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1:30I'm going to read to you a news report, and this will be painful for some of you who were here seven years ago. A man in Universal City died after a shootout with a home invasion suspect early Tuesday. Police say 51-year-old Michael Clayton Clay Robinson was at his home with his wife and two children when his wife heard a noise around 2:30 a.m. The wife initially heard a noise, looked out the window, and saw someone in the driveway she didn't recognize. Police say she woke up her husband, 51-year-old Clay Robinson, who grabbed his gun. By that time, the burglar was already in the house, and they were confronting each other outside the bedroom door. Robinson was hit once in the stomach. The suspect, identified as Jonathan Andrew Parales, was shot twice, once in the chest and once in the arm. He managed to run to another homeowner who let him in and call 911. The 18-year-old suspect woke up Kathy Carson and her family asking for help. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. Don't want to die, was all he was saying. Carson called 911 while keeping an eye on paralys until police and paramedics showed up.

3:11Neighbors say Robinson was a father to six kids. He was a wonderful, giving, good, church-going man. And those of you who knew him know that he was. Police say Robinson and Parales did not know each other. Both were taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center. Robinson died of his injuries. Paralysis expected to be okay. Tragedy. Three of those members of that family went to our church: Sarah, Aaron, and A-Rob. I think you all remember those who were here. It was a devastating moment. They had just celebrated Kat's birthday. They worshiped with us, went home, and this tragedy happened.

4:13I wouldn't have shared this story if the faith, at least of the kids that we knew here at this church, hadn't fared so well. But I share this because so much. Much of what's going to be thrown at people in tragedy is going to be a collision of the worst things you can imagine. You have it all in a tragedy. And this message tonight, and I thought I'd take some time to think through this: how do you comfort somebody who is experiencing this kind of loss?

5:01And really, how to comfort someone, including your own heart, when you are experiencing much lesser losses. Tonight we're talking about tragedy and how to deal and how to help people through such tragic situations. But at the same time, I want you to think about your own heart because you're going to experience a lot less than tragedy. And if you can counsel someone through, and maybe it's even yourself, maybe you've experienced this kind of tragedy, if you can counsel yourself through this, you can certainly counsel yourself through many lesser tragedies and disappointments in life.

5:57And so, when I'm talking about. A tragedy. I'm talking about a calamity, like I just read, a disastrous event that is marked by great loss, perhaps a lasting distress, incredible suffering, or anxieties. And so, when a person experiences something like this, it's like everything that we've been studying about in this heart study just kind of comes to bear in great force. There is elements of depression over the great loss, there's elements of anxiety, maybe over the future, because of the loss, life after the loss. So, there's depression, there's anxiety, there could be all kinds of issues of anger, unforgiveness, and sinning, and needing to repent in the process of all of this. It is a very difficult time. And so, certainly, what we've been saying about depression and anxiety are applicable to such circumstances. How do you overcome depression? Well, the little plan that I submitted to you from Psalm 119 was: you think thoughts that revive, you pray prayers that revive, and you make resolutions that revive. You need to do the same in tragedy. Also, the same issues of anxiety come. Into play. How do you overcome anxiety? Again, from Psalm 119, we looked at you fear God's disapproval above all other fears. You comfort yourself in God's sovereign goodness. You pray in light of God's sovereign goodness, and you delight and rest in God's sovereign goodness.

7:53But really, when you come to comforting people in times of tragedy, you're dealing with anxiety, you're dealing with depression, and really it's the verse, Romans 8:28 that really should come to mind. And it does. Romans 8:28 says this, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose. How do you become a minister of Romans 8, 28? It is the right message. It brings both of what we talked about, the fatherly care and the sovereign goodness of God into the situation. God is good. God is a father. God is sovereign. He is good, and he is always that. And that truth, that reality needs to come to bear. However, oftentimes, Romans 8, 28 is one of the very last things. That people want to hear when they're going through a tragedy. And they certainly don't want some upstart counselor barling in. Well, you know, we know that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord.

