I CAN’T SEE HIM, BUT I KNOW HE’S THERE
Job 23:8-10
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. At church one morning, as Gwen was about to start her four-year-olds’ Sunday school class, a little boy showed up without any identification.
2. Gwen managed to get his first name, but couldn't find out his last name. "Brian, what's your daddy's name?" she asked. "Daddy," he replied. She tried again, "Brian, what's your mommy's name?" "Mommy."
3. Suddenly she realized exactly how she could get the answer she needed. "Brian, what does your daddy call your mommy?" His face lit up. With a grin and a deep voice, he replied, "Hey, Babe!" (Susan Boatright)
B. TEXT
“Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive Him: on the left hand, where He works, but I cannot behold Him: He hides Himself on the right hand, that I cannot see Him: but He knows the way that I take: when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:8-10.
C. THESIS: GOD’S UNSEEN HAND
1. Have you ever had an unexplained blessing that came to you right when you needed it, and all you could say was, “Thank You Jesus?”
a. Many of you have had reversals of medical conditions. The doctors said one thing, but later the condition was reversed, leaving doctors scratching their heads.
b. Some of you have had situations that were impossible – there was no way out, no solution in sight, and no earthly hope of meeting the need. But when you prayed, the answers flowed from God!
2. You’ve met the GOD OF THE TURNAROUND! The conduit of possibilities opened; your predicament changed; and suddenly, the fingerprints of God became visible, AND GOD STEPPED BETWEEN YOU AND THE SITUATION!
3. Aren’t you glad God fights your battles? I'm here to tell you, this morning, that God’s got your battles! He’s between you and your situations.
4. SUDDENLY! Somebody shout SUDDENLY! The thing about “suddenly” is, that you can’t get ready for it. There’s nothing you can do to make it happen. It just happens. This is why there are times when God puts together, something that you could never have put together on your own.
5. The title of today’s message is, “I Can’t See Him, But I Know He’s There!”
I. JOB’S TROUBLES
A. JOB’S FAITH IN TRIALS
1. In our text this morning, we see Job’s response to the terrible events of his life. Job expressed his faith that his situation would be reversed, and that he would come through as pure gold.
2. We don’t ever need to be afraid of trials! No gold is ever injured in the fire. Stoke the furnace as hot as you like, and put the gold into the center of the flames, even pile on more fuel. But not one particle of the gold will be burned up.
3. Job was a godly man who was allowed to suffer when he wasn’t at fault, to give us an example of how to persevere in faith, even when we don’t understand why things have happened to us.
4. Satan caused numerous difficulties in Job’s life, including the loss of his health, his wealth, and the near destruction of his entire family. Despite these increasing calamities, Job kept his faith in God and believed God would eventually turn his situation around. In the end, God did just that. God restored everything to Job and blessed him with ‘double for his trouble’ – gave him twice as much as he’d had before!
B. WE SERVE THE GOD OF INTERRUPTION!
1. God has the ability to interrupt our circumstances. Divine interruption prepares us for divine provision. What we need to understand is that the thing we hold onto is not as good as what we’re going to get. God interrupts our lives for a reason. So turn to your neighbor and say, "Let it go."
2. God’s working in the background of our lives to ensure that we accomplish His purposes. He’s opening doors that are shut, creating doorways that don’t exist -- to help us make an eternal contribution.
3. We may not see God operating, but He is there; behind us, in front of us, and on our left hand and right. God’s unseen hand guides and controls, tears down and builds up. I’m glad we serve such a mighty God!
II. HOW GOD HAS PROVIDED FOR US
A. GOD SUSTAINS US IN TROUBLE
1. Just like Job, God has also provided for OUR needs. When your spiritual strength was at its lowest level, God lifted you. Some of you experienced the death of a loved one, but God was there, to lift you out of depression and give you a new purpose. We know He was there, because he kept sending us so many messages to ‘get up and try again.’
2. We didn’t see Him do it, but we know it was God that helped us, in the past year. We may have complained, but God has been good, real good to us, putting people and resources in our lives to help us respond to our problems.
3. Just when we thought we’d drown, God threw out a lifeline that kept us afloat. It was His unseen hand at the other end of it. You didn’t see Him, but you knew He was there! He made a way when there was no way!
B. GOD GAVE ABUNDANT BLESSING
1. Some of us have done more than just survive; we’ve grown spiritually. God has blessed us financially and blessed our families. He’s expanded some of our boundaries. We looked to the left and the right. We didn’t see Him do it, but we knew where the blessings came from!
