Insight for Living

Chuck Swindoll: When he has tried me, I will come forth as gold. When I pass this test, there is going to be reward. Focus on the future benefits, not the present pain. You may be in the middle of a turmoil. Trust the Lord. It is not an eternal turmoil.

Bill Meyer: 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 Swindoll draws our attention to three verses in the book of Job, verses so powerful he committed them to memory in his twenties and has leaned on them ever since. They speak to anyone walking through a trial they can't explain. It is the heart of grace under pressure. Chuck titled his message How to Handle Criticism with Class.

Chuck Swindoll: Some of the greatest verses in all the Bible are verses 10, 11, and 12 of Job 23. I committed them to memory back when I was 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 am serious. I have 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 have," I love this word, "esteemed, I have treasured, I prized the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." I am 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 is 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.

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 salad and 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 am served or what I serve myself for supper. I treasure his words more than anything that even keeps me alive."

That is the value I place on what he has said. Grace under pressure. That is why he could keep from answering Eliphaz or slogging him. That is how Job could restrain himself when he is 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 am unable to understand the plan of God." Now get that along with the first one and you will have a nice balance. "I am unable to locate the presence of God, but I trust him." Now the second is, "I am unable to understand the plan of God, but I trust him."

Same ending, but it is another subject. His plan is unfolding and I am not able to understand it. In fact, he says he is 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 is so hard. He doesn't let you know how it is 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 is going to last. He doesn't tell you when it is 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 cannot understand it. And don't call me because I can't explain it either. I have my own stuff. If you call me, I will 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 is 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.

And don't get your hopes up. "Many such decrees are with him." He has got a whole bunch of them waiting to implement once you get through this one. Isn't that fine? "Therefore, I would be dismayed at his presence. When I consider, I am terrified of it." That is 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 is why we trust him. I can't see in the darkness. And the longer it goes on, the darker it seems to get. And so I trust him. And I wait for him. And I don't try to explain what he is up to. I trust him. You want this to go on longer? I trust you. I am going to act wisely. I am going to respond as best I can.

But Lord God, to change this setting is your business, not mine. And my walk with you is such that I lean on you when I can't see my way through for however long. 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 is 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 is okay. You trust him. You wait for him.

Chapter 24, "I am unable to justify the permissions of God, but I trust him. 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. And 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 all together." This is great poetry and it is 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. They glean 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 hug the 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. 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? "I don't know," says Job. 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. 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 is 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 Eliphaz. The amazing thing is God's tolerance. Not only is he absent, not only is he mysterious, 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. But when God does it, he turns it into a 42-chapter book and 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 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. There was a great day at Dallas Seminary when I heard one of the profs say, as he was asked a question similar to this subject, "I don't know." And I thought, "Yes! Honest man, brilliant theologian."

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 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 know. You did it very well. Tomorrow morning at the mirror, guys, as you're shaving, say it. I don't know.

I don't know why I got a face like this. I don't know why days like this happen. 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 reward." 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 that 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 fiancee who was seated several rows behind us. The man grew increasingly angry and argumentative until another passenger seated by the man's fiancee 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. 'Nell 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 chance. There is a perfect plan unfolding. You can't explain it. You can't understand it. And there will be times you won't like it."

He is 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 is 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 that 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 has 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."

Bill Meyer: "He knows the way I take and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold." What a promise to hold onto when the trial drags on and the darkness won't lift. This is Insight for Living. Chuck Swindoll 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 is yours when your request includes a contribution toward the ministry of Insight for Living.

We're 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/donate. Thanks so much for your voluntary gift. No matter the size, it will 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 Insight for Living, Post Office Box 5000, Frisco, Texas 75034. Or call 800-772-8888. Online, just go to insight.org/donate.

I'm Bill Meyer. Tomorrow, Chuck Swindoll presents what he calls the futility of unscrewing the unscrewedable, 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. Swindoll, Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.