When he has tried me, I will come forth as gold. When I pass this test, there's going to be rewards. Focus on the future benefits, not the present pain. You may be in the middle of a turmoil. Trust the Lord.
It's not an eternal turmoil. Have you ever searched for God in the darkness and come up empty? You couldn't feel him, couldn't hear him, couldn't understand what he was doing. And yet somehow, you held on. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl draws our attention to three verses in the book of Job.
Verses so powerful he committed them to memory in his 20s and has leaned on them ever since. They speak to anyone walking through a trial they can't explain. It's the heart of Grace Under Pressure. Chuck titled his message, How to Handle Criticism with Class.
Some of the greatest verses in all the Bible. or verses 10, 11, and 12 of Job 23. I committed them to memory back when I was a In my young twenties. And I have called them to mind. perhaps more than any other passage of Scripture.
I commend to you the memorizing of Job 23. 10 through 12. I'm serious. I've got them marked out in my Bible. I got a ruler and I marked around 23, 10 through 12.
He knows the way that I take. Look at the verse. When he, that's God, has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held his steps. His way have I kept and not declined.
Neither have I turned back from the command of his lips. I love this word. I have esteemed, I have treasured, I have prized the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. I'm unable to locate the presence of God, but I trust Him. Eliphaz, Bildad.
Zophar and later, Elihu, you can say whatever you wish against me. God knows the way that I take, He knows the truth. He, my justifier. He and I are on speaking terms. I trust him.
I believe in him. He knows the way I take. After the trial is over, I will come forth as gold. You can count on that, Saints. When the trial has passed, You will be deeper and richer for it.
I want you to allow those words to burn their way into your brain so deeply that they become like a divine filter for everything that happens in your life from now on. Everything. God knows the way that we take. Your need, verse 11, and mine is to have our feet hold fast to His path. to keep his way and not turn aside.
Not depart from the command of his lips. You say, well, I thought we couldn't see him. What do you mean, his lips? His word. It's as if God is speaking when you open his book.
His word teaches you, instructs you, counsels you, comforts you, reproves you, directs your steps. I have not departed from the command of his lips. And look at the last line, I have treasured. The word means to esteem, to value the words of his mouth more. than steak and potatoes.
More than solid dessert. More than the most delicious and delectable meal the finest chef in the country can provide. I have treasured the words of his mouth more than what I have for lunch or what I'm served or what I serve myself for supper. I treasure his words more than anything that even keeps me alive. That's the value I place on what he has said.
Grace under pressure. That's why he could keep from answering Eliphaz. or slugging him. That's how Job could restrain himself when he's being falsely accused. He knows that God knows the way he takes, God knows his heart.
And he trusts God.
Now, the second statement Job makes, which is the balance of this chapter, 13 through 17, I'm unable to understand the plan of God.
Now, get that along with the first one, and you'll have a nice balance. I'm unable to locate the presence of God, but I trust Him. Okay.
Now, the second is, I am unable to understand the plan of God. But I trust him. Same ending, but it's another subject. His plan is unfolding. And I'm not able to understand it.
In fact, he says he's unique in verse 13. God is unique, who can turn him? What his soul desires, that he does. He doesn't ask permission. He doesn't tell you ahead of time.
He doesn't explain why it's so hard. He doesn't let you know how it's going to come out. He doesn't tell you why it goes on and on and on and on and on, and most of it is unfair. He doesn't tell you how long it's going to last. He doesn't tell you when it's going to end.
You trust him. You trust him. You wait. You serve him. You keep your feet on his paths.
You treasure his words. And whatever God desires, that is what he does. And you trust him. You can't understand it. And don't call me.
Because I can't explain it either. I got my own stuff. You call me, I'll probably say, while you're on the line, I've got several things I want to ask you. And to make matters even more complicated, verse 14: he performs what is appointed for me. There's a uniqueness there.
Nobody else was Job, and Job had what was appointed for Job, and that became his life and lifestyle. just as he is performing what is appointed for you. Don't get your hopes up. Many such decrees are with him. You've got a whole bunch of them waiting.
to implement once you get through this one. Isn't that fun? Therefore, I would be dismayed at his presence when I consider I am terrified of him. That's great. Great vulnerability.
