You Can Trust God to Write Your Story

Does your story fit in the big picture of God's providence your interludes in this book we pick people back to the word and help them see from this perspective. Now how these people felt what they didn't know the address of God. God wants to tell the story of Jesus to our lives. God is writing a figure story, we will seek to welcome to Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman, author of the New York Times bestseller the five LeBlanc today authors and speakers Robert and Nancy Thomas monument join us to help us in case the mystery of God's providence.

Our featured resource today is there book you can trust God to write your story. Find out more at 5lovelanguages.com after many years of experiencing and observing God at work in the twists and turns of their own lives and others. Robert Borg with Nancy Demoss will put together as an encouragement to trust him when facing life's challenges and tragedies to talk with them. Straightahead school degree program. Gary I know you resonate with this topic. You have lived this. You've seen how God has used the good and the bad in your life for his glory right well it certainly true Chris going back to what I spent three years getting my PhD so I could teach a limitation for you and then we applied to the mission board.

Carolyn and I got turned down basically because of her health. That was a tough time than we question God, you know, we question the mission board and Gerald felt badly that she was keeping me from the mission for you and all of that but look what's happened now my books are all over the world and that's an example of what were going talk about today God story was bigger than our story and then the whole ordeal with Carolyn's cancer seven years ago and walking through that journey with her and I saw how she allowed God's word to resonate through her heart. During that time, and he brought her out of that and back to a normal life and for both of us. We had a much deeper sense that life is fragile and we're here today so let's use today. Yeah, God works good things all the things we don't always understand. So I'm looking forward to our conversation today, I am so excited to get to talk with the blog list anytime we have them on here. We deferred their story before they became Mr. and Mrs. in 2015, Nancy founded and leads revive our hearts.

Roberts, cofounder of the literary agency walking with that associates the full title of our featured resource they as you can trust God to write your story embracing the mysteries of Providence. You can find out more at 5lovelanguages.com election Robert welcome back to Building Relationships. Thank you Gary, thank you.

It's always good to talk to you so decide to come about. There has to be a story behind the two of you writing this first book together. Everybody has a story just a few moments ago you were telling the story about you and Carolyn and what we've discovered is that everybody has a story if it's that the driver of the shuttle to the rental car place or the guidance fixing your sprinklers in the lawn or your spouse or your friends or your family or loved ones like you and Chris.

Everybody has a story and so that the joy of writing this book was unpacking our own story and the stories of many of our good friends where actually we both written a lot of books on our own, but this is the first time we came together to write and Robert and I as I'm sure is true with other husband-wife writing teams.

We have different styles, different approaches to writing and yet we really felt that it was time because this is something that was so in our hearts we had seen God writing our individual stories and then bringing us together. Speaking of Building Relationships threatens the joy of saying, look, we see God's hand at work in our lives in the lives of people were close to who's been through some really hard things and we see that this isn't about us. Ultimately ultimately this is about a beautiful amazing story that God is writing in our world and in and through our lives, so we came together with some fear and trembling, in fact, the night before we actually started writing you want to tell the story about the strike price and as I have a meltdown standing in the kitchen thinking is that way we can do this but you know you can trust God to write your story and you can trust God to help you write a book about it and it turned out to be really a joy and something that we believe is already receiving God use it to bring comfort and encouragement and hope to people who feel like they're drowning in a story that's totally different than the one they would have expected for themselves. Well, God certainly brought you together on the book and I think God is going to use it to help a lot of other couples.

It seems like the focus of the book is to see how my small story story with a small, this fits in with the S God story in my life is that the picture yet it is when we sign books.

We have the joy of doing that we write Romans 1133 to 36 and that includes how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable are his ways, that's that is the story that is we don't know, but we trust.

