Why Bad Things Happen To Good People Series

Lessons from Job Series # 1

Why bad things happen to good people

Job chapter one

Introduction-

We begin a new sermon series today and I am excited to see what God will do in our lives.

When I put together this series, I was praying and hoping that we would learn life lessons that can be applied to our lives. If we have right information and we do nothing with it, it becomes worthless to us because it is just knowledge. Most of us have read the book of Job and know of his sufferings.

What about life questions -

Why do bad things happen to good people?

What about when you are doing everything you know to do, you are serving God as faithful as you can and sufferings still happen?

I pray you will have an open heart, a teachable spirit, that you will not let preconceived knowledge keep you from learning something new from Gods word.

I pray that by the end of this series that you have questions answered and lessons learned from other people’s mistakes and you yourself avoid some of them. Amen.

Prayer-

Turn to the book of Job- We are going to stay within the first chapter this morning without taking the time to read the whole chapter all at once.

Read Job 1:1-5 Read as the introduction to the person of Job.

What do we know about Job?

Lives in Uz (rymnes with boots…outz!

God fearing man who stays away from doing evil

He was well liked

He was a man of worth/ greatest in the land

He had 10 kids- 7 Sons, 3 daughters

He went to prayer for his kids-

What is a God fearing man or women?

Certainly does not mean that he feared God as a dictator, but that he had deep reverence for God.

He has a respect for who He was and an awe in the worship of his God.

He kept God’s commandments and stayed away from evil.

He shunned evil and abstained from every form of evil.

What is the definition of righteous? Blameless?

Blameless does not mean absolutely sinless because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In a crooked and perverse world, he was going to be one who does the right thing according to God’s standard not men’s. For us our righteous is in Jesus Christ. For those before the cross, righteousness was found in blood sacrifices and keeping of the Ten Commandments of God. Isaiah says that our righteousness in itself is as filthy rags to God. We cannot present ourselves to God as righteous in ourselves. So being better than the next guy is not righteousness.

How does his wealth play into the things that happened to him?

There is nothing wrong with wealth, we are told it is okay to have stuff but stuff cannot have us. He did not let his wealth keep him from raising his children in the fear and reverence of the Lord. He was a man who tried to being his children up in the ways of the Lord and was mindful that as a parent, he would be spiritual sensitive that they were serving God.

He believed he would pray for his family

He would break the chains of society having an influence on his family.

He would teach them the ways of God.

Then one day all Hell broke loose- Anyone had one of those days? Weeks? Year?

There become’s more players in Job’s life, some that were uninvited by him but invited by his God.

There is God having a discussion with thrown down and defeated Satan and Job just happens to be an unaware participate.

God asked Satan what he was up too and his reply was that he was roaming the earth tormenting the people of God- God answers him by saying- Have you considered my servant Job?

I don’t know about you but I don’t need God to do that for me! He offers up Job to the accuser and gives a brag report of his faithfulness to God. Telling Satan that he is faithful, upright, fears God, and shuns evil.

This man of God has Satan’s attention and not in a good way! God bragging him up and Job being the very opposite of Satan nature as evil.

Satan’s reply

(9) “Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied. Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will curse you to your face.”

Satan attempts to throw down with God- I do not recommend that!