Just say it. It's okay. I think the Lord would love to hear us say that on occasion. You frighten me. St.
John of the Cross, one of the fathers, wrote. God perceives the imperfections within us.
Now, listen closely, this is deep. God perceives the imperfections within us, and because of His love for us, urges us to grow up. His love is not content to leave us in our weaknesses. And for this reason, he takes us. into a dark night.
He weans us from all the pleasures by giving us dry times. and inward darkness. In doing so, he is able to take away all these vices and create virtues within us. Through the dark night, pride becomes. HUMILITY Greed becomes Simplicity.
Wrath? becomes contentment. Luxury becomes peace. Gluttony becomes Moderation. Envy.
becomes joy and sloth. becomes strength. No soul will ever grow deep in the spiritual life unless God works passively in that soul. by means of the Dark Night. That's why we trust him.
I can't see in the darkness. And the longer it goes on, the darker it seems it gets. And so I trust him. And I wait for him. I don't try to explain what he's up to.
I trust him. You want this to go on longer? I trust you. I'm going to act wisely. I'm going to respond as best I can.
But, Lord God, to change this setting is your business, not mine. And my walk with you as such? that I lean on you. when I can't see my way through. for however long.
Now his final response is in chapter 24. He was unable to locate the presence of God, so he said, I trust him. He was unable to explain the Plan of God, so he says, I trust him. By the way, Pascal once wrote: the eternal silence of those infinite spaces frightens me. I love that.
The eternal silence of those infinite spaces frightens me. There's some time in the depth of his will. You are absolutely Scared to death. You don't have any idea where this is going to lead. That's okay.
You trust him. You wait for him. Chapter 24. I'm unable to justify They're permissions of God. But I trust you.
I am unable to justify the permissions of God. What do I mean by that?
Well, what does Job mean? He starts in the country, verses 1 to 11. He goes to the city, verses 12 to 17. And then he just levels curses against the wicked. At the end.
18 down through 24. In the country Look at this.
Some remove, verse 2, some remove the landmarks and they seize and devour flocks, and God doesn't step in and stop it. They drive away the donkeys of the orphans. They take the widow's ox for a pledge. God doesn't stop, He permits that. They push the needy aside from the road, the poor from the land, are made to hide themselves altogether.
This is great poetry, and it's true fact. As wild donkeys in the wilderness, they go forth seeking food in their activity, as bread for their children in the desert. They harvest their fodder in the field, and glean the vineyard of the wicked. They spend the night naked without clothing, have no covering against the cold. God doesn't stop it.
They are wet with the mountain rains and hugged a rock for want of a shelter, and God doesn't step in and stop it. He permits it. Others snatch the orphan from the breast, God doesn't stop it. There are kidnappings, and God doesn't stop it. And against the poor, they take a pledge, and God doesn't stop it.
He permits it. And on and on and on it goes down through verse 11. I can't justify God's passivity. Why does He permit that? But He does.
When you get to chapter 24, verse 12, you're in the city. And you think the country problems were tough. Look at the litany of the city problems. Verse 13: Others have been with those who rebel against the light. They do not want to know its ways nor abide in its paths, and God lets it happen.
The murderer arises at dawn, God lets him go. He kills the poor and the needy, and at night he is as a thief, and God doesn't stop it. The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, No eye will see me. He disguises his face, and God doesn't zap him. You could go all the way down through this list.
All the way to the end, and there are wrongs, and there are failures, and there are injustices, and there's robbery, and sexual sins. And where is God? He is permitting it. Why? Don't know.
Sis Joe. I think his point here is that just exactly like what's happened to me. God's permitted it. Just like what I'm going through, God. has permitted it.
Those who do wrong get away with it. Those who take advantage of others get away with it. And God doesn't step in, and you and I could name a half dozen examples right now of recent cases where the Lord could have stopped it, but He didn't. This isn't all about the Jewish Holocaust. This isn't all about the wrongs of the Crusade era.
