Transcription
All right, so we looked at a whopping six chapters. Now, I know we did that a few weeks ago, but the difference is that, a couple weeks ago, those six chapters, at least there was a conversation. This guy spoke and then Job spoke and that guy spoke and then Job spoke. There was a, you know, a back-and-forth conversation. This week, we've got a full-blown monologue of one guy talking, uh, and boy, does he have a lot to say. It's really unbelievable how much he has to say.
I went back and counted some of those chapters and I think it was Bildad, he only had two chapters thus far in the whole book and I think Eliphaz was the one who had a little more, but, um, this guy kind of takes the cake, you know, he's, he's something. Um, verse 1 of chapter 32 starts out with, "So, these three men ceased answering Job. And they had finally finished all they could say." Maybe they just completely ran out of words, they had nothing left. But before we could really say, "Amen, thank the Lord, they have quit talking." No, no, no. We've got this, you know, new guy and poor Job isn't done having to listen to more. I mean, I, I was just thinking, boy, I would have loved to have been there. Just to say, "Can we just stop a minute? Can everybody please just take a deep breath and stop talking? And get, how about this? How about we pray for this man?" You don't see that ever in the book. It's just the saddest thing. It would have been a very nice thing to do, but you don't see it.
So, these so-called friends believe they know everything, everything about what Job has gone through, what has happened, um, but we all know they didn't. And I know throughout all the teachings, many different ways, we've all kind of shared that we don't know everything and we cannot know everything. We do not have the foreknowledge and the knowledge of almighty God. He is infinite, he knows everything. And for us to ever pretend as though we can understand or we can relate or somehow we have foreknowledge into someone else's life is just, we can't. There's just some things that don't allow themselves to be evidently clear in the moment. And confusion can settle in and even years later, you still might be scratching your head as to why. Don't you kind of do that with COVID? Why?
>> [laughter] >> What happened? But I do know God brought out some amazing things through that time. How many of you, just curious, how many of you were, uh, COVID transplants, we call them? Exactly my point. Exactly my point. Everywhere in, any time I meet somebody new, it's COVID. Just unbelievable to me. Awesome.
But what can we do? What do we do when these things happen and we don't know? We have to learn to fully trust the Lord. You've probably heard that again and again and again and again and again. But to actually apply it and do it is a whole 'nother ballgame, right? We need to know that he's in control of absolutely everything. Everything. Good, bad, or ugly, everything. No matter how big or small. Such a simple truth, isn't it? Trust the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean on your own understanding. Simple truth. How is it so difficult in our own lives to actually put that into practice? It just is, but it's something we have to learn. And often it's through suffering, through hardships and difficulties, it's how we learn.
Um, it's something in my life I call truth anchors, right? An anchor holds something down. A friend of mine recently reminded me of that. I mean, I know that in my life and yet she brought it up and I went, "Ooh, that fits here." Um, years ago when I was struggling in a very difficult situation, I was having trouble seeing anything good, anything to be thankful for. But the Lord showed me in my mind like a little rowboat. Just think of a little rowboat on the ocean, okay? Um, the waves are thrashing it about, the wind is blowing. And that little boat stayed steady and strong and didn't float off to sea. And the reason was because that little boat was deeply anchored, deeply anchored. And the picture he showed me, the Lord showed me, was the importance of being anchored to his word. So anchored. He showed me that little rowboat was me. I'm that little rowboat on a big giant sea and I'm being tossed about and thrashed around, but it was his word that was helping me stay strong and secure in that difficult star-storm and I was learning to hold tightly to him and his word. It was not an easy lesson. It was probably one of the most difficult lessons I had to learn, but at that particular time, it was mighty. It was awesome. And that lesson has stayed with me until this day. The, the truth of his word, those anchors that holds you steady in difficult times. I pray that that stays with me until the day I die. I mean, Lord willing, right? That we would always stay anchored to him.
1 Corinthians 15:58 reminds us of the importance of being steadfast in faith and immovable in your faith. Just like that anchor held that little boat in a storm. And if you don't have the word of God anchoring you, then you are, you probably are floating out to sea, lost. Ever seen one of those shows where they're lost at sea in a little tiny rowboat in the middle of a giant ocean? I mean, the fear, I, I've seen a, a few shows that way and I, I cannot imagine how overwhelming and fearful that would be. But fai- faith anchors hold you to the truth and keep you grounded and stable.
