Suffering & God's Presence

Introduction:

Play Pixelate

You have all received a piece of paper…here’s what I want you to do with that piece of paper:

“Write down a time in your life where you experienced suffering.”

And please take this seriously…don’t write something stupid “like that time i didn’t study for my test and then failed it and my parents grounded me and the suffering is real”…not what I’m going for....but write a time where you really experienced some suffering…because we all have.

After you’ve written something down…take a minute to think about how that period of suffering affected you long term, okay?

Like, we know when we were in that period of suffering, it was horrible, right?

But long term, after the fact....are there things you can see now that you couldn’t see then? Big picture…are things clearer? Like the game we just played…when you’re up close and personal with it…it’s hard to see sometimes right?

Are there good things that have come out of your suffering?

Are there bad things that have come out of your suffering?

Alright…hold onto that piece of paper

We’ve been on a journey the past few weeks, haven’t we?

We’ve talked about:

God’s Good World and how He created everything to be good

We’ve looked in depth at how he created us, His good people

We then honed in on the big ol sin problem that we created for ourselves and how God always had a plan

We looked at Noah, and saw a vivid and clear picture of God’s grace on offer to us

And then last week…we talked about God’s authority…by looking at the tower of Babel and seeing mankind’s intent to glorify themselves and God flexing His authority and BAM, confusing them.

Well this week we’re continuing in our chronological study by looking at the life of Job

Hold up, what?

That’s right my strivers and strivettes, chronologically it is believed that the story of Job takes place somewhere around where we are in the story of the Bible

And even though Job is found much later in the Bible....it happened and went down where we are in the story of the Bible

So turn to Job with me:

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deut, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, JOB

Alright…so we have Job, a man described as blameless and upright, a man whom God had offered grace to, a man who therefore feared God and turned away from evil.

So this guy was a good dude. He loved God and He served God with his life

Job’s faith in God had matured and grown his character meaning…his life was evidence of his faith…not his stuff, not earthly blessings, but how he conducted himself

Job = awesome

However, as we read, Satan showed up…and this is the first time we’ve seen Satan back in the picture specifically since the garden

But don’t think Satan only was present in the garden and then gone from the story…no no no

The text tells us that Satan was roaming around the earth, going to and fro, walking up and down

tells us that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Satan tempts people to sin (Luke 22:3-4)

Satan makes people sick and diseased (Acts 10:38)

Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Satan takes people captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26)

Satan kills ()

Satan’s real, and Satan has some power…but notice what happens in the verses 6-12 (read them):

God and Satan have a little dialogue happening and Satan says this:

“Job only worships you, Job only fears you, Job only obeys your commands because of all the earthly blessings you’ve given to him!”

“Look at his house, that house is amazing God…and look to the left of his house…look at all those cattle, man he’s got it going on! To the right of his house, look at all those sheep, man he’s making bank off of those sheep! MTV Cribs should do his house next! What about those camels. Man those camels are top of the line. They ride so smooth....”

“And what about his perfect family! God, they’re all healthy, they’re all good looking, they’re all really successful, his wife is a 10 out of 10”

“God, why wouldn’t he worship you? You’ve given him the dream life…the life everyone else would do anything to have…of course he’s going to worship you!!!!”

Caveat: Do you see what Satan is doing? He’s tying Job’s faith to being rooted in earthly possessions.

That’s some dangerous theology, and it’s theology that is prevalent in our world today, among some churches today, and among some famous pastors.

God’s blessings, while they may be and sometimes are earthly, are not only ever that, okay?

The greatest blessing we have is our salvation through Jesus Christ, and that alone is reason enough for us to worship Him!

But notice God’s response to Satan:

Verse 12, “12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”

God authorized Satan to act against Job, not against him physically (although that does come), but against all of his blessings

And there it is…notice, Satan has some power, but only what is given to him by God, and only for a brief period.

God is in complete control, and God allowed Satan to inflict Job.

Question: Does it encourage you to know Satan cannot do anything apart from God’s divine permission? Why or why not?

So in verses 13-19, here is what happened, in a Pastor Derek recap:

Job’s kids were having a party at his oldest son’s house and Job, who wasn’t with them, received a message that all of their oxen and donkeys were stolen and the servants who were watching them were killed

Not cool, right? Income and food was gone

Then another servant came and said, Guys, fire fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and there is nothing left

You with me? This is a terrible day. More income is gone, his kid’s inheritance is dwindling

Another servant knocks on the door, and Job at this point is mortified because their entire lives have been turned upside down, their livelihood has been taken away, they won’t be able to pay for anything anymore, their houses will be foreclosed on, what are they going to do!!!! And the servant says that the Chaldeans made a raid on all of their camels, killed the servants and there is nothing left!

Nothing left!

As he was still speaking, yet one more servant shows up, and Job can’t handle much more…he barely has any of his perfect life left, except his kids.....oh no, surely this servant won’t be delivering bad news about his kids! But sure enough…Job, they were at your oldest son’s house eating and drinking, and a tornado came, and it slammed smack dab into the middle of the house, and the house fell in on all of them, and they have all died!

Oof…not a great day am I right?

You all wrote down suffering on your paper....and your suffering is real and it hurts, but I bet none of us have had a day like Job had have we?!?!

What was Job’s response to all of this?

100% mourning and pain and crying and confusion and all the same feelings we get when we go through suffering

He rose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground

He was in pain

But don’t stop reading…bc he did something else:

He worshiped.