This isn't all about the priests in the Catholic Church who abused boys. This is about all kinds of things that we could name, and God could have stopped it, but He didn't. It's a mystery, that's the point. I can't justify the permissions of God. But I trust him.
That's a major step, especially. if one of the boys is your son. Or if one of the children kidnapped is your child. It's a real test on trust. And so Job finishes this 18 through 24 by leveling curses against the wicked.
Job is saying, in effect, you think I'm wicked? I'm telling you, God, if I had my way with God, He would curse every one of them doing wrong. I stand against everything that I've named here. And verse 25 is pretty assuring, isn't it?
Now, if it's not so, who can prove me a liar and make my speech worthless? can any stand up and say, this is nonsense. No one could. Not even Oliphaz. The amazing thing is God's tolerance.
Not only is he absent, Not only is he mysterious, Ugh. I can't justify what he's doing. I mean, would you have done with Job what God did with him? If you had, we would call you cruel.
Well, when God does it, He turns it into a 42-chapter book. Uses it in all our lives.
Okay.
What's this about? Three lessons, if I may be that simplistic. I think there are three enduring. Lessons. Even though God is elusive and mysterious and strange and silent and invisible.
And he appears to be passive, he is trustworthy.
So, the first point I want to make is: resist the temptation to explain everything. Resist the temptation to explain Everything. God knows. Add that. Resist the temptation to explain everything.
God knows. But you and I don't. It was a great day at Dallas Seminary when I heard one of the prophets say, as he was asked a question similar to this subject. I don't know. And I thought.
Yes. Artist man, brilliant theologian, I don't know. I don't know. I can't explain it. Seminary is not a school where you learn all of the answers about the mysterious workings of God.
It may be the place where you finally learn to admit there are a lot of things about him I don't know.
Someone has said an education is just going from an Um unawareness to an awareness of your ignorance. You discover all the things you don't know. Resist the temptation to explain everything. Don't try. Just practice.
Say it with me. I don't know. First time some of you have said that in years. Let's do it again. I don't.
You're terrific. You did it very well. Tomorrow morning at the mirror, guys, as you're shaving, say it. Aye. Don't.
No. I don't know why I got a face like this. I don't know why. Days like this. I don't know.
Second. Focus on The future benefits, not the present pain. When he has tried me, I will come forth as gold. When I pass this test, there's going to be rewards. Focus on the future benefits, not the present pain.
God leads. Add that. He knows what he's about. That's what Job 23:10 says. He knows the way I take.
Here's the third. It's the toughest one for many of you, I know, but it's got to be added: embrace the sovereignty of God. God controls. Embrace the sovereignty of God.
Now, some of you want to say in return: look, it's hard for me to embrace anyone I don't really understand. You hug your wife, don't you? You hug your husband, don't you? You hug your daddy, your mama. You don't understand all about them.
Sometimes you have just said, I don't understand, but come here. You just put your arms around them. Never believe that life is based on random chance. Don't ever believe that. It's all working together like a massive, beautiful piece of divine tapestry that from this side looks blurred and knotted and strange and twisted, but from that side has an incredible pattern to it.
And to God, it's for his glory. It makes great sense. But we're on this side. My good friend David Roper, in his fine book, Seeing Through. provides an illustration of this.
Recently, Carolyn and I were on the first leg of a flight from Frankfurt, Germany. to our home in Boise, Idaho. Our first stop was Boston. It had been an exhausting week, and I dropped off to sleep as soon as I found my seat, but I was soon awakened by the disturbance in the aisle. The steward and a passenger who had been seated on Carolyn's left were arguing about the man's seat assignment.
Somehow he had been separated from his fiancée, who was seated several rows behind us. The man grew increasingly angry and argumentative until another passenger, seated by the man's fiancée, offered to trade places. The swap was made, and Carolyn's new seatmate settled into his place, drew out a legal pad, and began to work on some project. Unfortunately, there was a garrulous little French boy seated on his left, a charming child who wanted to talk. The man, who seemed to be the soul of patience, gave up his project after a few minutes and began to chat amiably with the boy.