That's a big part of the story and ultimately finding hope in our own story depends on our believing that God has a bigger crater, grander story than anything we can imagine, and that the purpose of our lives ultimately is not for our sortie turn out well, though it will but ultimately we surrender ourselves and say God went with the story you're trying to write and how can I be a part of that which brings us joy and confidence even when we feel like people around us are circumstances that we can't control are really messing up our story to realize it does fit into a bigger capital has story that God is writing in his story is good to what you think we have such a problem, seeing how our stories fit into God's big plan. Why is it a struggle to see that without we we are nearsighted that the way we can't see far right turn there and we are so preoccupied with ourselves, our world, our struggles, our problems, our issues, our concerns and all we can see is this tiny little moment of time that we occupy and we can't see what God sees. We don't know what he knows. This is why it's trusting God to write our story. It's trusting God for something we can't see we can see the outcome. We don't know where this is going. We don't know where it ends.

We don't know what God is doing and so if we just focus on ourselves and our pain which may be considerable wouldn't end up frustrated, disappointed, resenting God resisting the story he's writing and so that's why this this resource is a call to step back and look up even if our eyes are filled with tears, and say Lord I trust you to hold me to keep me to do something in and through the circumstances that I cannot imagine but I know that you are God.

I know that you are good and I trust you with a story that your writing in my life and sometimes that is just raw naked faith.

That's right. Remember that the old song if we could see beyond today as God can see about Chris Weber. He knows that all of that hill and it goes on our our present grief. We would not fret each sorrow we would soon forget. It's the whole idea of trusting we cannot see into the hands of someone that we do trust yell well.

The book is filled with stories of people who are trusting God for the outcome in the midst of difficult circumstances.

What's one story that really inspired both of you are there so many we have our own stories. Nancy talks about her dad, her dad dying the weekend of Nancy's 21st birthday I talked about the story of my wife Bobby dying after we were married almost 45 years. So, yes, but in inputting the book together. Maybe the most graphic one is sitting with the man who Nancy had worked with for decades name is John referred and that's the chapter when you're losing your health. You can trust God when you when you lose your health and when you're facing death, and when you're facing death. Thank you. Yes, so we were with John and we describe what that meeting was like in their living room. He knew he was dying of cancer and two weeks, three weeks later we were at his funeral were able to say John what is this feel like pretend that you're speaking to people who are right reading this book, what would you say to them so that they are all wonderful. The privilege of hearing these people stories, but that was graphic, Melanie Mason, of seeing a man who knows that he's at the very end of this earthly journey saying I'm not afraid. I know I'm not looking forward to how or whatever these and he was in bad shape at that point, but to say I know I'm I'm I'm not afraid of facing I'm ready to see Christ and to see amazing peace and grace was hugely encouraging us. We contemplate what might the end of our lives look like and that's John referred died in a way that I would help die and that is trusting God to write his story well. There are stories of people in the Bible who saw God at work behind the scenes and I wonder if as you spoke with people if you found someone whose life situation paralleled the biblical story comes to my mind is a couple that we spoke with Leroy and Kimberly Wagoner. He's been a pastor for many years she's been a long time, dear friend and he was hit with a strong, healthy, hard-working man, and suddenly about three or four years ago he got hit with a bill attaining excruciatingly painful illness that is never been able to be totally diagnosed and there is no relief and no end in sight to this day and we talked with this couple about just dealing with chronic unrelenting physical pain and as I as we listen to Leroy and as we walked with him and his wife in this journey I think of Job in the Old Testament we talk about him some in this book on Job had many other things happen to him as well but when you deal with this horrific physical unexplainable physical pain and to see Job in the Scripture and to see our friend Leroy as a like a modern-day example of this. Lifting his eyes up with no answers and no hope.

He's had to resign the pastorate. They've had financial challenges that have come from that, as Job did, and to see him saying if he slays me.

I'm going to trust him it's it's unimaginable when Robert and I have not been in that exact place or anything quite like it.

But again we were inspired by. Here's a man and his wife is become now his his caregiver, saying we don't understand this, we don't get it, but you just imagine as people like Job and people like Leroy Wegner lift their hearts up to the Lord in faith and say I will praise him.

Just imagine heaven, applauding because it's like God's character is on on on trial and hear somebody on earth saying I don't understand but I do trust and give God glory in the midst of that it's it's it's breathtaking. It's so exciting when you see that in the life of a contemporary individual thrill because sometimes when you read the Bible you can say, well, that was Joe that was another culture a long time ago. Those types of things, but in reality the principles there are in effect right now and there are people walking with God like that today.