9:22But it is the truth that needs to be brought to bear. And yet, it's one of the last things people want to hear. So, how do you minister the truths of Romans 8:28 in tragic situations? How do you minister its truths to your own heart when you face the calamities of life, whether large or small? How do you bring this truth and set this truth in your heart and really trust that God is God and He is causing? And we know this, 8:28. We know, we certainly know it is ingrained. Paul says, we know that God causes all things to work collectively together. That's the word. They are coming together, they all are working together corporately, collectively, coming together for the good.

10:30Of God's people. So, tonight, I want to just give you four guidelines. And this is, I certainly do not have a corner on this market. I am learning. I remember that morning Nancy got in, Nancy and I drove over to San Antonio to minister to the family. What in the world do you say in a situation like that? Well, I want to give you four guidelines that have helped me minister or how to have a perspective on ministry in such situations so that you'll be able to counsel yourself and others in similar situations and lesser situations. So, I want to give you some basic guidelines to counsel people through the tragedy.

11:28First of all, you need to know and understand the temptation they are facing. You need to know what's at stake and what's going on. What is the temptation that they are facing in a time of tragedy? I'll tell you: the temptation that they're facing is to think and to act independently from God. They are being tempted to think independently. Of God and to act independently of God. It's their faith that's being tried. 1 Peter 5:8 says, This, be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

12:26He says, Listen, be sober, be clear-headed, be in a state of sobriety, clear thinking. Your enemy, be alert, be sober, be in a state of clear thinking and be on the alert. Y'all, it's the y'all. Be in a state, you plural. Everybody be on a state because your enemy, your collective enemy, your enemy, very personal enemy, your opponent, your opponent, your opponent, your opponent, my opponent, our opponent as believers in Christ. Very personal. Your opponent, the devil, the slanderer, the one who slanders God, the one who says in such situations, God is not good. Why would God allow this to happen? What kind of a God?

13:30Where was he? God, the slanderer. He is at work as a lion, and he is quick to tragic situations. He is quick there because there he's on the prowl, it says, like a roaring lion, walking around, prowling around, like a hungry lion ready to devour somebody. That's the temptation. Take matters into your hand. You remember, what does he devour? We don't have a literal lion that's going to show up and then pounce. What is it? We've got an enemy. He is called the devil here. He is called the enemy, the adversary, or the enemy, and he is the devil, the slanderer. What is he doing? He is seeking to destroy faith. That is what he's after. And what is to not have faith.

14:41What does it look like to act and to think independently, to think and to act independently of God? That's what a lack of faith is. So, you remember in Luke 4, you remember in Genesis 3. What was the devil doing there? Calling into question God's goodness, calling into question him, and seeking to devour, to break off, to get man to act independently from God. You remember when Jesus was tempted in Luke 4. You remember that in Luke 4:1, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted by the devil, and he ate nothing during those days. And when they had ended, he became hungry. And the devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. And Jesus answered, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone. Here comes the devil. And he says, Look at you, son of God. If you're the son of God, I mean, this shouldn't be you.

16:00Take matters into your own hand. That's the temptation that people are facing in tragic circumstances. He wants to destroy faith in God. He wants to get people thinking and acting independently of God. That's what he wants to get you to do in every depressing circumstance, no matter how large, how small. No matter what anxiety you are dealing with, what he is about is to get you thinking and acting independently of God. Peter goes on to say, but resist him. Firm in your faith. Firm in your faith. Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you into his eternal glory in Christ, will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. So that's what they're facing. That's what they're facing. And just before 1 Peter 5:8, Peter says this, Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on him. Cast all your anxiety on him. That's really what it means to humble yourself, by the way. If you hold on to your anxieties, you are a proud person.