Now, Job had his faith and he was learning all about those truth anchors. He knew, but he'd never been tested like that. He knew truth about God, but it's not, you can have it up here, but until you've been tested in a storm, you really don't know how deeply rooted you are, deeply anchored. But that's what kept him from floating off to sea and just forgetting the whole thing in that horrific situations that he was going through and the accusations of these men. Just the turmoil of that alone. Yes, he was tossed around quite a bit. His, his boat probably went a lot more back and forth than my little boat did, but he never completely gave up, did he? He held strong. Satan was using those men to torment him. And then he, in turn, tormented himself sometimes. Wishing, remember, wishing that he'd never been born. But thankfully, with all the suffering this man went through, he never tried to take his own life. You never heard him say that. He came close in that he said, "I wish I'd never been born. I wish my mother had delivered a stillborn baby." Okay, but he never said, "I'm going to go kill myself." A lot of people do these days. They lose hope. They have nothing left. I hear about suicide much more than I ever want to. It's, it's one of the saddest things, but Job never said that. I don't know of anybody who's gone through what Job has and yet he never stated that. He never lost hope.
I thank the Lord that after this week's lesson, >> [gasps] >> that we're finally going to turn a corner and we're going to be done hearing the accusations of men. We're going to be done hearing the, um, questioning words of Job as he goes through what he goes through. And we'll, we'll instead, we're going to come face-to-face with the words of almighty God. And it's awesome and I love it. I'd never, I, I'd rather not hear anybody else but God, right? But he's going to, he's going to come on strong and powerful. Those are some of my favorite chapters in the Bible, really, cuz you just, we're talking about magnify the Lord. Oh, when you read those, those chapters, you're going to magnify him if you've never read them. So, dear sisters, let's finish this well because we've got a hope on the horizon, it's coming next week.
But last week, we saw the end of Job's words until the very last chapter you're going to hear him speak again, very short, but you're going to hear him. Job had finished defending himself to these men. He's, he's done with that. And in chapter 32, we're suddenly introduced to this new guy. His name's Elihu, much younger man. Uh, one commentator said, uh, he spoke much too long and said far too little. And that's true. His speeches are by far the longest in the whole book and longer than even God's speech in the next chapters. So there's no prior mention of him in the book. It's not like he was there and they included him that he was just quietly listening. He's not even mentioned. This is it. And boy, he just talks and talks and talks. And then he just seems to disappear again. So it's interesting. Um, there are four speeches in these six chapters that he gives. Interesting. Uh, we, he certainly can't say he didn't say things of value because he did. Or of truth, he certainly did. Um, he was just long-winded and could have said it in a much more concise way without going on and on and on and on. In fact, he pretty much spent the whole chapter, uh, saying, "Listen to me. You need to listen to me. I, I have something to say. Listen to me." So in 24 verses, that's basically what he's doing.
Um, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar each had called on Job again and again and again to repent. "We know you've sinned. We just know it. So just repent and life will go good." Elihu took a little bit different perspective. Um, they had all mistakenly assumed his sufferings were the punishment for his sin. But Elihu is feeling a great need to defend the justice of God because he feels like Job has disrespected, insulted God. Okay, so that's the angle he's coming from. So after these three men have failed to, uh, convince Job of any wrongdoing, Elihu's wrath was kindled, it said. He was mad. In fact, so mad in the first five verses it says it four times in five verses. His wrath was aroused. That's amazing. So he comes out hard and strong, um, at Job for justifying, uh, himself. In his opinion, Job is justifying himself rather than God. And then he also went after the three men for failing to refute Job's arguments. He's been listening to all of this. He can't believe what he's hearing and now his anger is kicked in. These older men, uh, he's the younger guy. He's listened. That was part of that custom. The older would speak, but he's just had it. He can't, uh, the, they have not impressed him one iota. So he's just bursting at the seams to speak. He just can't hold it in any longer. His anger comes out against Job because he believed he had insulted God because of all his denials of sin. Because he kept denying. Therefore, he's deserving of punishment. But he also felt that Job was more concerned about being right than he was about God being right. And these men had kind of forced themselves into a dilemma, so to speak, by saying, "Either Job's right or God is right. Which one is it?" So they're kind of at a standstill.
What none of them understood is that both were right. We know, 'cause we know the whole story. We know that Job was innocent. And yet they didn't. But they just thought all the punishment was because of some unconfessed sin, something he's been doing. We know God, Job hadn't disrespected God, that he was innocent, but he was questioning God. Okay? But to Elihu, it appeared like something else. And even though he came out hard and fast, he had some good points through his lengthy speech. Unfortunately, like I said before, he's just basically saying, "I'm about to speak. Listen to me. Uh, heed me." Over and over a lot about himself.