Well as you know Gary Nancy is nothing if not a Bible teacher, through and through, so we decided in this book to have these interludes where we tell stories that are very familiar in the Scripture with the emphasis on so Ruth didn't know how the story was going to end Mary the mother of Jesus did not know how the story was going to hit Joseph of the Old Testament Joseph the Neustadt estimate so these were people who trusted God to write the story.

We now see it. They didn't and so there are interludes in this book we take people back to the word and help them see from this perspective. Now how these people dealt with what they didn't know, but they trusted God of the future so exciting to make that connection between the biblical story of the present day, but many people feel like they can't trust God because their lives haven't turned out the way they expected it all right an event recently with a mother who just lost a 19-year-old son and she struggling with the questions you know how can this be to let her stay in the how could God allow this what we say to people in the midst of that kind of deeply well clearly as you have Gary with this friend. We we enter with them into their pain.

We care, we weep with those who weep. But also we remind ourselves and each other that the story isn't finished. This is not the end, and even things that turn out in ways that we would we been walking with a precious friend through some horrific adult sex abuse issues and it's inexplicable it's there's no. I mean, it makes there's anger. There's just feeling of helplessness. Even if you come alongside people but to realize that in the end. Not only can we trust God to write WRI TER story, but we can also trust him to write RIGHTR story, even though in this moment, it seems like there's no way that could possibly happen think we try to walk with people through that often sit there and think I don't know how I would respond in the situation. If I were going through this and that's true. We don't know how you spell it right. We hope we would practice what we say we believe. Of course, that God is behind-the-scenes and he's working out his plans through our lives. You know, typically we want simple, uncomplicated, trouble-free, pain-free stories, that's what we aspire to.

But God usually doesn't give us that because we're part of a fallen world. For one thing talk about why he doesn't always give us the things we think we should have. And the reason behind that truth brought that's a wonderful question in our research for the book. We spent some time with Stephen Kendrick who is a storyteller.

He's a movie maker. He and his brother Alex. And so that's exactly what what he said you know we we want trouble-free vanilla boring lives for ourselves, but if you read a book or watch a movie we want the drama we went the helicopters I went the helicopters.

Nancy doesn't like but that's right but that's not what happens. We often use the metaphor of the windshield you're driving through the country and you don't know what's around the corner, but you look in the rearview mirror and use it. That's what the Lord had in mind. That's what this was about. It isn't always in this life is you said that we understand why we went through what we went through it's it's trust in God's providence. Even its Hebrews 11 you know the the folks who died without seeing the promise. So that's that's the experience of trusting God for what we cannot see, but what we know is to be true. Well, the subtitle of the book is embracing the mysteries of Providence and that's a deep theological idea there but help us understand a little of what it means to embrace that mystery let you Providence isn't an old-fashioned where you don't hear you so much anymore, and I think we need to bring it back because I don't know that there's any more comforting, reassuring word in the theological dictionary, then God's providence, which simply means, probably for video to see God sees before we do, and he goes before us into our life circumstances to make provision for us before we even get there and so to trust that God knows what's coming. God is orchestrating the circumstances of this world and he's got the whole world in his hands beat by leg is not the whole world in his hands and he's got us in his hands, and yet the providence of God is filled with mystery because there's so much we can't see and we don't know. So we have to be willing to say that's okay if I could see everything God sees and know everything God knows I would be God. But I don't know and I don't see and that's why I have to be willing to live with mystery to humble myself and say Lord it's enough for me, that you see that you know and I trust that when I get there you will have already made provision for what I need before I even realize I need the verb there is embracing yesterday I was in a meeting and met a person who I know very well who is desperately struggling with all kinds of pain and struggle and I embrace this friend you know and I didn't say anything.

Your counselor you understand this sometimes embracing just says you know what I can figure this out. I don't know what to say.

