Experiencing God

EXPERIENCING GOD

JOB 42:1-6

WEEK 3

INTRODUCTION

1. I’m curious this morning about some of the things the Lord may have been speaking to you through His Word. Have you found yourself making observations and application the scriptures?

2. REPEAT:

a. Everyday with you Lord is sweeter then the day before!

SCRIPTURE

Job 42:1-6 (NIV)

1 Then Job replied to the LORD: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

MY EARS HAD HEARD OF YOU…

1. We have all heard that God created the heavens and the Earth

2. We have all heard that God caused a flood to come upon the Earth

3. We have all heard that God delivered slaves out of Egypt

4. We have all heard that God used a young boy to conquer a giant

5. We have all heard that God healed a man of blindness, cured another man of leprosy, stopped a woman’s twelve year bleeding disease, and brought the brother of two sisters back to life from the dead.

6. We have all heard that God calmed a storm

7. We have all heard that God cast out demons and made a man come to his right mind

8. We have all heard that God used a couple of loaves and a few fish to feed thousands of people, on more then one occasion I might add.

I HAVE HEARD OF…

1. George W Bush, but I have never meet him in person

2. Michael Jordan but I have never seem him

3. Mother Teresa but never seen her either

4. James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader)

5. I have heard of Pastor Jack Hayford, more then that I have actually met pastor Hayford, and even more then that I have read enough of his books, and listened to enough of his sermons, to say that I know him better then some of you – yet I don’t know him as well as those that are closest to him.

THERE WAS A CRITICAL CHANGE IN JOB’S LIFE.

1. 5 My ears had heard of you BUT NOW my eyes have seen you

2. He moved from a place of only having knowledge of who God was and what God was like, probably passed down from a previous generation, from the oral traditions of the day. This limited knowledge governed his life. He lived in fear of a good that brought judgment on the wicked and blessing on the righteous. His religion dictated that if we wanted to stay within the favor of God that he had to be righteous. His suffering and the death of his family and the loss of all his wealth rocked his world.

3. If Job had not went through this season of vulnerablility and brokeness then He would have been content to stay right where he was and continue to have a two dimemnsional view of who God is.

a. God no longer fit into his nice little box. For the first time Job could not understand God. His religion would not answer all the questions he had.

4. Illustration: A story is told of a Welsh woman who lived in a remote valley in Wales. She went to a great deal of trouble to have electrical power installed in her home. They noticed she didn’t use very much electricity at all. In fact, her usage was minuscule. They sent a meter reader out to check on the matter. The man came to the door and said, “We’ve looked at the amount recorded on your meter, don’t you use you electricity?” “Oh, yes,” she said. “We turn it on every night to see how to light our lamps and then we switch it off again.”

This sounds like the way the way many Christians apply the power of God in their lives. They use just enough of the bright light to maintain the dim light.

OBSERVATIONS

1. WHEN WE EXPERIENCE GOD WE HAVE A GREATER UNDERSTADING OF GOD (VERSE 2)

a. 2 “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.

i. Job recognizes in the smallest way the Sovereignty of God

ii. He recognized that nothing was out of the control of God.

b. God has also broken into his world. He finally got his wish, not for God to vindicate him, but to actually hear God.