A Message from a Massacre - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

If you have your bibles, join me in the Old Testament. And we're gonna go to a specific book in a moment, but I just wanna share something in light of this short message this morning. It was just from a personal reading. I'm currently going through a book in the Old Testament, and, there's a portion of scripture. You know, the word of God never fails to provide living truth from texts that we've probably read so many times over and over again, or even from texts that we don't think can speak to our lives.

And that is certainly true about this text. This story is found in a rather interesting place in our bibles, and what makes it so unique is that, it's located in the middle of a genealogical record concerning the tribes of Israel. It's it's a part where, you would kind of skip over to get to the to the action, so to speak. This is not something that you will find in epic book or a narrative that has so much action. But nonetheless, this is tucked in in the middle of names being listed, throughout chapters and chapters of a specific book.

And tucked in there is something that is worthy of our attention. And this just proves to me, and I pray that it would prove to us as we unpack it together, that no part of the Bible should be ignored. The holy spirit has inspired every aspect of our scriptures. And from beginning to end, there is inspiration, there is power, there's application, there's revelation. And so before we go there, I want us to just pray and ask God to give us the mind and the heart to receive, and then be blessed and changed by it.

So let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for this morning, and that you've given us grace for this live stream. But Lord, we also need an extra measure of grace with the power of your Holy Spirit to be upon us, that you would give us a heart to receive it and an open mind to understand. And Lord, we pray for every room, every person that is sitting, whether they're in their bedrooms or in the living rooms with their families, that Lord, you would visit us and you would touch us afresh and we would be changed. And so Lord, this word.

Let the spirit of revelation come upon this word. And may we be changed as a result, Lord. Give liberty and freedom as it is communicated and let every person disappear, lord. And let us see Jesus Christ and the wisdom that he possesses through his word for our lives. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Turn your Bibles to first Chronicles, the book of first Chronicles, and go to chapter seven. Now before we get into the text, let's understand a very important background. It's something that most believers should be familiar with, and that is the development of the tribes of Israel. Remember, there was a man by the name of Abraham.

He had a son named Isaac. He had a son named Jacob. And Jacob had 12 sons. And throughout Jacob's life, he saw his sons grew, and one of his youngest sons, Joseph, was, unfortunately, the object of jealousy and envy from his other brothers. And so he is sold into slavery.

He's brought into Egypt, and his father thinks that he's dead. The brothers play a trick on the whole thing because they hated him so much. And what happens is that Joseph, being in Egypt as a slave, now rises to be second in command. And during his time in Egypt, he has two sons. He has a son named Manasseh, and he has a son named Ephraim.

And through this long story, you see that God brings it about for Jacob and his other sons to come to Egypt and encounter Joseph. And with this reunion, it's a beautiful scene of reconciliation. You also see Jacob guided by the spirit, guided by God clearly, adopting Manasseh and Ephraim as his own sons. And because of that move, Manasseh and Ephraim are part of the tribes of Israel, and they have their own land when it comes to the promised land being conquered. When you come to first Chronicles, you see that we're gonna find out why.

God gives us the descendants, at least in part, of each of these tribes. And in chapter seven, halfway through, we encounter the tribe of Ephraim, and we read, in verse 20 concerning his descendants. Let's read together. Says here, the sons of Ephraim, Shethula and Berid his son, Tehath his son, Eliada his son, Tehath his son, Zabad his son, Shutula his son, and Ezra and Eliad whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed because they came down to raid their livestock. And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him.

You know, it's it's in these texts that we sometimes feel accomplished if we just read through it with our attention. But here we see this short story tucked into Ephraim's descendants that have giant truths. You're saying, well, what's the story? Well, here's the story. You have Ephraim and the names of his sons.

And at one point in Ephraim's life with his sons, there is this invasion of the Philistines, and they come for their livestock and kill some of his sons. And he clearly is affected by it as a father and he mourns. And you say, well, that's it. That's what the story is all about. It's not the details of the story in these verses that make it so impactful.

It is the background. It is understanding when this story happens that makes it so powerful. And so applicable to us. So this isn't just a random story. He he becomes intimate with his wife again.

And what happens? They they bear another son. So this is a story when Ephraim was still alive. So when did this happen? When did this whole thing happen?