17:441 Peter 5:6, humble yourself. And how do you humble yourself? Cast all your anxieties, all your fears on him. Why? Because he cares for you. But that's what's at stake, faith. You need to help people resist him, resist the opponent, staying firm in the faith. That's the temptation. That's what's at stake. Second guideline: expose the root problem. Do not be afraid to expose the root problem. And what I mean, you know, I just was talking about being vigilant, watching. A lot of times when you step into a situation like I just described, there aren't words to say. You're watching. I think Jesus wanted his disciples to watch and pray. I don't think there was anything he expected them to really do or say, but just to go through the trial with him. I don't think I said a whole lot of words that day, and we spent a lot of time over with the family grieving, but we were there watching and praying.

19:17But don't be afraid to expose the root problem. In fact, graciously, you know, and counseling in a situation like this, it may not. All happen in the first 15 minutes. It may not happen in the first four hours. It may not take place in the first week. It may not take place in the first year. When somebody hits, is hit by a tragedy like this. It takes time to process. You are there for the long haul to love, to watch, to pray, and to be there knowing the temptation they are facing and to help them remain firm in their faith toward God.

20:09I don't feel like I had to do a whole lot. The faith of the family that I described, at least with the kids, they were strong. In fact, a Rob, Aaron, who was going to the church here at the time, actually in the trial, when this 18-year-old boy stood trial, having killed his father, Aaron was able to announce in the courtroom, I forgive you. I forgive you. God has forgiven me. I forgive you. And he, and this young man had. Repented, by the way. He hadn't asked for forgiveness. And what Aaron did was an act, a beautiful act. I release you. I'm not going to hold this against you. You need to turn your heart to God, as I have.

21:18So I didn't have to do much. Watched and prayed. But don't be afraid to expose the root problem. And what I mean by that, gracious, lovingly, or however you might hear something like this: Why would God do this to me? Why would this happen? Well, friend, we live in a fallen world. Sin, death, and decay. God said this is exactly what would follow if you act independently. If you break my law, Adam, let me tell you what's going to happen.

22:06And it was the horror of humanity acting independently of God that has brought about the misery in the world. That's the horror. When we all live for ourselves, live as if we are God. That is the horror that brought about the tragedy in the first place. That's the root problem. It's not God. It's sin. And it's a world under a curse, death, and decay. It's not God. This is the result of sin and the fall. God was right. We should listen to him.

22:52And yet, it's in those tempting situations that this can be really a strong act. Curse God and die, said Job's lovely wife. That's the real problem. Acting independently of God, it leads to separation from God. You remember in Deuteronomy 6:16, the word says this, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test as you tested him at Masa. And he named, and then in Exodus 17:7, it says, He named the place Masa and Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel and because they tested the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not? Is the Lord among us or not? That's the temptation. That's the question.

23:58When faced with. Stressing situations, one can either trust God or test God. And you're there to help people, to remind people. You are there in many ways. Sometimes you don't even get a chance to say anything, or you should be slow to speak, and things like that. Reaffirming your love for them, reaffirming God's goodness, reaffirming God's faithfulness. In fact, you have a beautiful psalm, Psalm 91. It's about trusting God in the wildernesses of life. There are going to be wildernesses of life. We live in a fallen world. You are going to have wildernesses. You're going to have affliction. You're going to have stressing circumstances. Why? Because we live in a fallen world.

24:54The solution is found in God. Psalm 91 says this: Verse 1: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. That's the message of Psalm 91. I will say, I'm dwelling in the shelter of the Most High. Why? Because I need a shelter from what's raining down on me. What does That looks like, my God, in whom I trust.

25:35Psalm 91, 14 goes on to say, Because he has loved me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him securely on high because he has known my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him, and I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see my salvation. See what happens when you trust God in these wildernesses? There's a promise here.

26:11I will let him see my salvation. There is a way out. And oftentimes, it's right through it with God. So, exposing the root problem. There's a horror that comes from acting independently of God, and there's the rightness of God's judgment upon it. We forsake God and we reap a world of corruption, and that world is judged, it's right. So, the root problem is defection from God. Don't Be afraid to expose it graciously, lovingly, however, and in time and at the right time, keep coming back that the real problem isn't God.