You know, I don't even have a Bible verse for you right now but I'm going to tell you that I love you. By embracing this that's what we do with the truth of the mystery of God's providence we embrace there's another hymn that comes into play here 'tis mystery all the immortal dies who can explore his strange design from and can it be and I'm getting to the before the foundation of the world you know that the cross was not God's unit that messed up and I've pressured and some to know the plan a for salvation and glory to God was the cross of Christ and in Jesus.

You see him submitting fully to the father's grand design.

But we look on that and it it it is a mystery.

I think that's part of of of what you're talking about that Nancy talk about that.

The providence of God and and his intervention enter. He interposed his blood for us right yeah those are unmoral big old-fashioned words that you can have to ponder and soak in.

But here's the thing. When you think about the cross.

What could be more horrific story. Then the sinless, compassionate son of God, being falsely accused maligned maliciously treated hung on a Roman cross to die for no sin of his own talk about a story going from a human perspective, not making sense or going wrong and we look at our own stories. We can like that's not fair.

That doesn't make sense but God in his providence not only allowed to the cross to happen.

He made it happen so that the plan of redemption. This is the mystery is really amazing Grace, so that we could be saved and Peter talks about this next sinless one godly one dying for the ungodly, so that we might be brought to God so that he was wounded for our transgressions, so that we might be healed. This is a mystery, but it's true. It's beautiful, amazing grace, and so we have to surrender and say at times my story makes no sense. It doesn't seem fair. It's not right in a human sense, but we have to trust that in the long run. God is using all of this as part of a great story of healing and redemption and restoration for us. For those we love and only when we look back you if if we could see what God sees a know it. He knows now and one day when we do see what he saw and know what he knew. We will look back and we will say of course God did it exactly right when I can have second thoughts are second-guessing or accusing God or saying you did it wrong we're gonna bow in wonder and amazement and love and humility and say Lord you did it so right and I only regret I think it's going to be white and I trust it right when I couldn't say why not trust him more will you know Robert you much in counseling.

A moment ago.

I think sometimes those of us who are counselors are pastors or maybe just a Christian friend.

We sometimes try to give the person a different perspective by saying things like, well, maybe God did this because it saved him from something worse.

But taking him at a young age and were trying to come up with ideas all while this bad thing happened and what God might be doing but that's not our job is it that's right, actually at Bobby's funeral. My late wife on the screen as they were wheeling out the casket through ride the cemetery.

The text except a kernel of wheat fall on the ground and die remains was a single see. But if it dies, it produces many seeds so you know you hold the seed in your hand. You can't see what's inside but God And so that's but went when you're talking to somebody who's in the middle of it. If it's not helpful to give them all the theological underpinnings of what they're experiencing, but just to suffer with them and and to say, I can't imagine what this must be like.

But but God is trustworthy. He's proven that down through the centuries. He is trustworthy and something to stand with you until you have the opportunity to embrace the truth as well. It's interesting the old hymn, this is this fun talk about old hymns. He plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm. So what what is characteristic about footprint in the sea when you can't see it soon as he lifts his foot out. You no longer see it, but those are truths that we that we rest and even when we don't feel like trusting it even though we don't understand what's going on. So the choice is to trust him like that or just feel like this is totally random but nothing makes sense, nobody's in control. I'd far rather trust a sovereign God who loves me who made me and who knows what's best for me Robert let's talk further about some of the men and women of the Bible because I know you use many biblical illustrations in this book and their stories and and how they didn't sleep but then maybe never sought out in this life and then then some parallels over how that works. Did not everybody in the Bible had the Joseph in Genesis 50 perspective right but when he was living it when he was in the pit when he was on his way with the Midianites to Egypt. He had no idea but he was able to look back and say all you guys meant this for evil but God meant it for good.

So we one of one of our favorite things to do and I know you and Chris and Nancy joins me in. This is taking the old, old story of Jesus and his love, his word and lifting up these individuals who trusted God not knowing the outcome and saying what what is it about their story that I need to understand.

I want to empathize with what this must've felt like in that pit or standing on the auction block in Egypt and and know what Joseph was saying with his brothers right there.