Well, it happened in Egypt. It happened when Ephraim with his other brothers, or you can say uncles with the other tribes, were in a place called Goshen. And it's believed that Joseph was even still alive because Genesis tells us that Joseph even saw the the lives of his children's children. He was still alive when he saw his grandchildren, the very names that we just read here in first Chronicles. So this incident happened when Israel was in Goshen, when Joseph was probably still alive.

This is before the plagues came. This is before deliverance came from God to bring them out into the promised land. And I remember reading this just this past week and thinking to myself, wow. God, you've given us a story, a glimpse of what happened in Goshen, and it's not in Genesis. It's not early on in Exodus.

It's right here in the book of first Chronicles. And if you and I had chosen not to read first Chronicles, we would not have been able to give in the shot to see a story and a scene in Goshen that has so much truth for us. And so that's not just an interesting point. There's something to pull out of this for our lives. There's something so deep in this truth for us.

And I read this, and I see that there's at least three lessons that we can learn in this moment of Ephraim's life, in the background, in the context that this all happened, and why the Holy Spirit put this in this specific book, we will discover together. But just meditating upon this reading, I thought to myself, Lord, what are you trying to say with these two, three verses in this genealogy? And here's one truth at least. Number one, affliction can happen even in Goshen. Affliction can happen even in Goshen.

Now we know what Goshen symbolizes. Right? Again, Joseph was second in command, and he had this land selected, so that when his family would come from Canaan, they would be situated there, and they would be provided for. And that this would be the place where Israel would reside and then thrive until God in his prophetic timetable would say, it's time to leave Egypt and go into the promised land. This was the womb for the nation of Israel.

And so what Joseph does is he, because of the authority he has, organizes this place, and they come. And Joseph promised his family, I will provide for you here. And he did. This land was broad. This land was, fruitful, and and the people of God were fruitful in this land, so much so that they became a threat to all of Egypt at one point.

But this isn't about Joseph. This isn't a human thing. This is a God thing because we know that God sent Joseph. God sent Joseph providentially. He led him even through all those difficult circumstances to be planted in a place of authority.

So what? For what purpose? So that he can preserve his people so that the promise that he made to Abraham would come to fruition. And so Goshen is a symbol of God's providential care. Goshen is a symbol of the refuge that God provided for his people.

Goshen is a picture of the very location of God's will for those who would call be called by his name. And so Goshen is a haven. This is where God wanted them to be, and they were there. They trusted. They obeyed.

Even when Jacob was intimidated to go into Egypt, God, we see in Genesis, affirms them, go. Don't worry. This is my plan. But here's the thing. You read first Chronicles seven and you realize that even though they were in Goshen, even though they were in the center of God's will, a tragedy happened.

See, you can be in God's will. You can be exactly where God wants you to be. And still in that kind of a place, there can be an unforeseen disaster that can be soul crushing in the moment. You know, I read this and I thought to myself, lord, you brought the people of Israel to Goshen to preserve them from a famine. Could you have not preserved Ephraim's sons from dying in the same place?

And a lot of people of faith can relate to this short story because they themselves who followed Jesus wholeheartedly throughout the years have experienced his guidance, his leadership, his miraculous provision, answers to prayer. And seemingly out of nowhere, there comes a raid, an attack, an invasion, so to speak, on joy and peace and even on someone's life. How many Christians in their own families have experienced freak accidents? How many young children of Christian parents have been struck with a illness that is fatal? How many people even, like, times like this have been stripped of their resources and their stability in life?

And yet, Ephraim teaches us that you can still be in god's will and things not go as planned. You know, what's amazing is that Goshen, later on in Exodus, becomes a place in which God's, moving in wrath is contrasted to the blessing that he places upon this location. You read it throughout the plagues that God chooses to keep his hand upon Goshen so that all the other things that he would do around that land would stand as a testimony that my people are under my favor, and those who would be connected to me would avoid these tragedies that I'm about to bring on the earth. And so I read this again, and I think, Lord, this is this is gonna happen later on. You're gonna keep your hand on Goshen, and you're gonna you're gonna push back the flies, and you're gonna push back the hail, and you're gonna push back the darkness that will blanket the land for three days straight.