27:16Problems in us, in man, in a fallen world. Third, a guideline: remind people of the goodness of God. That's how you counsel people. Ultimately, relief and comfort in life comes out of the character of God. It's His nature that's the good news. It's His nature that gives us comfort and relief. It's His character, His attributes, and His promises. We could do a whole semester study on the attributes of God, and I love those studies. A.W. Pink has a great one on the nature of God. Would love for maybe the men of this church. Let's go through the attributes of God sometime and just love how He lays it out or anyone.

28:19But one of His attributes is the goodness of God. Talk about the attributes of God. And I have way too many that we could even talk about tonight. But I'll just give you a couple of them. The goodness of God, the goodness of God. We've already looked at this as it relates to God is good, He is sovereign, and why this is important to deal with our anxieties and fears. 1 John 1:5 says, This: This is the message we have heard from Him and announced to you that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

29:01There's absolute perfection in God's nature. Nothing is wanting, nothing is lacking, nothing is defective, nothing can be added, and nothing can make it better. He is perfectly good. Thomas Matdon said it like this: Puritan. He is originally good, good of himself, which nothing else is. For all creatures are good only by participation and communication from God. He is essentially good, not only good, but goodness itself. The creature's good is a superadded quality. In God, it is his very essence.

30:00He is infinitely good. The creature's good is only but a drop. But in God, there is an infinite ocean or gathering together of good. He is eternally good. He is unchangeably good. For he cannot be less good than he is, and there can be no addition made to him, no subtraction from him. End quote. He is good. Looked at this already. Psalm 119:68. You remember the psalmist said this: You are good and you do good. You are the essence of good.

30:44You are the supply of good. You are good itself, and you do good. There is no other alternative. What is your view of God? Do you believe he's good? God has an infinite and inexhaustible treasure of goodness and blessedness, enough to fill everything completely, totally, and overflowing. Love what A.W. Pink says here: all that emanates from God, His decrees, His creation, His laws, his providences cannot be otherwise than good. All of our circumstances that come. God is the good there in all. It doesn't mean all of our circumstances are good. It doesn't mean that we're not sinned against. God is not the author of sin or anything. But he does use all of these things for the good of his people. Another attribute of God worth mentioning here is the faithfulness of God. We see the goodness of God, but it's he's faithful, which means he is faithfully good all the time.

32:21You know, unfaithfulness is really one of the most outstanding sins of our times, isn't it? Unfaithfulness. Infidelity in the business world. Infidelity in the marriage union. Infidelity even in the church setting. Infidelity among pastors. Those who are covenanted to preach, to embody the things they preach. Us in this room have probably gotten by this far in life without feeling the pain of being the recipient of someone being unfaithful or unloyal, disloyal. I don't think any one of us have gotten this far in life who hasn't been disloyal at some level in some relationship. And so when we start talking about the faithfulness of God, how wonderful it is for us to be able to look up out of the crowd and the masses of infidelity and look to this blessed, beautiful scene of one who is faithful always, perfectly faithful, all things, in all things, in all his doing.

34:00Deuteronomy 7:9 says this, Know, therefore, that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God. Let that get in your mind. Know, put this in your mind about God. No, Deuteronomy 7:9, know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful one. He is God, and He is the faithful. One. It is essential to his being, the essence of who he is. So for God to be unfaithful would be contrary to his nature. He is faithful to everyone. He is faithful to all that he has said, all that he has promised. Whatever that may be, he is faithful. Whether you're friend or foe, he is faithful to do exactly all that he says.

35:08He is faithful. But listen to this comfort to God's people. 2 Timothy 2:13. If we are faithless, guess what? He remains faithful. For he cannot deny himself. Even if we're faithless, he's still faithful to us. Why? Because it's part of his essential being. Well, you weren't faithful to me, so I'm not going to be faithful to you. He is permanently faithful because he cannot deny himself. It's one of the glorious beauties of who he is. This is why we are to look up and see God and be taken in by his beauty and his splendor. And his goodness, all of his attributes are like they're the perfection of being.