Genesis 50 you guys meant this for evil, you had no you had no desire for my good. When you were selling me but God used all this for his good, so it's that story. Nance, one of Nancy's favorite stories in the Scriptures, the story of Ruth and Naomi and Boaz fact sometimes show referred to me in a text as Bo heard her poke's. She loves it that much. So those stories, these people suffered. There's no doubt about that. These people wonder these people doubted these people didn't at times even trust God.

But now we read their stories in black and white, and we feel such a great sense of relief knowing that God was there. He was listening.

He was answering even though at the time they could see it and what they couldn't see that we can see now is that God was writing a bigger story that was leading to the Redeemer to the Savior to the Messiah to Jesus and sell all of the stories were part of the fabric that God was leaving to bring a Messiah who would rescue us all from the story from the pit. The story that that Satan wanted to write for our lives and and that perspective I think is helpful to us as we realize that our stories today are not just about us, but that God is writing course Jesus has come, but God wants to tell the story of Jesus to our lives to our stories to others who watch and marvel that even though we can't see answers even though we did you know that that is the I'm watching Randy and Nancy Alcorn were going through Nancy's cancer and that this is been very public thing and he such a loved author and watching that the updates from Randy and Nancy and how they trust God in the middle of not good reports.

One even just in the last several days and it humanly speaking, it doesn't look good but their goal in life is not to have, ultimately, to have health L date they want that their asking God for healing and health. But more than that. What they want is for Jesus to be seen and loved and magnified and treasured for people to know that he can be trusted. So they're living their story. But God is writing a bigger story that we won't see to we can look back in retrospect that the reminders of the Ruth Naomi story.

The Robert is referred to.

What's fascinating because Corsi's word, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law on both of them deprived and lost their mates and root and Amy lost her two sons and Ruth, a foreigner coming to Israel and just ask somebody strikes against them and Lotta listeners will be familiar with pieces of that story. But the thing that strikes me is the different ways that these two women responded to their trouble.

You have Naomi who repeatedly is basically say and understandably from a human perspective saying God has afflicted me. God has forsaken me God's hand has gone out against me. God is not lift up God Almighty has not lived up to his name in my life sucks. He sensed tinges of resentment or you know just not sure God's doing it right then you see Ruth, who has as much reason to doubt God, but Boaz says of her that God under his wings you have come to trust. She saw a God she could not see as being trustworthy, and ultimately God not only provided for her eight a husband to and and that this isn't just a romance is actually means of survival want to meet her needs and rescue her for enter mother-in-law from destitution cc God writing that story and a beautiful ending giving her offspring that led up to the coming of Jesus the Messiah, which also see God changing her mother-in-law into a woman who knew that God could be trusted and I just wonder we don't imagine in the moment, all it is that God may want to do to our willingness to trust God's hand, we cannot see or understand in the moment in the text and it happened you see that over and over again that is like. If you are coming in from left field, you wouldn't really realize that that is God writing that story but it didn't just happen and wasn't happenstance was a chance as all these details and we can see that because were looking back they couldn't see it in the moment. I like the reality you mentioned that even beyond taking care of them physically. There was a picture of Christ ago, our car, Redeemer course they would. They would necessarily have seen that there was no know that I don't know this song.

It's a contemporary song with there's little phrase in there that says when you can't see God's hand trust his heart and that's really what were talking about in the heart of all of your trust in God's heart. That's true in human relationships. No marriage. This could be a surprise to Gary so fast.

Marriage can be hard work and part of it is learning to trust each other, you know, why did you say it that way.

What did you mean to say when you said that and you step back you say boy forgive me for my response, but I trust your heart.

I know you I know you love me. I know you want the best for me and for our marriage.

So trustworthiness is something that has contemporary implications all the time like you bring in that little marriage park there is a marriage program is� There's a hypothetical question. If you could go back and change any of your story.

Nancy would you do it. This doesn't count. Like the first year of marriage, this is radio. This is like� Go for display in the moment. There were many moments when I would say when I would've said I wish the story looked different. We can my 21st birthday. When I got the call that my dad had had a heart attack and was dead before he hit the ground and what I have want to have what I want to have rewritten that in the moment.