And I think to myself, Lord, if you could have pushed back so much in Goshen, could you have not pushed back these Philistines from killing his sons? And I think this would have been even more difficult for Ephraim himself to comprehend. Do you remember what happened to Ephraim as a young boy when Jacob was still alive? Joseph, Ephraim's dad, gets word that Jacob is getting ill, and he's soon about to die. So he takes Manasseh, his son, Ephraim, his son, and they come to Jacob, and he wants Jacob to bless his sons.

And when he comes, you see that Jacob blesses Ephraim as though he was the firstborn even though he wasn't. And and and Joseph is trying to correct. He's like, no. Maybe you're old. You can't see right.

This is Manasseh, and this is Ephraim. Put your right hand on Manasseh, and he goes, no. I know what I'm doing. And now look what Jacob says over Ephraim in Genesis forty eight nineteen. Pay attention here.

But his father refused and said, I know my son. I know. He shall also become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations. That was the prophetic word that the spirit of God declared over Ephraim.

From this young boy, as he grows up to be an old man, his descendants will be a sea of people. His descendants will be a multitude of nations. Fruitfulness was foreseen for Ephraim. An abundant of offspring would come from his seed. And this was a promise that was stamped upon Ephraim's destiny, so to speak.

And so here, this man has a personal assurance from God that from my own loins will come a great number of descendants. And here in first Chronicles, instead of this promise being manifested of greater descendants coming to fill the earth, you see his sons dying instead. You see lives being taken away from Ephraim. You see children being stripped away, and surely this man had this promise in his heart throughout his life. God promised me.

God assured me that there's gonna be many. And I'm not sure if Ephraim doubted in this moment. He surely grieved, but I'm not sure if he doubted. But if I was Ephraim and I had that promise made over my life and I experienced a tragedy like this, surely I would think at one point, lord, you told me. You told me that I would have many.

How is it that you're letting them die? Should not not there be favor upon my children? Shouldn't there be protection over my descendants? Instead, they're being raided and destroyed and killed? And I believe that many Christians, sincere Christians, who love Jesus, who follow him, who love his word to obey him, experience things in life when they look in his word and say, Lord, I'm trying to make sense.

I'm trying to connect the dots here. I see that obedience produces favor. I see that obedience produces blessing, and now this is happening in my life. How is this making sense? Am I not obeying you?

Am I not holding on to walking in faithfulness to you? Where's the answer to my prayer? Why is this pain so real in my life? And Ephraim testifies something to us. In this short story, we have to understand this, that even when we are where God wants us to be, we have to trust God even in the tragedies.

Though we are where God wants us to be, we have to trust him still even in the tragedies. Because affliction can still happen in the center of God's will. We can still be open to that. And unless we understand that God is in control, we will think that he is not a good God. We will think that he is uncommitted to us and uncommitted to his word more importantly.

So we have to understand that even being in the center of his will doesn't mean that we are immune to pain or suffering or sorrow because it happened to somebody who was in god's will. But I continue to read this, and I think to myself, lord, there's there's surely more than that in here, and there is. And I think it's not just affliction is possible in Goshen. I think that affliction were learned here that it should not be prolonged by us. Let's look here in verse 23 of first chronicles seven.

And Ephraim went into his wife, and she conceived and bore a son. And he called his name Bariah because disaster had befallen his house. So surely after this disaster occurred, nine months at least had passed. His wife conceives, and it could have been longer than that before they they had this child, but his wife finally conceives. And what an amazing story.

What a what a sign of hope. What a gift in Ephraim's life. Though a few of his sons were taken, God, even in Ephraim's old age, provided new life, had given a provision of of hope and joy and delight. And instead of Bariah becoming, a new chapter in this man's story, Ephraim chooses to do something that many people choose whether they realize it or not. And this is something that we should be careful of when we do face painful moments in our lives.

Ephraim looks at his son, and clearly with pain still in his heart of what happened to his former sons, he decides to name his son, Bariah. Now there are many opinions of what Bariah means, but one definition of this name is believed to mean disaster or calamity. Now think about that. And we're told in the bible it's because disaster had befallen his house. He chooses to make a relationship between the identity of the son and what happened many, many months and perhaps years ago.

Do you realize the implications of this? We read Bariah. We go, oh, that kinda sounds nice. No. In the Hebrew, it meant one of the definitions, at least disaster or calamity.

