“God’s Answer to the Question’Why?’”

Text: Job 13:13-18 ““Be silent before me so that I may speak; Then let come upon me what may. “Why should I take my flesh in my teeth, And put my life in my hands? “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him. “This also will be my salvation, For a godless person cannot come before His presence. “Listen carefully to my speech, And let my declaration fill your ears. “Behold now, I have prepared my case; I know that I will be vindicated.”

Introduction

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Before going into the message, I would first like to say, “Shing Yin Quay Luh”Happy New Year! God has blessed us to see another year, and I am happy to celebrate it with you!

My sermon is not a traditional one for a day such as this…but if you’ve heard me before this is no surprise to you! My assignment today is to help you in one very specific way: to KNOW that God has a purpose for every challenge we face. And to give you the assurance that such a reason does exist.

I’m sure that Job’s story is familiar for most of us, but let me briefly recap it:

His story begins in Chapter 1 with a description of his character: “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (1:1.). Living with his family in the land known as “Uz”, Job had 10 children, lots of farm land, animals and possessions.

We don’t even make it past the 8th verse in the 1st chapter before the story takes a turn. Enter the antagonist: Satan (“enemy/adversary”), who is given a proposition- from GOD! “The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming [Heb. indicates haste/rushing] about on the earth and walking around on it.” The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job?” (1:7–8a.)

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Nothing happens without God’s permission, and God never acts without purpose. Although we are not given details at this part of Job’s story, we learn that God’s control over our lives is absolute- even the devil has to report to Him for permission! And nowhere in scripture do we find God acting without purpose. God suggests that Job be considered…because He has already considered Job and has prepared a favorable outcome!

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Unfortunately, time will not permit me to go into details regarding what happens next, so please forgive my cliff notes version. But Job is tested in different areas of his life:

his possessions- he lost his cattle, his land was ravaged

his family- he lost his children all at once

his health- his health is compromised

his peace of mind- Job’s wife posed a question to him: “Are you still holding on to your integrity?” Are you still sticking to your principles? Why are you still holding onto your beliefs? What has it gotten you? End your suffering- “curse God and die!” Job’s answer to her in chapter 2 is amazing: “Shall we actually accept good from God but not accept adversity?” (2:10.)

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Test your convictions, before life will tests them for you. Job’s reply to his wife is quite telling. It showed that Job’s faith in God (faith, being translated as trust) was not conditional, it was personal- based on God’s character. His earthly possessions were temporal; Job knew he not only had an eternal treasure awaiting him, but in the life God Himself is a reward for His people (Gen 15:1). Even if family was taken, He knew by faith that He was adopted into the family of God- and, he had the hope of seeing his family again in Heaven! He knew that even if he lived for 200 years, his health would eventually fail- but he would live out eternity in a body that would never know sickness, hunger or fatigue. And, most importantly, he knew that both the good things and the bad things serve God- as Paul would later put it in Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

‌Job’s friends later attempt to help him through this difficult time. They were so surprised at his physical changes that they sat with him in silence for 7 days. Regrettably, for the next several chapters they would waste time giving Job advice about a situation they had not experienced nor were they able to understand.

Learn the benefits of “Ministry of Presence”- When it is your tum to be the “friend of Job”, don’t try to be the psychiatrist, marriage counselor or problem solver. Just be a friend. It is my hope that Job’s friends spent those 7 days praying, listening, and helping wherever they could. Most of us just need someone to be present. The “ministry of presence” is a concept that I’ve learned in my ministry as a chaplain & pastor. You will not always know what to say or do; and sometimes it is best to say nothing, and do nothing. Even if you have the perfect response to their issue, they may not be in the place to receive it. Someone who has experienced loss, or is experience emotional or physical pain, may not be ready to hear about God’s grand design & purpose for their suffering. And please…don’t trivialize their situation with clichés like, “God works in mysterious ways”. Ask God for wisdom before you speak, and the proper timing. Until then, a hug, a listening and a shoulder to cry on are perfectly suitable responses to a friend in need.

In response to all of his friend’s advice, Job gives them an earful of sharp criticism. His conclusion is you have nothing more to offer me- you can’t explain this. But I know who can! I will go to God directly. In chapter 13, just before our main text Job says, “But I would speak to the Almighty, And I desire to argue with God.” (13:3.). It is possibly this desire to “argue“ (debate, to challenge God’s judgment) that causes God to respond as He does. God loves Job, but requires our trust for our relationship with Him to remain intact.

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Let God be God. But remember…He is God! Throughout his conversation with his friends, we see Job vacillating between faith and frustration. He complains, then speaks of His trust in God; he vents about feeling abandoned, then speaks of God’s faithfulness. He acknowledges that life- God’s undeserved gift to us- was not promised to be free of pain, and yet when it finally comes he cannot help but complain about it. I want to be clear; the Lord knows our frailty. He knows how much we can handle, He knows that we will act & speak out of frustration. Don’t think for a moment that you cannot come to God with your questions and concerns. But He still requires us to let Him do the work of completing us- the work that only He can do- for the purpose for which He has created us. We will experience pain in this life, with or without God. Wouldn’t you rather have Him with you?

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God’s Response to Job

Chapter 38 records the start God’s response to Job . It is preceded by Job’s friend, Elihu, presuming to speak for God, rebuking & lecturing Job from chapter 32-37. for 6 chapters straight! It seems to me as if God said, “Okay…that’s enough from all of you!” And from chapter 38-42, God asks Job question after question, essentially rhetorical in nature, designed to show the complete and utter lack of knowledge and understanding in him and his friends. Job briefly responds in chapter 40 just to basically say, “Lord, I don’t have the answer to any of this. I will keep my mouth shut.” God stops in chapter 42 after Job confesses 1) You can do anything- nothing is impossible for You, 2) I talked about things that I didn’t understand and 3) I heard You God, but now my eyes have seen You (I have a better understanding).

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I want to conclude with this encouragement: Malachi 3:6 ““For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, the sons of Jacob, have not come to an end.”

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You will not always be given the kind of explanation you are looking for regarding life’s challenges. You will not always be able to understand God’s response. But you can ALWAYS trust in God’s character. We may not know why things happen, but we most certainly know one reason that they do NOT: we know that it is not that god does not care. We know, because He came to us as Jesus- Emmanuel, “God with us” literally going through every aspect of the human experience pain, betrayal, anger, suffering and even death. And He chose it. He chose to not merely write the story of humanity, but to be a part of it.

Ultimately, God Himself is the answer to “Why?”