Of course, but I will tell you that looking back with a little bit of hindsight I have now. Not with divisional have one day when I'm with the Lord. I would honestly say the only thing I would write differently is that I would trust him more. I wish I had worried less stressed, less threaded, less and trusted more. I just III don't see yet all the reasons for everything he has done but I've seen enough to convince me and I know him now after 55+ years of walking with Jesus, I trust him. I got a track record and I just know that he is good and he does good and so no I there's not anything I would net this. I don't see the outcome of all of it yet but I I trust that he knows what he's doing and the one thing I would want to change is just that I would owe for grace to trust him more. Three. Two.

Robert, as you look back is anything you would change well the quick answer is I can and you know a lot of people ruin their lives by groveling and what cannot be changed so that I would totally resonate with Nancy and and honestly back to the Scripture that was on the screen at the end of Bobby's funeral except the Col. revolved around indictments single see. But if it dies, it produces many seeds I'd I was caught up in what I think a lot of men are caught up in Bobby was an aggressively eager student of the Bible and so she was an early riser I was an early riser so often I would wake up and she's in the world already and I got lazy.

I kind of let her be my Bible reference, friend, and when when Bobby stepped into heaven. The Lord really spoke to me and said no. The batons in your hand. You cannot be lazy anymore.

It's time for you to go for so Nancy and I have had this conversation and I regret not being serious enough about time in the word every morning. This was Nancy's dad every morning for an hour in the word for no other reason than just to soak it and to learn and to listen and to trust God was in preparation for a talk or sermon. It was just for the purpose of knowing God and his word. I give you little marriage to appear. Since this is a marriage program and is not really a subject interesting to write your story but I think it will bless a lot of listeners. Robert is I am not an early riser. Robert is so he's up in the word before I am each day and he will text me two or three verses, not not just a reference but actually writes out the verse and sends them to me a Texel when I wake up I got two or three scriptures from the word from my husband and I keep a tale as a wife.

What it does is a very simple thing but to know that he has been with the Lord and in his word and he's loving me in this way by washing me with the water of the word and it just gives me. It starts my day with the Lord in a sweet way that it also gives me a sweet sense that I can trust that my husband is listening to God. And so when we have a different perspective or word dealing with an issue. I know that here's a man is not self-sufficient. He's not trying to do it on his own but he is he's with the Lord is in the word and that just builds a lot of trust in our relationship. So as little free tip. There is good is that we also celebrate months no way for years for anniversary. Okay so my that's only way we can catch up with our friends have been married forever and Carol married for 30 years. He said oh yes we have.

We have 30 anniversary stood right celebrate our 47,000 listen� That's good. I like the Sir Robert were talking about this concept. Of course the whole book is about this, but many times the story we're living out doesn't always make sense to us. We don't always even feel like his failure and yet if we can look beyond that, that God story is bigger than what were going through and the God wants to use even what were going through in a positive way for his kingdom but but how do we how do we take that leap to act on belief that our story is a part of God's bigger story that that he's writing.

I'd I think it's pretty simple.

You. You make a decision every life change begins with the decision. Sometimes a single decision. I'm going to move to Memphis. I'm going to marry this lady.

I'm going to trust God and you don't do it because you feel like it necessarily you do it because you believe this is what God has called you to do there.

There are so many things. Philippians 213 God is at work within you. This is the old living translation living, paraphrase God's work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants, so you trust him to help direct your desires so you know you say all right you talk to a college guy and and you say will tell me about your love life others. This young lady and I'm I'm really in love with her. I'd like to marry her and I said what have you prayed about this and he says we of course I've prayed about this. My parents prayed about this when I was little boy say okay so you prayed about this. Yes you love her yes I do.

Do you think she's fantastic. Yes she beautiful, absolutely. So how does God change our minds.

He changes our minds. According to his will by changing our desires. God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him. What a great way to live God's will direct my desires directs my passions directs my heart. That may sound like an answer to the question you didn't ask. Like a politician does. That's the way you know God's will and I think you going to trust him as you saturate your mind and your heart in his his character. If you, if not in his word. You not get to know him and if you don't know him. You not going to trust him to know him is to trust him and that's why it's so important before we come to these crisis points in our lives that we are at work, getting to know him in his word and I find that every time I cycle back to the Scripture. It takes the chaos of my circumstances and clears the fog and shows me the simple stabilizing truth that keeps me sane in an unsafe in an insane world. So it's back. I asked a group of thousands of women the other day how many of you would say honestly you do not have a consistent time in God's word and almost all the women in that room raise their hand.