Can you imagine Ephraim calling his son for dinner? Hey, disaster, it's time to eat. Or his mother saying, disaster, it's time to go to bed. Disaster, it's time to get ready for school. Every time that they would just name the name of their son, Ephraim would resurface the pain and the moments of the past.

And what Ephraim has done here is what many people are tempted to do when something tragic happens to their lives. They choose to forever put it before them and not move past it. Is it unspiritual to grieve? No. Are you less faithful to God if you're in pain even for long seasons of life?

No. But the thing that we can do and trap ourselves in is when we choose to always bring it before us and never see past it or experience open ourselves to experience God's blessings, his joys, and his future promises and manifestations of his goodness towards us. I personally know people that have experienced tragedy in their lives, whether it's loss of a loved one, whether it's painful experiences, traumatic ones. And no matter how much they move on in years ahead, they are almost like a ball in a chain around their ankle. They can't seem to move on.

And not emotionally, it affects their decisions, their walk with the Lord, their trust in the Lord, their joy in the Lord. Trust all these different things are tainted because they they want to hold on to that. They can't seem to move past. And Ephraim, now with Bariah, has continually set it before him in his relationship with his son. He has identified the past to the point where it's affected his present and potentially his future.

People can do this, and it's a temptation to do it. And that is not going to help us. It's not gonna help anybody. This this wouldn't help Ephraim, and this wouldn't help his son. And this is what we have to understand concerning this aspect, that we have to make a choice even as those who follow Jesus wholeheartedly to choose to trust and push ourselves out of that place after we grieve appropriately.

I read of Ephraim, but I know his grandpa, Jacob. And Jacob is an example of how to do this the right way, because Jacob was not a man that was void of tragedies in his life. Jacob loved one of his wives, Rachel, with everything in his heart. She was the love of his life. He adored her.

He worked fourteen years for her. And Jacob, at one point, is moving back out of his uncle's house and is journeying back where god wants him to be, and Rachel conceives and is giving birth to a son. It wasn't Joseph. It was her second son, Benjamin. And the Bible tells us that Rachel died in giving birth.

It was a hard labor, but there's a specific scene there that is important for us to understand in light of this. It tells us here in Genesis thirty five seventeen, and her soul was departing for she was dying. Tells us while she was giving birth, her soul was departing for she was dying. She called his name Benoni, but his father called him Benjamin. So as she's giving birth, she knows that she's gonna die.

The people around her know she's gonna die. Her husband knows she's gonna die. And the pain was so deep, the sorrow was so real that she decides to call this boy Benoni, which means son of my sorrow. Son of my sorrow. This is the result of my pain and my own death.

And Jacob was there as as he heard the love of his life saying his name will be Benoni, son of my sorrow, he intruded. He intervened. And as much as he loved his wife, as much as he honored her, he says, no. He's gonna be named Benjamin, son of my right hand. Jacob refused to allow his son to forever carry the remembrance of the sorrow that his wife experienced and that he surely experienced as a husband.

He would not carry that with him throughout his life. He would not allow this identity to be stamped upon Benjamin so that whenever he would call upon Benjamin, he would remember the sorrow and the pain. No. He choose to to give him a name of hope and life instead. This was Jacob, not only for Benjamin's sake, but surely even for his own sake to say, I'm not going to live in the past.

I'm not gonna stay there. There's so much more ahead. This is still a gift. There's still life. There's still hope.

There's still testimonies to be happening here. And, again, so many genuine people who are tender towards the Lord continually walk with a dark cloud around them because of something that happened in the past that didn't go according to plan and they can't move on. We have to act in faith. We have to act in trust that God, even in tragedies, has something in the future. There's some good to come.

In fact, it leads us to our third point, that affliction should not be prolonged by us, yes, but affliction always, always, always will bear some fruit in our lives. This is the hope that we have as believers. You read a sad story of Ephraim. If you're a dad, you can imagine the pain of losing one or two or even three. It doesn't matter how many here are lost.

Just one is enough for you to grieve. He mourned. He grieved. He was in pain. But then he gives birth here to Bariah.

His wife conceives. And then from verse 24 down, you begin to see the descendants of Bariah. You begin to see the names that follow after this one is born. And what do you see? It says his daughter was Shearer, verse 24, who built both Lower and Upper Beth Horon, and Uzzan Shearer.