Carolyn was soon drawn into the conversation. I heard the man say he was from Los Gatos, California. Where Carolyn and I had lived for 18 years. He was on the Frankfurt to Boston leg of the flight. to San Francisco.
I heard Carolyn remark on the fact that we had many friends in the Bay Area, and then I went back to sleep. When I awakened an hour or so later, I found Carolyn sharing her faith. With her newfound friend, scribbling on his pad of paper, drawing diagrams, and animating her story. He was listening intently. And asking questions.
I sat there quietly and I prayed for her and for the man. At one point, he said, You believe as my wife does. Oh? Carolyn replied. And how did she become a follower of Christ?
Through Bible study fellowship. He responded. Oh, how did she find out about Bible study fellowship? Carolyn asked. A friend of hers, Nell King, Invited her to attend.
That's remarkable, Carolyn exclaimed. Neil King is one of my best friends. And then the coin dropped. A few months before we moved to Boise, Nell had asked Carolyn to pray for a friend who had just become a Christian through Bible study fellowship. and for her husband.
who was not yet a believer. The man now seated. on Carolyn's left. There by that power which erring men call. A chance.
There is a perfect plan unfolding. You can't explain it. You can't understand it. And there'll be times you won't like it. He's not going to ask you permission.
to keep it moving. Trust him. Grace Under. Pressure. Bow your heads with me, will you please?
You're surrounded by individuals in the family of God who could tell you a hundred stories similar to the one I just told you. But they probably won't because you would never know to ask. But the fact is you have your own stories. Just look over the way things have worked out. You may be in the middle of a turmoil.
Trust the Lord. It's not an eternal turmoil. It's just part of the unfolding. of a profound Plan. It may very well be the plan is designed to humble you.
to bring you so far down but the only way you can look is up. And you'll see a cross. And you'll reach out by faith, and you will take the hand of the one who died for you. And it's got skin on it. He was a man like we are.
But he was without sin. He paid the full price for your salvation, and he awaits your accepting it. The plan will never be exciting to you. until you accept the Lord Jesus. into your life.
Don't wait to do that. Today's the day. Father, we are very grateful for the way your work unfolds, and much to our amazement and sometimes. admittedly our Resistance and disappointment. The plan brings hurt.
It brings pain. It requires grace under pressure. Give us the patience to endure. Give us the faith to believe. Give us the hope.
to trust. I pray in the name of Jesus and for his sake. Everyone said. Amen. He knows the way I take, and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
What a promise to hold on to when the trial drags on and the darkness won't lift. This is Insight for Living. Juxmundahl titled his message How to Handle Criticism with Class. If you're feeling overwhelmed by unsolicited opinions or the unwanted counsel from friends, We hope this study has brought renewed confidence that God not only knows, He understands. You see, Job is a model for exercising grace under pressure.
Picture it, his friends came to comfort him and crushed him instead. God seemed silent. And yet from the ash heap came these words, I know that my Redeemer lives. That's a man who found God when his world was on fire. And friend, you may be sitting there today in your own ash heap.
Words have wounded you, circumstances have overwhelmed you. and God feels very, very far away. Chuck's book, Finding God When the World's On Fire, was written exactly for that moment. We'd love to send you a copy today. It's yours when your request includes a contribution toward the Ministry of Insight for Living.
We are grateful for you and we believe this book will be a gift to your soul. Again, it's called Finding God When the World's On Fire. Call us at 800-772-8888 or go to insight.org/slash donate. Thanks so much for your voluntary gift. No matter the size, it'll be used to provide hope to those who feel hopeless.
Plus, your generosity allows us to provide Chuck's teaching on your station and on the Insight mobile app and all the other platforms where Insight for Living is freely heard. To send a contribution in the mail, address your envelope to InsightForLiving. Post Office Box 5000. Frisco, Texas, 75034. or call 800-772-8888.
Online, just go to insight.org slash donate. Yeah. I'm Bill Meyer. Tomorrow, Chuck Swindahl presents what he calls the futility of unscrewing the unscrupible. Right here on Insight for Living.
The preceding message, How to Handle Criticism with Class, was copyrighted in 2002, 2004, and 2025. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