36:12Psalm 36:5 says, This, Your loving kindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your loving kindness extends to the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches the skies. Again, we'll quote A.W. Pink: Far above all finite comprehension is the unchangeable faithfulness of God. Everything about God is great, vast, incomparable. He never forgets, never fails, never falters, never forfeits his word. To every declaration of promise or prophecy, the Lord has exactly adhered. Every engagement of covenant or threatening, he will make good. End quote. He is faithful to his word.

37:12And let that, in one sense, put a little fear in your heart, the good kind, that kind of fear that wants to fear him above all other anxieties. Let the fear of God. Consume all your other fears. Numbers 23, 19 says this, God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make good? In other words, Numbers is saying, look, God is not a liar. What he says, he's going to do.

38:09He will make it good. Everything he said, he is not like man. He's not going to change his mind. He's not going to turn back. He doesn't lie. He will do exactly what he says he will do. He will make good on it all. And that brings into view, like we could spend the evening talking more about his attributes, but that brings into view his promises. And settle this in your heart. What he has spoken, he will make good on. Let this faith be in your heart. This trust in him. We can trust in all that he has promised. Why? Because he is faithful to do exactly what he has said. Just give you a sampling. I know we're. Limited on time, so I'm just going to.

39:04But a sampling of these promises. If you're unsure whether God will accept you, I hear a lot of people saying, well, I know that's good for them, but I don't know if that's good for me. Listen to John 6, 37, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out. That's a promise. What if you're feeling guilty about sins, and you know you're a sinner?

39:37You keep falling into some things. 1 John 1:9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You just keep repenting, keep confessing. You'll cleanse. What if you're feeling alone? Hebrews 13, 5. He himself has said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. What if you've been widowed? What if you are orphaned? What if you're a foreigner in this land? Deuteronomy 10, 18, he executes justice for the orphaned, the widow, and shows his love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.

40:30Is mindful. If you're worried about provision, do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? What shall we drink? For your heavenly Father knows you need all of these things. Seek the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. To the weary, whether mentally, physically, spiritually, to the exhausted, he says this, Matthew 11, 28, Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me. I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. It's a promise.

41:23Abundant life. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10, 10. There's the promise of heaven. John 14:1, Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

41:56Promise from the faithful God, these. Things are true, true, true, and fully deserving of trust. Fourth guideline: help people relocate their glory. Number one, tragic circumstances, know the temptation people are facing, expose the root problem, remind people of the goodness of God, and help people relocate their glory. That's an expression that I borrowed from Tim Keller: help people relocate or relocate their glory. Looking back at Romans 8:28, where we started, and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also be predestined to be conformed to the image of his son.

43:02Stop for a minute. If you keep reading there, after Romans 8:28, we quote that one a lot, but then we don't go and really take in what 29 is saying. The one he foreloves, the one he loves the most, he has predestined to be conformed into the image of his son. Same word. It means to have the same form as, to be similar, to have the same nature, to be, and not in his godness, of course, he's God, we'll always be creature, but in his perfected humanness, humanity.

43:48That's what he has for you, for me, to be conformed to the image of his Son. You know what God's best gift to us is? Our humanity in perfect likeness to his son. Christ's likeness is the best gift. That is what he is most excited about to give you. He is the infinitely good God, the infinitely faithful God. And so he, what does he want? He wants you to be that perfect human being just like his son.

44:36And he's going to accomplish that. That is his best gift. Likeness to everything that is noble and good. It's your humanity that he is giving you, and a humanity whose character is like Jesus Christ, his Son. That's his best gift. And so conformity to the Son is God's goodness in action. Conforming you, chipping you away, bringing you into conformity with his Son is the goodness of God in action. 1 Corinthians 1:9, God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with his Son. He is faithful, and he's putting you in fellowship with his Son.

