Trusting God In A Time Of Trouble
Job 13:15
15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:
Sometimes a preacher will find one of those sermons that is just absolutely inspirational.
It will move you and stir something inside of you to be all you can for Jesus.
Every once in a while he will find one of those passages that is just rip roaring rip snorting.
And he will rare back and do everything but spit his tonsils to the back wall.
I like that kind of preaching. I enjoy that.
Sometimes a preacher will take a text and come and try to encourage somebody to keep going and not to bail out on God and not to stop serving Him,
And then sometimes you will take a text like we just read and you just come to pastor people.
Sometimes you take a verse out the word of God and bring a thought to the pulpit because you know the mood and condition of the congregation.
And that is all I have done this morning.
Because I know that, there are a lot of people in this place this morning that are going through the fire.
They are going through brokenness / loneliness, and discouragement.
They have faced some things this week or recently that was absolutely devastating to them.
So I want to do everything I can this morning just to be their Pastor.
Now that doesn’t mean that I ain’t going to rare back and do all I can to preach.
From this verse I want to preach for just a little while today on this thought.
Trusting God In A Time Of Trouble
When God is all you’ve got. He is all you need.
Don’t ever forget that.
Here before us we study the man by the name of Job.
Job is not remembered for his TRIUMPHS.
He is remembered for his TRIALS .
It seems like when there are difficulties in the life of the believers that God always reminds us of the book of Job.
And can I say that Job is not a fairy tale. He is not some fake fictitious figure of the past.
Job was a real man. That lived in a real world. That faced real problems and fought a real devil. Job was a man of flesh and bone just like you and I.
He faced problems and storms and great difficulty in his life.
But Job said in the midst of his storm in the midst of his battle “I will trust in Him”
Aren’t you glad today that we have somebody that we can lean on and look too and listen for in the days of trouble in our life?
If you study the book of Job you will find that there are five things that happened in his life.
You’ll Find that:
Disaster Took His Fortune – In 1 24 hr period Job lost everything that he had ever worked for his entire life. In one day it was all gone.
I have learned along the way that it does not pay to trust in material things because you can loose them in a flash, you can loose them in a moment.
I believe that we would all do well to say with the song writer that “my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ Blood and righteousness”.
Praise God that is something that affliction and the storm and the winds of adversity can not strip from the Child of God.
My Salvation and my position in Jesus Christ that is off limits to the world and the flesh and to the devil. (I can loose my STUFF / But I can never loose my soul)
Disease Tortured His Flesh – He broke out in boils and he began to suffer from a physical standpoint.
I heard a man say that other day that if you are saved and are filled with the Holy Ghost that you will never have a headache. I thought to myself how in the world is a man going to be married to a woman and never have a headache. (Can I get a witness)
He said that if you are saved and in the will of God that you would never have the flu.
Can I just tell you today that being Saved and Sanctified does not exempt you from pain or suffering.
These bodies are not made to last forever in fact the great Apostle Paul said “though the outward man perisheth the inward man is renewed day by day”
Some of greatest Christians I know and have known have had to go through the valley of suffering.
Death Touched His Family – Job knew what it was like to stand by the grave of not one but 10 of his most precious family members.
There are people in here today that you have had to go to the funeral home you know what it is like to stand at the graveside of someone you love.
Most of the time that is when the devil will come to you and say where is your God.
If He really loved you if He really cared about you He would not have allowed this to happen in your life.
But aren’t you glad that we that are saved we know Somebody.
Who can bring hope to what seems to be a hopeless situation.
One of His titles is I Am the Resurrection and the Life.
I glad that for a Child of God that death is not the end but it is only Good-bye for just a little while.
Because we know that because He Lives we will too.
Deceit Turned His Friends – Can you imagine loosing everything you had then on top of you’re your so called friends come by a instead of saying God Bless you brother or we are praying for you brother they just criticized him by saying:
“Job you the reason you are going through this is you must just not be right with God.”
Job’s own wife even said why don’t you just go ahead and curse God and die and get it over with.
No doubt there are people in this room today that you’ve had to go through that valley where deceit turned your so-called friends.
You know what it is like to have a loved one or a friend let you down or do you wrong.
But aren’t you glad that we that are saved and are washed in the Blood of Christ that we have a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
He will never turn against you, He will always be there, He will Never let you down.
He is everything that He ever claimed to be and a whole lot more.
There is One thing that did not happen:
The devil did not destroy his faith – The devil said to God “You just watch what he does”
“ I’ll take everything that he has got, I will put him in the ashes and he will curse you to your face.”
Oh was the devil ever a liar.
Job received one bad news after another and the devil said OK just watch him, he about to have himself a cussing fit and turn away from God.
But instead Job rent his mantle, shaved his head, fell down on the ground and started worshipping and praising God.
The Bible says in Job 1:22 In all of this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
He stayed with God and God stayed with him.
He did Right when everything went WRONG.
And when God was all that he had. God was enough.
I am trying to tell you that we can trust God in the time of trouble.
I believe that Job 13:15 was the secret, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him
Job was says “If it kills me / If I die in this ash heap /
if I never make it out of this storm and this trial alive “yet will I trust in God”.
Aren’t you glad you serve a God that is Trustworthy ,
He Dependable you can count on God He will always be there.
Let’s look at three things that Job could trust in God in a Time of Trouble.
I. Job Trusted In God’s Divine Power Job 19:25
I like what Job said in Chapter 19.
v. 24. Job said what I am going to say is so important somebody needs take an iron pen and engrave it into the side of a rock.
And what does he say. ( He says a whole lot in these seven words.
Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer liveth.
He did not say I know that HIS redeemer or HER redeemer THEIR redeemer liveth.
But he said I know that MY REDEEMER LIVETH.
