"Conquering Storms of Life!"
"More than a SURVIVOR" series part 2 of 4
Text: Job 1:1-2:10 & Selected
Cross Creek Community Church
Pastor Dave Martin - May 6, 2001
www.crosscreekcc.org
God’s Word is Powerful, Relevant, and Life Changing!
Thursday night we saw who was the ultimate SURVIVOR in the Australian Outback. It all came down to two people, Colby or Tina. The votes were cast and Tina won the million dollars!
My question is, why just survive when we can be more than a survivor, when we can actually be a conqueror in Christ!
Romans 8:35 & 37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Let’s read the account of Job beginning in chapter 1:1 - 2:10.
If I were to ask you to name a person in the Bible who suffered greatly, who would choose? Job was an extremely blessed person. He had a large wonderful family, many servants, possessions, great wealth and health. Job even functioned as a priest. He was a man who lived righteously, fearing God and hating evil. Job was a man of integrity, morally and spiritually.
If some of these storms came into your life, how would you handle them?
How can I be a conqueror over the storms of life?
When the winds of adversity blows, how will you stand?
There are three Basic Truths we need to understand...Then some practical applications.
1. There is no IMMUNITY from storms of life.
Job 1:1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.
* On the survival series, immunity was highly prized - not so in life, there is none.
* Inevitable fact of life - there will be storms, trials of life we all are destined to go through.
* We often think when we get saved, everything will go MY way. That’s a false assumption.
Matthew 5:45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Note these two examples of storms...
* George Harrison from the Beetles was just operated on for cancer - a storm of life. Great wealth, many homes, lives in a castle, most likely not saved.
* The missionaries in Peru, 35 year old Veronica Bowers and her 7-month-old daughter Charity killed instantly. Her husband and son escaped unharmed. The pilot’s leg shattered with gunfire.
* Some of the greatest servants of God went through bleak storms of life.
* No magic immunity pill - no one is exempt. All the consequences of sin, Gen. 3
2. Storms of Life are FILTERED through God’s hand.
Job 1:6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.
* We have an adversary, Satan and his hordes of demons.
* Satan needs God’s permission to bring storms into our lives.
* Understand Satan’s power is limited. He can only go so far in afflictions and trials.
Job 1:10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?
* It is wrong to say all suffering is due to some sin in your life, though it could be.
* If you are experiencing storms, examine yourself. Am I being obedient, faithful to God?
* We often want the joy of forgiveness, a ticket to heaven, yet refuse to pay the price of obedience. We want the good, but not the pain.
* Sometimes God will allow trials into our lives to "get our attention".
* He will allow trials to purify and to cleanse us as gold tried in the fire. Rev 3:18
* ALL trials and storms of life come through God’s filtering hand!
1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Job 1:12 The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger..."
* God knows our limits, how much we can handle, He knows where our breaking point is.
Remember this as a Christian, we are:
1. "In Christ" - 89 times God says we are In Christ! - Just read the book of Ephesians!
2. "In my Fathers hand" - John 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
3. "Holy Spirit is in me" - John 14:17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
The power of the trinity is intimately involved in your life, we are secure no matter what the storm.
* We serve a sovereign, almighty, awesome God - Everything is filtered through His hand!
Of Pig on Back
Peter Mackenzie said, "Some men are like pigs. They can never look up until laid on their back!" Examine a pig’s eyes and you’ll find that this is true. Many, like the muckrakers of Pilgrim’s Progress, are victims of the earthward, downward gaze. God, in goodness, sends affliction, puts man upon his back, that he might look up to God.
No immunity - A Sovereign God -
3. Storms of life PRODUCE spiritual blessings.
Job 42:12-13 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13And he also had seven sons and three daughters.
* How can this be? Trials of life turned into a blessing?
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
* God gave Job a new family again, then doubled his possessions!
* Look what happened to Job, the Lord blessed the latter half of Job’s life more than the first.
* If we faithfully handle the storms and trials of life - God promises special blessings.
* He even promises a "crown of life" to those who perseveres and loves God.
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
REVIEW the three main truths, No immunity, Sovereignty of God, Blessings.
When the Storms of Life Strike, how should we respond?
Let’s learn together, the way Job responded to "Storms of Life"
Storms of Life are conquered when we...
Job 1:20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship
1. ACCEPT what cannot be changed. "Job Got up" v20
* Admit your feelings, accept the facts of the situation. Things happen which cannot be changed.
* Life is full of unexpected twists and turns.
* Job did something, he didn’t retreat into a shell, he didn’t run away from it all. He got up.
* We often will try to ’cover up’ our trials, why what will everyone think? We worry about self.
* It’s not a question of storms striking, but how will I handle trials when they come.
* It is our choice to either grow bitter or better through the storms - accept the fact.
