggles,

our own

trials and

tribulations,

God says,

remember,

keep your

eyes on

him,

looking unto

Jesus,

the author

and finisher

of our

faith.

And that's

what we

do.

Hey,

we go

through

struggles,

but we

don't

him.

We know

how the

story ends.

We know

exactly

what we

need.

And we

all,

if we're

a Christian,

a born-again

believer,

we have the

Holy Spirit

of comfort

in our

hearts.

And there

hath no

temptation

taken me,

but such

as is

common

to men.

But God

will with the

temptation

also make

a way

to escape

that I

may be

able to

bear it.

And as

you continue

reading,

we're not

going to,

but as

you continue

reading 2 Corinthians

chapter number

1, he talks

about that

very thing

in that

chapter.

We are

comforted by

God in

the tribulations

and the trials

that I am

going through

so that I'll

be able to

comfort those

who are in

a similar

trial of

affliction.

So,

anything that

I go

through,

God has

prepared me

to reach

others with

Him.

With Him.

Maybe that's

one of the

reasons Paul

said,

most gladly,

therefore will

I glory in

tribulations.

Why?

Because he

understands that

his testimony,

his witness

will be more

secure because

of the things

that he went

through.

Why?

Because we

found out in

our daily

walk that

God is

faithful.

What He

said to me,

He will

perform.

What He

said to you,

He will

perform.

In whose

timing?

Well, in

His timing.

Hey, if it

was my timing,

I wouldn't

have any

problems.

But see,

that's not

what problems

are designed

to do.

We have a

wonderful

opportunity

to reach

out with

the love

of Jesus

Christ.

You know,

I was

reading J.

Vernon McGee

again,

and he

said that

if you go

through what

God expects

of us,

he said

that these

shall know

ye are my

disciples by

the fundamentals

of the

faith.

Is that

what he

said?

No.

By your

love.

By your

love.

We love

those who

are in

trials and

afflictions.

There's only

one way.

Pointing them

to Jesus.

Pointing them

to Jesus.

You've got

millions of

people all

over the

world giving

out money

to help

those in

poverty.

And I

wish I had

the money

to hand

out.

Just like

Peter,

silver and

gold have

I none,

but such

as I

have,

give I

they in

the name

of Jesus

Christ.

Well,

what's he

talking about?

You can

do this

all the

time to

the poor.

Jesus said

the poor

you're always

going to

have with

you,

but their

greatest

need is

Jesus

Christ.

And we

who are

here in

this church

who know

Jesus Christ

have the

answer for

the problems

of this

world.

I didn't

say you

know how

to solve

them,

but you

know the

problem

solver.

And so

that's

what we

want to

do.

That's

what we

do in

Burkina

Fossil.

That's

what we

try to

do

everywhere

else we

go.

And that's

exactly what

this church

is doing

in relationship

to the

missions and

in relationship

to bringing

in people

and to

reach out

to those

in this

community

and around

Nebraska

and even

in Iowa

the gospel

of the Lord

Jesus Christ.

Let's pray.

Father, we

come before

you.

We want to

thank you,

Lord, for

your blessings

and your

mercy and

your grace.

And Father,

I pray that

your will

will have

a free

course.

I pray that

you'll touch

hearts.

Lord, the