Repha was his son, Resheth his son, Teilah his son, Tahan his son, Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elashema his son. Verse 27, Nun his son. Joshua, his son. Yes. Joshua, the son of Nun.

Sound familiar? It is the same Joshua that would succeed Moses in leading the nation of Israel. Yes. It is the same Joshua that would conquer and lead as a captain the tribes of Israel to take the promised land. Yes.

It's the same Joshua who from his younger years until his dying breath stood faithful to the lord before all men. And, yes, it is the same Joshua who came forth from Berea, who was the fruit of even a tragic disastrous moment in Ephraim's life. Joshua was a descendant of Ephraim. And you and I read this story because we get the bird's eye view. Right?

We look at the story and we smile, and perhaps your heart even left for joy as those verses were read. And you go, God is amazing. Look at his providential leading. Look how he's able to maneuver and make something beautiful come from ashes. Gladness coming from sorrow.

Look at how amazing God is. You know why? It's because we're getting the full picture. We're seeing generations past. We know the story that Joshua carried, And now we're making the connection here.

Look at where he came from. Oh, if Ephraim only knew what would come as a result of this, and you and I get to rejoice. And here's the thing. The fact that this is in this kind of a place in the Bible, the genealogical record, giving us the the bigger picture tells us something. In the moment, we don't understand things.

In the moment, we don't see it. But when we zoom out like this text tells us to, when we look out, then we understand God's working. Then we see his moving. Then we see his plan. Then we see his ability.

It's in the bigger picture always. And that's the problem with us. We always have this horizontal view. We always we have this view of seeing it from a human perspective. And just like this, where you and I look outside of time, we look outside of the the the moment, then we understand the full painting that God is illustrating.

And it's the same for you and me. We don't get it in the moment. We don't see it right before us. But if we just trust that there's a bigger picture here, if we see that somehow something out of this is gonna be beautiful and fruitful and fragrant, then we can rest even in the moment. This is why it's here.

This is why God placed it here. It's like, I want you to see the bigger picture of even what happens in one person's life because they're in my will. Nothing is in vain. Your pain is not in vain. My pain is not in vain.

There's not one thing that happens in our life, good or bad, that is ever spoiled or not used or not considered by God in weaving the bigger picture for his glory through your life and mine. I wonder if Ephraim doesn't tell us he did, but I just I'm thinking. I wonder if Ephraim at any moment during this time forgot why he was called Ephraim, where his name came from. Remember, Ephraim was a son of Joseph, and Ephraim was born to Joseph in Egypt. And both Manasseh, which is the firstborn, and Ephraim were named as testimonies of the goodness of God in Joseph's life.

Was Joseph void and free from pain and sorrow and tragedy and trauma in his life? I wonder if there was a Joseph in our day, if they would be able to function right in society. Sold by brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused for rape, sent into prison, and then he rises up to be second in command. And when he has these two sons as a gift from God, he has one boy, and he names him Manasseh, and then he has another boy, names him Ephraim. And it tells us in Genesis forty one fifty two, the name of the second he called Ephraim.

Why? He says, for God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction. So Joseph says something about Ephraim. He goes, oh god, even despite all the pain, all the arrows that were shot at me, you still made me fruitful. And so he declares over Ephraim, this is the result that even when I am afflicted, God is still able to bring something beautiful out of it.

And I wonder if Ephraim at any moment thought, my father named me fruitful in light of my affliction. If God made him fruitful even in his affliction, surely God will make me fruitful in mine. It's not saying that he said that or thought that. I'm just trying to think I'm trying to get into Ephraim's head and think, did he ever think that for a moment? If he was if he was faithful to my father and his affliction and made him fruitful, will he make me fruitful?

Surely, he's the same god. And the name Ephraim was a hope to Joseph, was a testimony to Joseph. And surely, it was something that Ephraim should have leaned upon in his own life. But it's not just for Joseph, and it's not just for Ephraim. Ephraim is a is a declaration, is a promise, that is a timeless truth from the Bible concerning all who are children of God, That he is able to make us fruitful even in our affliction, in our pain, emotional pain, mental pain, tragedy, trauma, any level.

Affliction will never rob us of fruitfulness. In fact, it will make way for it. Reading this even last night, thinking to myself, I understand that God put this in here to see the bigger picture, but why in the book of first chronicles? This is a this is a story that probably should have been there in Genesis or Exodus. Somewhere where there's action that it makes sense.