These women came had come to a Christian conference and I'm going to wonder we have a hard time trusting God because we don't know him so to know him is to trust him as I say in a get to know and wild things are going well.

And then when the bottom falls out. You can you know where to look and where to turn the country for you said you pack your lunch before you're hungry, you got it in your backpack. You got a sandwich. Not hungry yet that you're going to be a mess. That's a great confirmation that God really is caring about your future and it's a great discipline to pack that lunch to be ready for whatever comes. Good, bad or indifferent, because you've trusted in his word you for you, so Canada's dance he said that's become part of the fabric of your life that reminds me of my wife Carolyn to experience when she had cancer seven years ago.

She said you know there were times in which I was so weak that I could even pray, but the verses that I memorized through the years just floated through my heart and through my mind and they were there were the source of my comfort to just those verses floating floating through my my heart and so socially she's been on a campaign since Lynn make sure the children learn to memorize the Bible memorizing verses and these old hymns and overcome every soul twice in the press, there is mercy with the Lord only trust him now is the way that verse and he will save you general Savior now the truth of God planted in our hearts, memorizing daily time in the word so important in us for us to experience what were talking about the day when were in those hard places will have another someone listen today who has had a diagnosis or their spouse walked out on them.

Are they been out of work for a year or more, and there listen to us talk and maybe their singular hearts, but you don't know where I am. What we say to those those individuals or listen today who can't figure it out by God's allowing this to be a part of their lives. Well what he said is true. We can't understand and we also can't figure out why God does what he does. If we could, we would be God. There's a statement I heard John Piper say years ago. That is really stuck with me and I shared it with many people over the years because it's encouraged me so greatly in difficult times, but he said in every circumstance of your life. God is always doing a thousand different things that you cannot see and you do not now and we may be able to say all yeah I can see one or two things God might be doing to this basic God is doing a thousand different things that you cannot see and you do not now say you trust him for what he knows and what he sees but also you lenient you cast yourself on him he say Lord I cannot handle this but you have said that your grace is sufficient for me. So by faith. I'm going to trust that you have for this moment the grace that I need got to give me grace as I get a gift that person who circumstantially described grace for what's coming next week or next month or next year, but he does give grace for today and the end of the day that's all I need right absolutely, absolutely heard a pastor responding to the individual who said I just I don't know LOL could have handled it a thunderstorm would face that said God doesn't give grace all non-dying days, but gives grace to be on the day you die you don't need that now you know it's been sweet to see how these stories that people we met with in this book, how their stories are still being written is Roy and I got to say one little quick sweet one and that one of the women he told us her story about longing for a mate desire that was unfulfilled. She's 53 years old. After the book was published. She got engaged to a widower who came into her life. 10 weeks from the day that they met they got engaged there getting married in just a few weeks and she had no idea when this came out that God was still writing. She seems to be single for the rest of her life and and she couldn't Dannon would have trusted God with that but so many of the stories we see God is still writing you still write mine still writing Robertson hours and yours, Chris and Andrea and Gary and Carolyn and that's where we say God, you really can't be trusted for the next chapter. Absolutely. Well this is been a delightful hour. I really appreciate you all spending with us and I really do believe that our listeners I hope the sense how important, how helpful this book is because it's Scripture is Scripture stories what is stories from people to who are experiencing the reality of God as they walked through the places so thanks for being with her. Robert Moore and Nancy Demoss, one of the most of it I guess. Today the book we've been discussing might help you understand how much God has been involved in the events of your life as well as the events in his story notify love languages.com you can find out more about you can trust God to write your story embracing the mysteries of Providence again. Five love languages.com next week. Jill Savage talks about the joys and struggles of the next you thrive.

Should be a great discussion. I thanks today to our production team whacking Hannah's time Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman's production radio with Moody publishers ministry, Moody Bible