Um, >> [sighs and gasps] >> he goes on to say that he doesn't show partiality by flattering anyone, which is great. But he ends up flattering himself because he presents himself as much smarter and wiser and having more understanding than any of these men. It's kind of interesting. He had some good points, like I said. But he's proud. He's worthy, wordy, proud and wordy. But again, he speaks with prophetic power and clarity. So he's kind of all over the page. At times it's all about him and then other times he's just saying amazing things about God. He claims to have listened to all that Job said. He made that very clear. But he really hadn't heard it accurately because he also accused Job of saying he was sinless. Job never said that. The opposite is true. In earlier chapters, you hear Job saying the opposite. Job did say he's greatly wounded by all that he'd gone through, these horrific trials. He also thought they would never end. But he never claimed to be without sin.
Elihu also accused Job of contending with God. And in that part he was correct. Job was questioning God. Um, but he also said, "Job, God doesn't owe you an explanation. He doesn't owe you anything." And that again is correct, too. Because he doesn't owe us an explanation. I'm a why girl, but I don't always get my whys answered, right? We're not always going to know why. That's huge. We need to file that. You may not be in a really difficult storm right now, but when you do, you got to remember God's in control of absolutely everything. Job wanted answers and there just weren't any at the time. Just none. I don't know if he ever got them, actually. Um, and El- Elihu is telling him that God alone has the final say and he must accept it as do we. So he went on to suggest that perhaps God was speaking to him through his physical suffering, through all of his other sufferings as well.
There's an old saying that says it is the crushed grapes that yield the wine. The crushing of the grape is what brings out the wine. A difficult process, right? Suffering can bring about good things in our lives. James 1:2-4. I know you know this. Consider it pure joy, my dear brothers and sisters. And that's joy. That's not a happiness. That's not a laughter and we had a great time. No. But it is a joy, deep abiding joy because you know truth. You know that God is in control. When you know that God is in control and you're walking in faith on those truths, the truth anchors that hold you, you can have joy in the middle of a storm. So consider it pure joy, my dear brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of all different kinds, many different trials, all different flavors, difficulties. Why? Because you know. You know. You're supposed to know this, that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance have its perfect work. Why? Why do I have to let it? I don't like that word perseverance. I think of perspire. It sounds like it's going to hurt. Okay? So and I hate to perspire. So, um, but let perseverance have its perfect work so that you may be mature. Don't we all want to be mature? You know, there's nothing worse than being around grown adults who are really immature. So that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. I want to feel that way. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Because he provides everything. He's done a good work. And if we are to consider and count difficult things to be pure joy, what should the end result be? What would it be? James says that these testings and trials will produce that perseverance. And why do we need it? Well, the word means to be resolute, diligent, purposeful, dedicated, devoted, able to endure, steadfast, and firm. Now, I love that. I want that in my life, don't you? Or do you like being the woman who absolutely falls apart, is freaking out, full of worry, stressing, wringing your hands, um, just losing it? No. None of us like that picture, do we? It's not a pretty picture. So Jamin James encourages us to let those trials and testings that God allows in our life, for whatever reason, whether you understand it or not, he's allowed it. Let them have their perfect word. So in other words, we're not to fight them. We're not to complain about them. And that may take some time when you work through, uh, a trial.
Many years ago, that, that same trial, man, God showed me so many amazing things, but some of the verses he showed me, Philippians 4:6-8, that be anxious for nothing verse, you know that one? Um, I argued with him for a long time. I'm going to say months. God, you know what? I believe in your word. I know it's all true, but that be anxious for nothing, that's impossible. It's impossible. And you know what? He so busted me. Took me a while to hear it. But in the middle of that verse, are two little commas holding two little words that say, "with Thanksgiving." You pray with Thanksgiving. And he said, Lisa, you're not thankful. And I was like, oh, no, I'm not. There's nothing to be thankful for. There's not one good thing. But I began to daily make a practice of taking thoughts captive, of writing down what I could be thankful for in that moment, no matter how small it was. Because what it started to do was change my mind to think another way. Kind of like rewiring your brain. And when you practice being thankful, you can't be worrying and thankful. It doesn't work. But when you're thankful, you won't worry. That's something. It's a beautiful truth. Truth anchor, there you go for the day.
