I Need A God I Can't Understand

I NEED A GOD I CAN’T UNDERSTAND

A. Do you think you have God FIGURED OUT?

ILLUSTRATION:

In a heated discussion some years ago over a CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE, this individual arrogantly said, “I know what the TRUTH is on this matter, and God doesn’t ACCEPT anybody who believes DIFFERENTLY.”

Doesn’t it sound like to you that this person is implying that “whatever he LIKES God LIKES, and whatever he DISLIKES God DISLIKES”?

That was pretty much it. How do I know? I was the person who made that REMARK. I genuinely believed that I had ALL the RIGHT ANSWERS to every ISSUE. And if you BELIEVED differently, then you were on your way to HELL.

My problem was, I thought I had God all FIGURED out. I LIMITED Him to my understanding. God BELIEVED what I BELIEVED! He CONDEMNED whom I CONDEMNED!

It wasn’t until I was CHALLENGED by so many godly PREACHERS and Bible TEACHERS that I started taking a more SERIOUS and HONEST look at God’s Word, and soon came face-to-face with the REALIZATION that I was making myself EQUAL with God. I was DECIDING for God "what" and "who" He COULD and COULD NOT accept.

My BLATANT ARROGANCE literally SICKENED me. And to think how many people I’ve CONDEMNED over the years--how many have TURNED away from Christ because of my JUDGMENTAL, ARROGANT ATTITUDE having put God in a BOX and making DECISIONS for Him.

B. What I have learned over the last dozen or so years is that I NEED A GOD I CAN’T UNDERSTAND!

1. Isaiah 40:28- “God’s UNDERSTANDING, no one can

FATHOM.”

COMMENT:

That means that God can do things that I may not AGREE with, or even LIKE. He can ALLOW things to HAPPEN that I will never UNDERSTAND. He can ACCEPT people that I may never ACCEPT. I’ve painfully LEARNED that He’s GOD and I’m not--and aren’t you GLAD?

2. Our study will be taken from the book of Job this morning.

COMMENT:

Job was a man who came to the UNDERSTANDING that He didn’t UNDERSTAND God, and it HUMBLED him. He, along with His FRIENDS(so-called) thought they had God FIGURED out when it came to HUMAN SUFFERING.

His friends said one thing and Job said another. But both discovered that God was much more COMPLEX than what their FINITE MINDS could COMPREHEND.

3. I don’t think our FINITE MINDS, even with all of our SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY, can do any better, do you?

COMMENT:

We have put God in a BOX for far too long. God is FAR BIGGER than we can ever IMAGINE. He is an AWESOME GOD with AWESOME POWER.

MESSAGE:

I. LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT A MAN WHO THOUGHT HE HAD GOD FIGURED OUT

ILLUSTRATION:

We first find Job with everything going for him. He had everything that a man could possibly want on earth. He was RICH. He had a fine FAMILY. He had FRIENDS. He had his HEALTH. In fact, he even had an ENDORSEMENT from God who said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him; his is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil”- Job 1:8. (That’s a pretty good character reference.)

But then all of a sudden things begin to FALL APART. He lost his CHILDREN, his RICHES, and his HEALTH. Then he found out that his FRIENDS weren’t so good after all. They came to bring him COMFORT during

his LOSS and SICKNESS, but ended up pointing an ACCUSING FINGER telling him that God brought all of the CALAMITIES on him because of SIN. Job insisted that he had done nothing WRONG. Yet, he also believed that God brought all of these HARDSHIPS on him but for no JUST reason--and he began WALLOWING in SELF-PITY.

He and his friends ARGUED back and forth until finally Job became so FRUSTRATED that he said he would bring his CASE before Jehovah God. But then he realized what he said, and it SCARED the DAYLIGHTS out of him.

He quickly added that he would be TONGUE-TIED if he stood in the PRESENCE of Almighty God. But God heard him. And then God THUNDERED from the heavens and said, “Who is this who fills his mouth with WORDS

without KNOWLEDGE? Brace yourself and I will QUESTION you, and you shall answer me”- Job 38:2-3.

God then gave Job a POP TEST and asks him a series of QUESTIONS for him to ANSWER since he knew all there was to know about God. God asked Job about 43 questions and he couldn’t answer single one. He asked

questions like: “What holds up the world? Who decided how big the world would be? Who determined where the sea should stop and the land begin? Can you make morning come when you are ready? Can you make thunder and lightening, or cause the wind to blow in any direction? Can you change the stars in the sky or rearrange the constellations?”