In our record of genealogies, do we have this? Why in first Chronicles? I mean, look at the first eight chapters, and what do you see? Just name after name after name, the father of the father of the son of the son of the son of. What's the point?

Why did the Holy Spirit and his wisdom tuck it in here, placed in here? It's only when we understand the purpose of the book of first Chronicles do we understand why it's in here. It's believed that first and second Chronicles were the last books written in the Old Testament. And what these books have been given for is to a particular audience. Yes, we are that audience, but there is a specific direct audience.

Remember that the southern part of Israel was taken at one point into Babylon, were taken into exile because of their disobedience. And for decades, they would be in a foreign land. Their temple was destroyed. Some family members were destroyed. And after so many years, God finally made a way for the descendants, his descendants, his people to return back into the promised land.

But as much as they received the opportunity to go back, you can imagine that their heads would hang low. You can imagine the questions in their mind. You can imagine the doubts. And even when they rebuilt the temple, there wasn't that excitement like when Solomon did, that they looked at it and they thought, this was nothing like what Solomon did. And so there is this sense of shame and maybe even lack of faith and trust.

Maybe there is this overwhelming discouragement that they have been brought out of their land, and now they are kinda roaming. Now they're just kind of there. Now they're just they're unsure if God's favor is upon them. If if there is still the promises that he had from Abraham's day, if they will become this fruitful nation, if there is something that will that will be produced out of this. And so the the book of first Chronicles, the author wrote, inspired by the spirit, especially in the first eight chapters here.

He decides to write the records. He goes from Adam to Abraham, and he goes from Abraham to David. And what he does is he's he's tracing their history so that as they would read, they would realize their roots, and they would realize their heritage, and they would realize that God is for us, and and God has plans for us. And he goes to every tribe, and he shows them where they came from. And it's a it's just a surge of hope to say, do you realize where you come from, and do you realize that God is still your God?

That that's what they would read by reading this. They would know we are a people. We we have history, and we have a future. And so the Holy Spirit, in light of that, puts this story of affliction in one of these chapters. So those who would read experiencing so much pain, experience loss, would look at Ephraim's life, and they would say, he experienced loss.

He experienced tragedy. He experienced pain and hopelessness. But, oh, look, Bariah and, oh, look, none. Joshua. Oh, god.

Even in tragedy, you can make someone fruitful. Even in pain, even in question, even in doubt down the road, you can you can bring something about. And maybe they would look at each other and say, it's still possible for us. There's still something ahead for us. We can we can see something come from this.

And God would impart the faith and the hope as they were in this new season of life wondering if there was a future for them. That's why it's in there, and that's why it's there for you and me. That you and I would look at this story and look at our own lives and say, no matter what I see right now, god still has something. There's still fruit available. There's still testimonies ahead.

There's still something that god wants to do through my life even if something happened to my life. That's what I wanna encourage you with today. Don't ignore any part of the Bible. Oh, I can tell you this whole week, I was just floating because even after all these years and reading First Chronicles so many times and and and pushing through pushing through these names, It's amazing what the Holy Spirit will do. He'll let show something to you in a moment.

You think to yourself, lord, you speak. You speak still. That is something for you and me to hold on to, especially during these times. Fruit is coming. It's still available.

Whether it's in our lifetime or not, we don't know. We do our part and stay in the will of God and trust that he is sovereign. We've heard that week after week, he is sovereign. He's sovereign over Ephraim's life. He was sovereign over Joseph's life.

He was sovereign over Joshua, over the nation of Israel after so many years, and he will be sovereign over yours and mine. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the story in this part of the bible where we probably wouldn't find it, but we trust that every page, every verse, every chapter has something for us. And we ask now, Lord, that we would trust that your word has the same promise for us, that we can be fruitful even in affliction. And so, Lord, if there's anybody in any doubt, pain or sorrow, grief on any level, let them trust.

Let them not forever hold on to the past. Let them not bring the things that have caused them so much pain to remain before them, but let them trust even if I don't know how even if I don't know how God can make something come out of this. I believe you, Lord. I see what you've done in Ephraim, and I trust that you're gonna do it for me. We believe in you, Lord, and we love you.

We give you all of our faith and trust. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God bless you as you rest in that truth today.