2. Isaiah said, “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint" Isa. 40:31.
3. David said, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help, my help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and the earth" Ps. 121:1-2.
III. WHY DOES GOD ALLOW BELIEVERS TO SUFFER? There’s not one, simple explanation, but the Bible offers several reasons:
A. TESTING STRENGTHENS OUR CHARACTER
1. James says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience [perseverance]. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” Jam. 1:2–4, NKJV.
2. I’ve found that painful situations produce character the same way regular exercise builds muscle tone. Peter says that testing proves that our faith is genuine, 1 Pet. 1:6-8.
B. TESTING IS A WITNESS TO OTHERS
When the heat is on, WHO we actually are, and WHAT we truly believe, are revealed. Our faithfulness to God, in spite of prolonged heartbreak, testifies to others how much we value and honor God.
C. TESTING PURIFIES US
1. Testing gets rid of the unrefined qualities in our lives. Job said that the fire would bring forth the gold of his faith, Job 23:10. The same way blast furnaces separate impurities from metals, so testing removes sinful attitudes from us, so we come forth as gold.
2. The story is told of a sculptor whose statue of a horse fascinated and caught the attention of everyone. One day he was asked, “How did you take such an ugly, unpretentious piece of stone and make such a beautiful horse?” His answer was simple, “I simply chipped away everything that didn’t look like a horse.”
3. That’s what God does in our lives. Through trials and difficulties, God chips away at everything that doesn’t look like Jesus.
4. Remember this, if God’s powerful enough to bring you TO something, then He’s powerful enough to bring you THROUGH something. If God’s powerful enough to help you descend into the valley, He’s also powerful enough to help you climb the mountain!
D. TESTING PROVES WE’RE CHILDREN OF GOD
1. Hebrews 12:6–8 says that testing proves believers are God’s children. Every wise parent disciplines their child in love, to help the child develop. When God brings testing, it reminds us that we are his children.
2. Job experienced testing because he WAS PLEASING TO GOD! God said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him” (1:8).
3. This should encourage us, that, whatever we face IN the future, we should be confident that our God will watch over us!
E. IF GOD BE FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? It doesn’t matter what the future brings as long as we are on the Lord’s side! There will never be a...
- CROSS that we won’t be able to bear;
- MOUNTAIN that we won’t be able to climb!
- ENEMY that we won’t be able to defeat;
- BATTLE we won’t be able to win!
- DARKNESS so dark that we won’t be able to see the light!
- TRIAL that we can’t make it through;
- TEST that we won’t be able to pass! Hallelujah!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. There was a painter who saw a beggar with tattered clothes, hair uncombed & matted, and a dirty face. The artist decided to paint the man as he might have looked if he’d been a successful businessman with a wonderful family.
2. When it was finished, the painter invited the beggar to come see the painting. The beggar didn’t recognize himself. He asked, “Is that me?” The painter said, “That’s what I see in you.” For the first time in years the beggar was given hope, and he said, “By God’s grace, I’m going to be the kind of man you see me to be.”
3. God takes the raw material and begins to shape it into what we will be one day. When the game of life is over, we’re going to look like Jesus!
B. THE CALL: THE SAME GOD...
1. Think about it. The same God who stepped out from behind the curtain of nowhere, onto the platform of nothing, and spoke a world into existence, is at work in your life.
2. The same God who sustained 4 million Israelites on manna and water for 40 years, so that none died of starvation, is the same God who’s at work in your life.
3. The same God who delivered 3 Hebrews out of the Babylonian BBQ, without even a hair being singed, is the same God who’s at work in your life.
4. The same God who opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped the ears of the deaf, loosened the tongues of the dumb, cleansed the disease of the lepers, crashed the funerals of the dead, and resurrected Christ from the grave, is the same God who’s at work in your life!
5. He’s the same, “yesterday, today and forever.” He’s the Alpha, the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end; the One who was dead and is alive forevermore, and holds the keys of hell and death -- He’s the same God who is at work in your life! Stand & let’s praise Him!
6. “I am confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in me will perform until the day of Christ Jesus!” Would you say with me, “Lord don’t give up on me yet. I may be just an old chunk of coal, but I’m gonna be a diamond someday!” PRAYER
[This is a rewrite of Charles Jones’ great message of the same title.]
