Let God Be God

Let God Be God

Job Chapter 38-39

By Pastor Jim May

Right now there are many of you in the church who are facing some really tough times; some in the area of finances; some in the area of family relationships; some in the area of your relationship with the Lord; some in the area of physical health; and some of you might be facing all of these and even more. There are times in the life of a Christian when things just don’t seem to go all that well; and it is in the midst of those times that Satan tends to hit you the hardest.

We must never forget one thing – just because we love the Lord and we are doing our best to serve Him, does not guarantee that we will go through life without facing some really tough times. The only thing that we are guaranteed is that Jesus is there all the time and that He has already put the plans into action to deliver you from those tough times. Even so, it is really hard to go through the day to day pain, suffering and heartache and still keep the faith.

There comes a time in every one of us when we will begin to doubt God’s intention; we doubt His presence; we doubt His provision – in other words, we just don’t understand what’s going on or how what we are facing can possibly be for our good. How can a loving God; an all powerful God; and an all knowing God just stand aside and watch us suffer? Why doesn’t God do something about it right now? What’s He waiting on? What does He expect of me before the answer will come? God, Where Are YOU? I need you now, not tomorrow, or the next day, but right now! Why can’t I get the answer I need today? What are you waiting for?

Those that are suffering from sickness and disease are trying to believe God for their miracle of healing, but for some reason, it just isn’t happening, at least now the way we would want it to. God, I know you can, but I don’t know if you will; or when you will; if you will! Those that are having other kinds of troubles have the same questions too.

None of us doubt that we have a God that can do anything. We all know that the Word of God promises that all things will work together for our good if we will serve the Lord. But Lord, I’m holding up my end of the deal to the best of my ability; when are you going to move on my behalf? Am I the only one who has ever thought these things or questioned God? I think not! These thoughts are all part of the human condition. I don’t believe that any man will go through life without asking these questions of God at some time or another.

The disciples found themselves in a open boat, crossing the sea when a great storm arose and they thought that they were going to drown. When they went to find Jesus, He was sound asleep in the bottom of the ship. I can just imagine what went through their minds at that moment. Then we see them ask Jesus the same question; that embodies all of the questions that we have just spoken of in our own lives. The disciples asked Jesus “Don’t you care if we drown?” Of course Jesus cared; but He wasn’t concerned about the storm; only about whether the disciples would trust Him. He is the master of the seas. He commands the winds and the waves. He created the seas; put the weather into motion; and with a word of His mouth the storm was instantly over. Now that’s the kind of action we want to see every time, but Jesus has His time table and we have ours; and they seldom match perfectly.

The best example of a man under trials that we can find in the Bible is found in the story of Job. If ever there was a man who had the right to question God, it was Job. Let’s look at part of the story of Job and see what we can glean from it that might give us the courage to face the trial, no matter how hard it might get.

In Job chapters 38 and 39 we find God asking Job a lot of questions. In those two chapters we find God asking more questions of a man than anywhere else in the Bible. In those two chapters there are 59 questions that God asked of Job. The amazing thing is that Job could not answer even one of God’s questions.