To begin - Sing “It is well with my soul” then Play 99 balloons video http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv/singles/570/99-Balloons
I wonder if after watching this video that we can still sing “It is well with my soul.”
Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. – Job 1:20-22
We live in an imperfect world with imperfect people, where tragedy strikes and loss is felt as commonly as the breeze. Just watch the news – murder, rape, and child molestation – death. During these times it is difficult to seek God face or even follow Him at all.
Why we ask: is suffering allowed, pain, poverty, war, hunger, abuse…the list goes on and on.
The fact of the matter is that sometimes God just doesn’t make sense to us. What do we do in those times? The first thing that we should do when God doesn’t make sense is…
• Accept that we live in a fallen world
In Genesis 1-2, God created the heavens and the earth, the planets and stars, animals and every plant and the scriptures says that He saw that it was good, pleasant, and desirable. Then God created man from the dust of the ground and when He saw that man needed a companion, He created woman from one of Adam’s ribs.
Let me point out that the rib was not taken form man’s head so that he could rule over her and be her task master; not from his foot that he could trample her under his feet but from man’s side, close to his heart so that he might love her and cherish her; from under his arm that he might protect her. Then in Genesis 3 sin is introduced to the world and it spread like a cancer. The curse of sin! We now live in a fallen world that is NOT the way that God intended it to be.
Katrina/Tsunami/Earthquakes – Disasters, called natural. Experts say they are caused by El Nino, global warming but I say to you that the earth is sick with the curse of sin. These disasters plague the earth as we see in the book of Job…
While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!" – Job 1:18-19
911 – Men hating men. The bible describes men with this kind of heart - “Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.” – Is. 59:7
We need to remember that we live in a fallen world. When God doesn’t make sense we need to…
• Rely on our faith in God
Scripture says that Job was a perfect man – not sinless but that he was righteous. In spite of his righteousness, in spite of his godly perfection in an instant Job lost everything – everything that meant anything to him.
Yet Job responded to God in trust. I’m not saying that it would be easy because it never is but we learn from Job that fully relying on God, depending on Him is of paramount importance because when everything is gone all we have left is our faith.
God is sovereign! That means that He has absolute authority. He never has to ask my permission for things to happen. Sovereign means that God has complete and absolute authority. He doesn’t have to ask my permission for things to happen. He does what He wills for the sole purpose of His glory; for a purpose that we may never know on this side of heaven. But make no mistake that the One Sovereign of the universe is not a president or even a king but The King of Kings.
And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and (ADI will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." – Ex. 33:19
3500 years later our Lord says in the Sermon on the Mount…
“You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”
The old and the New Testament both speak of our sovereign Lord. When bad things happen to good people and when good things happen to bad people we need to remember that God is sovereign; in control and to remain faithful like Job.
And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. – Job 1:21-22
Job knew that God has a plan. When God doesn’t make sense we need to rely on our faith in God and…
• Exercise Godly character
We have to ask ourselves, “What kind of character did Job have?”
1. Feared God – reverenced God, respected and honored God, He stood in awe of God
2. Shunned evil – Turned away from evil; rejected evil; He rejected evil.
In 1 Sam. 15:22-23 we read some very important words about Godly character.
“Then Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, [And] to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.”
Character helps to guide the believer; it acts as a moral compass. When no one is looking, when you are all alone in the privacy of your own home, your car, your bedroom and no one is looking – someone is watching, someone CAN see you. That someone is Jehovah God. Realizing this will be the difference between a person with character and no character, integrity and no integrity. It just may be the difference between someone who know the Lord God and one who doesn’t.
We need to continue to obey God. We need to continue to listen to God’s voice, to listen for God’s voice. And whatever we aspire to do or be in this world we need to exercise Godly character. So when ever God doesn’t make sense we need to…
• Accept that we live in a fallen world
• Rely on our faith in God
• Exercise Godly character and we need to…
• Worship
In Job chapter 1 we have seen that Job suffered incredible loss.
• 7 sons – killed
• 3 daughters – Killed
• 7000 sheep – stolen
• 3000 camels – stolen
• 500 yoke of oxen – stolen
• 500 – female donkey’s – stolen
• Servants – killed – Job 1:2-3
Let me just tell you what Job could have done…
• He could have said, “The heck with God”
• He could have went to bed and stayed there hoping that everything will be better if I just check out
• He could have blamed God
But he didn’t. Instead, “he got up”. As hard as it might have been “He got up”. He pulled himself together. I wonder if in all of heaven that there just might have been a hush. I wonder if in all of heaven they waited to see if Job would curse God, blame Him, turn his back on God. The heavens watched as Job tore his robe, shaved his head and falls to the ground and worships God.
In Job’s worship he truly shows the supremacy of the One True Living God by showing the Lord God’s worth; that God is worthy. And job says this…
“Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD." 22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong”
Amazing isn’t it. He did not sin nor charge God with any wrong. Folks, Job understood something that most of us haven’t figured out yet. There is no darkness in God. There is no sin in God. There is no sin nature in God. He doesn’t sit up in heaven on His throne and fire away with His lightning bolts trying to wreck our lives.
The sin and darkness is in us. In fact the book of Eph. 5:8 says this, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of Light.”
It doesn’t say that you were once IN darkness but that you WERE darkness. But you see in 1 Cor. 5:17 that “Any man that is in Christ is a new creation; old has gone, new has come”. Brand new, inside and out, a whole new thing not resembling the old.
Are you here today and God just doesn’t make sense to you?
