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Years ago, when I was a younger man,

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my father died.

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And at his funeral, an army chaplain quoted

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Psalm 27 5, which states, for in the

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time of trouble, he shall hide me in

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his pavilion.

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And when he said those words, I shrunk

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back.

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I didn't like them.

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Because at the time, my life was all

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sunshine and honey blossoms.

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And I didn't want to think about entering

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any time of trouble.

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So I resisted that.

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But life doesn't always stay in a time

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of sunshine.

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At times, dark storm clouds will appear with

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a fierce wind.

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And whether you like it or not, you'll

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suddenly find yourself in a time of trouble.

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If you live long enough, that's true in

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the life experience.

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The title of my message today, friends, is

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When Life Gets Hard.

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And our text can be found in the

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book of Job in chapter 29.

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You can turn in your Bibles there now,

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friends.

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It has been said that there are two

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types of preachers in the world, those who

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comfort the afflicted and those who afflict the

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comfortable.

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The majority are in the first part of

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comforting the afflicted.

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God called me into a revival ministry years

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ago of afflicting the comfortable, which is an

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unpopular ministry, by the way.

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And if you don't believe me, go read

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the book of Jeremiah and see how he

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made out.

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But I feel led today to bring a

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message of comfort to the hurting.

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We live in a sin-soaked world that's

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a sinking ship ready for destruction and ruin.

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Life hurts.

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Our hearts get broken by the grief of

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our loved ones.

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We lose them in death, or at times

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we lose them to the world.

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How many parents exist to raise their kids

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in a Christian home and had them in

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church ever since they were in diapers, but

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now they don't want to have anything to

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do with God or church, or perhaps their

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lesbian adult daughter has just married another woman,

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or their son hates the Bible and the

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God of the Bible.

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A sudden tragedy can remove the loved one

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from us.

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I lost my wife to a sudden tragedy.

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Perhaps some of you have kissed your loved

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one goodbye that morning and they were taken

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from you before the sun set that day.

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We live in a world of sudden death,

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death by disease, death by tragic accidents.

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We live in such a crazy world why

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you can go to the grocery store and

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get gunned down by a madman, or a

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drunk driver can go through a light and

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remove the life of a family member instantly.

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You may have a heart attack like I

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did.

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I had to undergo quadruple bypass surgery, but

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God kept me alive even though my health

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will never ever be the same again.

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You get some bad news from the doctor

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that you have cancer or an incurable disease

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that's just going to make your body waste

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away slowly.

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When life gets hard, what do you do?

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Well, in our text today in Job chapter

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29, we see that Job had a lot

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of time on his hands while he was

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in his afflictions, and he had time to

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reflect on his life, what it was like

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before he lost it all.

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I call Job chapter 29, When Job Remembers.

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Let's begin reading in verse 1, friends, and

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following.

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Moreover, Job continued his parable and said, Oh,

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that I were, as in months past, as

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in the days when God preserved me, when

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his candle shined upon my head, and when

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by his light I walked through darkness, as

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I was in the days of my youth,

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when the secret of God was upon my

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tabernacle, when the Almighty was yet with me,

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when my children were about me, when I

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washed my steps with butter, and the rock

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poured me out rivers of oil, when I

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went out to the gate through the city,

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when I prepared my seat in the street,

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the young men saw me and hid themselves,

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and the aged arose and stood up.

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I will stop there, friends.

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Here, Job is reflecting on what he has

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lost.

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He's down in the dumps, and he laments

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over things lost.

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He lost God's favor, so he's convinced himself.

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When we get blue, our faith often falters,

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and we allow the devil to convince us

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that God is a million miles away, and

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he doesn't give a hoot about us, but

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that's not true.

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God's eyes are continually upon us, but when

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life gets hard, our thoughts often get muddled

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with depression.

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Job speaks of his former prosperity.

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The verse that most resonates with me is

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when he says, when I washed my steps

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with butter.

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Oh, how I remember times in my own

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life when I too washed my steps with

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butter, so to speak.

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Then Job's heart begins to break all over

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again, as he mourns the loss of his

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children, when he says, when my children were

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about me.

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He cannot hear their laughter now.

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He's not laughing now.

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All his happiness, like a rug, has been

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pulled out from beneath him.

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Job then goes on to recall what it

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was like when he still had a good

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reputation within his community, and he talks about

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how the man would respect him as he

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passed before them.

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They stood up before he became a laughingstock

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to some and an object of pity to

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others.

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For in Job's life, there came a time

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of trouble, like Psalm 27 said.

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If I were to outline the book of

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Job, I would break it down into four

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sections, which represent four seasons in his life.

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For he had a time of taking, testing,

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teaching, and turning.

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Job's trial finally ended, and in his case,

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God restored not only what he had lost,

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but increased it.

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But for most folks, it doesn't always have

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a happy ending.

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Here on earth, our happy ending, if we

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are believers, comes when we go to heaven.

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Well, that begs the question, when life gets

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hard, what do you do?

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Well, I'll tell you what I've done, friends.

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I've cleaved to my God like white on

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rice through faith, and I can say this,

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Jesus is now nearer and clearer and dearer

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than he's ever been before.

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Listen, Jesus will never let you down, and

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he will never let you go in times

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of trouble or in times of prosperity.

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Oh, let us pray.