All right. So all those beautiful attributes I just read, what perseverance can do, needs to become a part of who we are. That's who we are. We're resolute. We're purposeful. We're firm. We're diligent. We're committed. Because it's how we're supposed to roll, ladies, as Christians. That should be our witness and our testimony of who we are as women of God. To live that out means you'll get that new perspective when you do suffer. Not only when you suffer, but how you suffer. 'Cause it'll make a big difference. Oswald Chambers had a good word on suffering. He said, "We all know people who have made much, oh, who have been made much meaner and more irritable and more intolerable to live with by suffering. It is not right to say that all suffering perfects. It only perfects one type of person. The one who accepts the call of God in Christ Jesus." I love that. Accept the call. What is the call? That what path has he put you on? In what way might you be suffering or in the future? That's why it's important to file all of the things that you learn so that you don't forget. That's why we have to remind ourselves and remind each other. And be a blessing in that time. But accepting the call is key. Knowing that he has a plan in it, whatever we're going through, good or bad. He's in control.
It would also mean that we are applying what Paul stated when he was in his troubles. That man had so many troubles. So many. Stoned. I, I mean, people trying to kill him with rocks. That's what that means. Um, and just shipwrecked, beaten, almost killed many times. So many people hated him. But in his trouble, he kept his mind. He reminded himself. Second Corinthians 4:8-10. Uh, "We are troubled on every side. Every side. Not one side. You might be troubled on one side right now. No, he said, we're troubled on every side, yet we're not distressed. We are perplexed, but we're not in despair. Perplexed, you know, a little confused. Things don't make sense. But not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed." Isn't that beautiful? Suffering and difficulties definitely have a purpose. And it's not to destroy you. It's to cause you to mature and to grow.
Our young Elihu had some other good statements throughout these chapters. As he brought about the idea of suffering and its use for spiritual discipline and chastening. Yes, ladies, we can be disobedient sheep. We can be very naughty. I know that Pastor Jack recently talked about a naughty sheep and how, you know, the little ones that, you know, the worst comes to worst, the shepherd might have to break their little leg and then he carries them around his neck. And as they're healing, they become so in such close contact, contact with the shepherd's voice. That, oh, when they're all healed up and down, they don't disobey anymore. 'Cause they know his voice and they know he means what he says. We need to know God that way. That we wouldn't have to always be getting in trouble and always doing the wrong thing. Where he has to discipline us. Our heavenly Father allows us to suffer so that we learn lessons. I don't know about you. Maybe you were a really good kid. Maybe you were the obedient child of the family. I was not. I was the baby of the nine. And you get a little feisty when you're down there because it's not fair. How come they get to, you know? So I had to learn the hard way. And but I, you know what, looking back, I kind of appreciate I was a little stinker. Because I know how to handle when I gave birth to a little stinker. And now my daughter, one of my daughters has a little stinker. And I'm like, see, there you go. You deserve it. No, I'm kidding. That's what you want to say. But it's difficult. No, in fact, they're doing so well, much better than I did, that I always tell my daughter and her husband, you guys are going to have a special reward in heaven. Because her little guy is, he's, he, he's a lot worse than what she was. She, I thought she was bad. He's like, [laughter] and they're handling it overall really well. And I'm like, you guys keep going. The luck of the Lord be with you.
>> [laughter] >> Right? Okay. Um, but many times when I've suffered, he's humbled me. Oh, he's humbled me. And I appreciate that. 'Cause I don't want to be a prideful weird woman. Um, looking back, I, I'm thankful for the troubling times that have been in my life because I've learned the deepest lessons. You know, I don't enjoy being up here. I'm not a public speaker. I'm not a good teacher, whatever. I'm just sharing my heart. But, um, probably 15 years ago, I, I was pulling in the parking lot one day and, um, just, you know, you get those butterflies in your tummy and you're just nervous and I was like, oh God, when are you going to take this away from me? And he said, I'm not, Lisa. And I was like, oh. And he said, this is what keeps you humble. I'm okay with that. Remember, I'm the why girl. When someone tells me why, oh. Okay. If that's what you have to do in my life to keep me humble, bring it on. I, really, I, I'm okay with that. I love answers. So I can so relate to Job when he didn't get his answers. But boy, what a blessing at the end.
Anyways, Galatians 6 talks about the things that we sow into our lives. You know that principle, the sowing, the reaping. Um, the crushing of the wine, remember? That crushing. Olives too have to be pressed to get that precious olive oil. The beauty of that. So while these three older men concluded Job's issues stemmed from unrepentant sin, Elihu kept more on the topic of why we suffer. And this is actually a very good, um, lesson that he taught in that. All about suffering. He came from a different angle. It was very interesting. He brought out many different points and it really preparing for God to speak in next week's chapters.