Aren’t you glad this relationship between you and Jesus Christ it’s ONE on ONE it is a personal experience.
He’s MY LORD MY SHEPHERD I’m His / He is Mine
Job says I KNOW that MY Redeemer Liveth
He did not say I HOPE / I THINK / I SUPPOSE
He said I KNOW that my Redeemer liveth.
Aren’t you glad that this Salvation that you and I have received by the gift of GRACE is a KNOW SO experience.
We don’t have to HOPE / THINK / we don’t carry Four leaf clovers or a rabbits foot around.
We know He is our redeemer.
This was thousands of years before Calvary.
But Job is already looking through the telescope of faith saying somebody is going to pay my price.
Somebody is going to redeem me back to God.
And I know that my redeemer liveth.
I am glad that the storms, troubles and the trials in life does not take away our redemption and our salvation.
I am glad that we that are saved and washed in the Blood and on our way to Heaven and it does not matter what happens in this life between here and Glory.
I love what Job says in verse 25 I Know my Redeemer LIVETH.
This trial did not kill God.
This STORM in Job’s life did not cause God to cease to exist.
Job says He’s ALIVE.
I like that ending ETH – It means right now with continuous action.
It means that He lives and He never stops living. He is alive today and forever.
I want to tell you that when the bottom falls out in our life and when the storm comes and the lightening flashes and the thunder rolls
we have a Redeemer that has conquered the devil / death / hell / grave and He lives on high to make intersession for the saints of God.
We have somebody that’s ALIVE and that we can trust in the midst of the storm.
If God was dead He could not help me
If God was dead He could not Hear my prayer
If God was dead He could not intervene and turn may situation around.
But I serve a LIVING Savior.
He is in the world today / And I know that He is Living / whatever men may say / I’ve seen His hand of Mercy / And I hear His voice of cheer / and just the time I need Him / He’s always hear /
He Lives He Lives / Christ Jesus Lives Today / He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way / He Lives He Lives salvation to impart / you ask me how I know He lives / He Lives within my heart.
I have Somebody ABOVE ME / BENEATH ME / BEFORE ME / BEHIND ME / BESIDE ME / AND IN ME.
He is a LIVING SAVIOR a LIVING REDEEMER / and you can trust Him in a time of trouble.
He trusted in God’s Devine POWER.
II. Job Trusted In God’s Definite Purpose Job 23:10
“He knoweth the way that I take”
I like to look at it like this.
Chapter 19 he says I Know Him
Chapter 23 he says He Knows Me.
In 23 he says I may not always know where He is
But He always knows where I am.
Job 23:10 “He knoweth the way that I take”
There is that ETH again – That means that He knows right now
And He going to keep on knowing.
And that little word KNOW means more that just knowledge.
It means – Personal experience –to be in touch- to be acquainted – to be involved in ones life.
I want to tell you He is acquainted with me / aware of me / in touch with me /
For we have not a great high priest which is past into the heavens which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
He knows: Who I am / What I am / What I need / He knows the way that I take.
He not only Knows but He cares
He not only cares but He is able.
He’s not only able He’s willing.
Job 23:10 “He knoweth the way that I take and when He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold.
God knows how to dig for the gold in our lives.
When the devil comes at you with temptation he has designed it to bring out the worst in you.
But when God comes by with trials He has designed it to bring out the best in you.
Someone says that the Lord put me through this to find out what I was made out of.
I got news for you He knew what you were made out of before you ever went through that storm.
He wanted you to know what you are made out of.
Someone says the Lord put me through that trial to see whether I really LOVED Him or not.
No He allowed you to go through that to let you see whether you really LOVED Him or not.
Job said right now I am in the pressure cooker / I am being hit from every side and I don’t understand and I don’t have all of the answers .
But there is one thing that I can take to the bank and that is that I am sure that He knows what He is doing and He knows what I need and when it is over I shall come forth like gold.
God’s got a purpose and He will never get detoured from His purpose.
I do not believe in luck or happenstance.
I don’t live guided by my horoscope.
I live each day guided by the unseen providential hand of a Sovereign God and when He gets finished with me I shall come forth as gold because He has a purpose in my life.
I may not always like what it take to get me there.
I don’t like to eat raw flour / raw eggs /raw chocolate syrup / slab butter
But I sure to like Chocolate cake
And you’ve got to have the Flour / Eggs / lard / butter / syrup to bake the cake.
See it’s when you take each one of those things and start mixing them together at just the right portions at just the right time you get Chocolate cake.
What I am saying is that when you step into the Romans 8:28 world and apply that same principle.
All thing work together for good to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose
That just means that when you are going through it and you are getting the flour out of your eyes and the lard out of your mouth and the buttermilk off of your head
just lick your tongue and say God must be making Himself a Chocolate cake.
When you are going through it just trust God’s definite purpose in your life.
III. Job Trusted in God’s Delightful Promise Job 19:25,26
25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Job was not so overwhelmed with problems at hand that he forgot about the Promised Land.
Job looked beyond the veil of suffering
Job looked beyond the veil of tears
And he saw a better day and a better world a better promise.
Job said I am getting out of this cursed body
Job said I am getting out of this storm.
I am going to my new home / I will see my Redeemer
Aren’t you glad that this isn’t all there is for the child of God but that it gets better farther on down the road.
ILL: Old Maid with cancer/ Fly on air plane and fly to NY. Drew out here saving / took limousine to the hotel / signed in / Got on the elevator / no pictures / no carpet / no bed.
She said you mean that this is all there is too it / Maam don’t cry you are just on the elevator.
What you have been waiting for is up there.
Sometimes the devil tries to rub our nose in the ground / you are a failure I’ve won / don’t cry / we are just on the elevator.
What we have been waiting for is up there.
