All Alone With No Answer

ALL ALONE WITH NO ANSWER

JOB 2:11-13

INTRODUCTION: When you and I last checked in on Job he was all alone sitting in a pile of ashes. He had suffered finanicial ruin, family loss, physical pain, marital tension,yet Job has endured strong in his faith.

so where does the devil point his heaviest artillery? Where else? At Job relationships! Having failed to make progree in other areas of attack. the old schemer now shoots his big gun. three friends enter the ring. these three will manage to do what all of Job’s afflictions was unable to accomplish. like and weaving heavy weight fighters, they will wear him down round after rou d, wntil they leave this champion hanging on the ropes.

VERSE 11(READ)

Of course these three men came. Job was the most respected man in the community. His bankruptcy sent shock waves throughtout the entire land. everyone knew about it. this was front page stuff.

they were sincere

they were concerned.

they wanted to help.

thats how these three friends came. but with the best of intentions, they became instruments of satan to yield the final blow to job’s faith. strang, but those who love us the most can hurt us the deepest. they came to sympathize but stayed to antagonize job. they came to comfort, but stayed to confound.

verse 12(read)

job was so disfigured from the disease that they did not recognize him when they saw him. could this be their beloved friend, job? they expressed their grief for him in four ways. (1) they wailed in emotional shock. (2) they wept in sorrow. (3) they tore their robes in broken heartness. (4) they threw dust into the sky in deep grief. you didn’t express yourself this way in job’s day unless you truly loved someone. these guys reall loved job. (sort of)

verse 13(read)

they all sat on the ground, the friends observing job in silence for seven days. they were so horrified at his pain that words of sympathy escaped them. following thencustom of the day, they remained ouiet allowing the grieving person to speak first,little did they know the invisible war that being fought in the midst.

how do we escape the pit

like job we, too will find ourselves in fiery trails. how do we escape the pit? well I am glad t tell you, there are four things you and i must remember and do: (1)accept the gift of eternal hope;even through the heavy artillery has arrived and job is clearly discouraged, he had not given up to total despair or complete depression. curse god and die faith (how did he do it) he had eternal hope at lest for now job recognizes that problems don’t last forever. just prehaps he rests in the fact that god is a perfect god. just prehaps he trusts that god’s judgement is perfect and that his children are in his good hand. (2) remember god’s goodness=he doesn’t have a short memory. he realizes that althrough things look bleak now, god has always proved faithful. if job can remember what about you and i? why forget about all the blessings we received from god when trouble comes. shall we engage in some sort of purposseful cosmic amnesia(no!) if we are sincere about god we must remember that we are sincere because he first loved us and sent his only son to redeem us. (3) never forget that others have been where you are and have survived. job survived and if we know god we will survive, even if we become a casualty on earth! gods plan is to populate heaven with over comers. true survival depends on trusting and loving god. as gods foot soldiers on the front lines we are going to stand tall and be hit with the enemy’s fiery darts. (a) that means injury. (b)that means pains. (c) it may mean suffering or even death. but be assured god is not asking us to undergo such terror for no reason. our survival is in his hand (weeping may endure for a night). (4) know that its only temporary! it encourages me to know that i have survived some very difficult times. at forst it didn’t seem as if my storms would ever pass but in due time they did

as we leave job today we need to be realistic about where he is. certainly he’s still hopeful about his relationship with god. and his friends, so far are treating him with respect. but he’s dangerously close to depression. the only thing holding him up is his eternal prespective. what about you?

if you find yourself in a living hell remember that job survived. (the same god)

when you are in a living hell, you can count on a living hope. (jesus)

the world through me might be saved.