45:37Pink again says this: God is faithful in disciplining his people, he is faithful in what he withholds, no less than what he gives. He is faithful in sending sorrow as well as in giving joy. You see, God's goal for us is likeness to Christ. And sometimes, affliction is part of that. Psalm 119, we read it last time in 67. The psalmist said, Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. There was something that happened in that crucible of sorrow. Tragedy that galvanized his soul to God. Psalm 119:75, he says, I know, O Lord, that your judgments are good, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.

46:49You see, afflictions are necessary for us. And so, God, in these situations, tragic situations, oftentimes God wants people to just walk right through them with him. God is honored when you face great afflictions, when you face difficult trials, and when you face tragedy of all kinds, he is honored, he is glorified when you think good thoughts of him, when you trust his wisdom, even though like I have no idea what's going on around me, but I recognize your love. I cannot go from it.

47:55But God is honored when we think good thoughts. About him through these tragic situations of life. Well, like I said, I feel like I, with the case involving the Robinsons, I didn't feel like I was able to say a whole lot, but I was there watching, knew the temptation they were facing. Reminded that it was not God who pulled the trigger, it was a young, sinful young man, lost as all get out. I didn't have to say much because I never will forget the testimony of Aaron Robinson, who understood God's goodness and could preach it, not only counsel his heart, but be a living witness to the forgiveness and glory of God.

49:06You see, help people relocate their glory. We're about honoring and exemplifying God, and sometimes the best place for that to happen is in the middle of great trial. That's where the metal is tested, and that's where he. Is glorified. Well, that's all I have. And this isn't the final statement on it, but this is what I have learned as I have dealt with this. Any questions or thoughts I want to add to? Yes, sir. When you were talking about afflictions changing us for good, I thought about Hebrews 3:10 and bringing many sons and daughters to glory, and it's fitting that God for him and through whom everything exists should make them have time or their salvation perfect through what he suffered.

50:18So, Christ's likeness, Christ himself was perfected through suffering, and he had suffering in the place for him and overcame. And so we are in fellowship with him. That's who we're in fellowship with. And I think that's why James can even say, consider it joy. Even go as far as say, be joyful. Good. Thank you for that. Yes, sir. Knowing that scripture can be the anecdote to somebody's grief or suffering, any practical tips on being able to give it when Jeremiah 23 says that sometimes God's word is like fire or like a hammer that shattered the wall.

51:07Yeah, I would say when your counsel really needs to fit the setting, if you have a grieving and broken spirit, you minister very differently than if you have an obstinate, hard-hearted, loudmouth and you would definitely expose, that's why I was saying, expose the root problem. Sometimes that's gently. Sometimes it's with the hammer. And so, but it's you want the truth and you want to get there as graciously as possible, but you want to expose the problem. The root problem, the problem isn't God.

52:04Something else. Yes, ma'am. Yeah, I was just going to say that for us, Isaiah 55, 89, we're really companies act and strategy. Our daughter, Bridget, was three months old, and she died, right? God gave me the first and then my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither am I being through ways, declares the Lord as the heavens are higher than the earth. So are my ways better than I, your ways, and my thoughts, and your thoughts. So God has noise where the lighting is here, and he sees a way bigger than I have.

52:44Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Beautiful verse. All right, well, let me close this out. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this evening and help us, Father, as we leave here to be better equipped to minister to those who are going through tragedy and also, Father, how we can minister to our own hearts and understand the dynamics that are at play even in our own lives and hearts and minds, even when we face much less than tragedy. Father, we're very susceptible to calling into question your goodness to think and act independently of you. Forgive us, Lord, for all those times and help us, Father, to shepherd our own heart according to your word and to be an influence that would cause others to remain faithful to you. We thank you, rely upon your Spirit to do it all in us and through us for your glory in Christ's name. Amen.