It was pain and suffering and hurt…but it led him to worship!

What an amazing response by Job right?

That’s a response right there!

Verse 21, “ 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

See, Job understood that all of life and good gifts and blessings and everything that he had was a gift from God.

And he believed and rightfully so that The Lord gives and the Lord can take away

And that He should be praised regardless of our earthly circumstances!

And that his joy wasn’t rooted in those things, but in the one who gives those things

Talk about a response that is not very typical, right?

What about you?

When something goes wrong, what is your immediate reaction?

What does our response to suffering reveal to others about our faith in God?

Now it doesn’t mean we just overlook pain and suffering and act like it isn’t there or it isn’t real, because it is there and it is real

We don’t “put our fake face on and pretend now” as NF says....

Job expressed his suffering, he felt broken....but then he worshiped.

Suffering is a tool God allows in our lives to drive us to Him

Pain and faithfulness are not mutually exclusive....God, in His sovereignty, uses them together

Well if you keep reading through you’ll see that Satan then inflicted Job himself with great physical pain

Satan was now implying that Job would curse God if he himself was inflicted (sores and boils)

So God allowed Satan to inflict him

And as chapter 2 goes on....Job’s wife tells him to curse God and die, Job’s 3 friends show up and after sitting with Job for a week in complete silence, the 4 of them go into a dialogue that takes much of the book of Job and the 3 friends basic position is that Job sinned so therefore God was punishing him and he needed to repent.

See, their view was inaccurate. They viewed suffering as punishment for sin and blessings as rewards for righteousness.

That’s not how God operates!!!

Suffering can result from sin

A guy goes out and gets plastered and hops in his car, wrecks it, and loses a leg…he’s suffering from a sinful decision…so that can happen

But suffering isn’t always a result of an individual personal sin

But it is a result of a sinful world

And here’s how awesome and in control God is…He can take that suffering, that sin and use it for His glory....by bringing us closer to Him.

, (read now)

Even though Job did initially respond with worship, the longer he lived in that pain and suffering, the more he missed and longed for relief and understanding

How about you? When things are tough and don’t make sense, we just want to understand why something is happening don’t we?

Do you think understanding the reasons behind a particular time of suffering would help?

That’s what Job wanted....but couldn’t find it

And these verses talk about how he even wanted to in a sense, take God to court

And he wanted a mediator, someone to work between Job and God

And so he did question God, and even stated in verse 35, “ I am on my own “

See, God felt far away from Job…again, we can probably relate

Karington

But, just like in the pixelate game we played....when we’re in the deep end, when we’re struggling through suffering, it’s hard for us to make sense, and we do feel like God is distant

But the truth is…He’s not. He doesn’t abandon us. He’s not ignoring us

And in time....Job would understand that, just like in time, no matter what we’re going through, we too can understand that

If you read Job, you’ll see God comes near and responds to Job and helps him to understand God’s greatness in light of his suffering, which can be a great hope to us as it was to Job.

Have any of you ever experienced God coming near to you during suffering?

Is it encouraging to know God is not distant and detached from our suffering, but has

But it is true, during that period of suffering, we may lose our jobs, our reputations, our health, our livelihoods…but we’ll never lose God’s presence.

Because as believers.....we do have that mediator that Job cried out for....and that is the person of Jesus Christ.

He is our go between…the one who intercedes on our behalf to the Father....the one who can because He suffered for us

He understands our suffering because He suffered the greatest

And because of that, God walks with us in our suffering today because we’ve been brought near through the work of Jesus Christ.

Is it encouraging to know God is not distant or detached from our suffering, but instead has suffered on our behalf in order to be close and attached?

Well, we’re out of time, but Job’s last words before the very end of the book for the most part come in chapter 31.

And then in chapter 38, God responds to Job, quite extensively.

And to a man who was suffering, God’s response can seem a bit raw, and a bit too real

But essentially, what God does is he invites Job to test the depth of his understanding in comparison to God’s understanding.

Over and over, God asks Job if he had the understanding or the knowledge to comprehend the mysteries of God and creation and the world order.

And what you read and what you see happening is Job just being humbled before God

Job truly understanding that God’s ways are so much higher than our ways, and that a proper response to God is that of faith and trust when suffering comes.

Job was truly reminded of the sovereignty of God and his Divine presence over the entire world.

And God’s words may seem a bit rough to Job, but what they did was reminded Job of 3 vital things when everything seemed to be falling apart around him.

God is present.

God is active.

God is faithful

This is summed up in the doctrine of God’s immanence

What we see God revealing to Job is the truth that when suffering comes, we don’t ultimately need understanding, as much as we want it…what we really need is God Himself.

Closing

And so maybe you’re going through some suffering right now…personally, in your family, wherever…but it’s real and it hurts and it’s confusing and it doesn’t make sense

Like you gave your life to God why is He letting this happen?

Or you’ve gone through suffering and it still doesn’t really make sense, or you’ve never looked back at it because it was too painful

Or…suffering is coming, and when it comes your dreading it because who likes suffering right?

Wherever you are on that spectrum, lean on Him

RUN TO HIM

LOOK TO HIM

TALK TO HIM

He is allowing you to go through it, but He also wants to walk through it with you

Like Job…like James teaches…find your joy in Him. Find your purpose in Him. Find your hope in Him

He will never leave you nor forsake you guys, okay? Let’s pray