* Salvation is NOT a "free get out of jail" pass like in the game of Monopoly.
* Job exhibited full trusting faith in God. Look what he said in verse 21
Job 1:21 "..Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."
* Job was still praising God! He totally relied upon God, for He is Sovereign!
* Storms are frightening and scary yet we are totally secure in Christ. Accept what cannot be changed. The storms are there for a reason, find our why.
* Spiritual growth / chastening / God wanting my attention / preparing for a new direction / etc.
2. Realize GRIEVING is vital to HEALING. "Job Tore his robe" v20
* Tearing his robe symbolizes Job’s inner turmoil, shock and grief.
* Expressing the sense of weakness, sickness, and pain, the deep hurt he was feeling
* Jesus wept. Weeping is a natural emotion God gave us to deal with the storms of life.
Psalm 30:5b "...weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning."
* God sees all our grief and tears, He’ keeping track. It’s OK to cry, it is not a sign of weakness.
Psalm 56:8 Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll--are they not in your record?
* Job torn his robe - he grieved over his calamity and trial of life.
Vine Clings In Fiercest Storm
The vine clings to the oak during the fiercest of storms. Although the violence of nature may uproot the oak, twining vine still cling to it. If the vine is on the side of the tree opposite the wind, the great oak is its protection: if it is on the exposed side, the tempest only presses it closer to the trunk.
In some of the storms of life, God intervenes and shelters us; while in others He allows us to be exposed, so that we will be pressed more closely to Him. -B. M. Launderville
* Grieving is vital to healing.
Acceptance - grieving -
3. HUMBLY accept the lessons conveyed! "Job Shaved his head" v20
* Shaving his head symbolizes Job’s loss of personal glory.
* Maintain the correct perspective, check your humility. Pride is a terrible destructive sin.
* We can be so proud, so afraid what others may "think" we lose track of the deeper meaning of the storm.
* Do we try to cover up the problem, trying hard to ’look good’ on the outside?
* Evident to everyone around him, he humbly bowed before the Lord in worship.
Job 1:22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
* Job Acknowledged God’s sovereign authority over everything God had given him.
* How do we accept failures or trials in our lives?
* Job shaved his head, he humbly accepted what God was doing in his life.
* His heart attitude was right, he was open to learn and grow.
Acceptance - grieving -
4. RETURN to the Lord. "Job Fell to the Ground and worshipped" v20
* Recognize God’s Sovereignty - God has allowed this trial in your life - now trust Him.
* Satan hates true worship. God desires us to worship Him. John 4:23-24
John 4:23-24 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
* Are you a true worshipper today? Contrasted with a false worshipper.
* Job fell to the ground and worshipped - Job knew where to run when his world collapsed.
1 Samuel 30:6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.
* Amalekites just raided, destroyed, and took captive the men’s wives, children, everyone.
* David’s world just collapsed, his own men wanted to kill him by stoning. What did he do?
* He found strength in the Lord his God. You see Job & David both knew God personally.
* Storms of life should drive us closer to our Lord. Do they? Are you growing better or bitter?
* Storms of Life drove David to the Lord, Storms of life drove Job to the Lord.
* Storms of life should drive us to the Lord too. Run to him for our strength.
* Job followed adversity with adoration, he turned woe into worship.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
* Unlike so many people, he did not give in to bitterness.
* He refused to blame God for wrongdoing.
Job 2:10 He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
A bar of steel is worth five dollars. When it is made into horseshoes, it is worth ten dollars. If made into needles, it is worth three hundred and fifty dollars. If made into penknife blades, it is worth thirty-two thousand dollars. And if it is made into springs for watches, it is worth two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
What the poor bar must undergo to be worth a higher value. But the more it is manipulated, the more it is hammered, and passed through the fire, and beaten and pounded and polished, the greater the value.
Those who suffer most are capable of yielding most; and it is through pain that God can get the most out of us. -Streams in the Desert
Be more than a survivor, be a "Conqueror in the storms of Life!"
Tell us about life Job...
Job 19:25-26 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
Let’s Pray
* Can you say this morning? I will see God. Do you personally know the God Job knew?
* In the midst of the storms of life, come before your Lord in worship - worship God!
* You are longing for sweet peace, yet find peace elusive, not sure if you’re going to heaven.
* You’re struggling with some major trials, and just don’t know which way to turn?
You have been trying to fight your battles and the storms of life by yourself, which is impossible, you need God’s help. We need a new relationship with Christ. We can find forgiveness of our sins in Him. Jesus came into this world to seek and to save the lost in sin - that’s you and me! All have sinned and come short of God’s glory. As many as receive Jesus, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, supernaturally, spiritually born again, born into the family of God by faith. I invite you this morning, to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved.
Next week for Mother’s Day - "Conquering Family Hurdles!"