But chapter 34, Elihu began his second speech and he was pretty much denouncing Job for losing faith and denying the justice of God. And maybe because Job didn't respond after the first speech, he thought he's just got to keep going. And coming on strong. A few times he tried to quote Job and he quoted him inaccurately. And doesn't that happen sometimes when we're angry? Can't remember who's angry. So he's misquoting. And sometimes we do that. We'll exaggerate something or it's how it hit us what they said because we're mad. So it doesn't come across right. We don't hear things correctly because we're upset. And and truth be told, in chapter 10, uh, Job did say some things that were very exaggerated. Now, I give him a lot of grace because what he was going through is nothing really to exaggerate. It was just horrible. So he's saying some things that are not true, but these were his feelings that he's sharing. And when we're in pain, sometimes that happens. He said something like, you know, God, God has fashioned me, but he's going to destroy me, you know? So that's how he was feeling. He made me. I know that. I have that faith. I understand that. But look at my life. He's going to destroy me. Not, not true where he's landing, but we can understand why he's thinking that way. The fact that Job wrestled with the justice of God and the character of God shows that he was human. If he hadn't wrestled that way, ladies, and we just read through this and he was amazing, uh, you know, remember at the very beginning, he just boom, took it well. Uh, the book wouldn't exist. Because it's all the wrestling. But that's why it's there for us because of all this wrestling that we do in our life.
Chapter 10 was a powerful chapter that we looked at 'cause it showed those feelings of being abandoned by God. When you're going through something, you don't feel him there. This is why we cannot trust our feelings. Our feelings will betray us. And especially betray us from the truth. In chapter 12, Job said that he felt it seemed like people who provoked God and you know, did terrible things, they were secure. While the righteous and the blameless are made a laughing stock. Why is he saying that? He's saying that 'cause that's how he feels. And we can understand that we've probably all felt that way. To Elihu though, that meant Job thought God could and would do wrong. And that was unacceptable. True statement. He was right in that because God cannot sin. So you can see where some of these arguments come from. He thought Jo- Job was condemning God, but it was an unfair opinion of course because Job's agony is deeply rooted in what he is suffering and yet he did love God. He did understand the justice of God. But that's why he's struggling. Elihu thought he had to defend God, that he has to step in that place saying he's just and he's fair, he's sovereign, he's good, he's in control of everything. So what I'm saying is there were nuggets that Elihu shared to redirect Job.
>> [snorts] >> But our lives are never out of his control. Sometimes it's not what we say, it's how we say it, right? Have you ever burned in anger and spoke to someone and said things you wish you hadn't or wish you hadn't said it so much or wish you could take it back, but the toothpaste is out of the tube and there is no getting it back in there. So we have to be careful. Did you say things that maybe you know, just hurt others? You could tell by the look on the face and no matter how many times you apologized, they never forgot it, right? By his own admission, Elihu in in 32:18 said, "I am full of words." He's just busting at the seams. So not always the best. Ephesians 4:15 tells us to speak the truth, which Elihu did throughout, but it also says to do it in love. And because his anger was so aroused, things didn't probably come out quite the way they should have. But love is the key, isn't it, ladies? It is the key. We can say a lot of words, but no one's listening when we're angry. When someone was really angry at you, do you really remember what they said or do you just remember what they look like? And how much it hurt you? Right? That's really what you remember. It's interesting. Our words are can be a blessing or a cursing. James 1:19 says to be quick to listen, quick to listen. Don't you love that? I know I'm sure you've heard it. We have two ears. That means we should be doing double the listening and one mouth. Quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Slow. When we're feeling that, take deep breath. Think before you speak. Pray and ask the Lord to give you the right words.
So I must say that once Elihu calmed down, he did end on a good word. The last chapter, 37, shows the reverence and fear of God that Elihu had. He gives a lot of truth about who God is and his character and it actually is beautiful. He remind, he reminded Job of things he probably knew that was just all head knowledge at the time. Job knew these things. I don't think they were new to him, but sometimes we need to refresh our memory and remind ourselves of how awesome God is because when we lose sight of the power and majesty of God in a given situation, we allow the circumstances to weigh on us, we get overwhelmed, we will begin to float out to sea and we are lost. God has become small in our thinking because our problem is so big. We just sang that song, magnify. Magnify. Psalm 34:3-5. We need to practice what the psalmist taught. Oh, magnify the Lord. Make him big. Because ladies, when we're going through difficulties, our problem is magnified. Everywhere we turn, it's huge. It's difficult. We can't see the way out. This is for our destruction, just like Job. I'm doomed. There's no way out. This is never going to end. That's how we think. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. Let us exalt his name. Let's lift him high. Worship him. That's the time when you're about to lose it, when you're overwhelmed, when you're feeling anxious, go and spend time in worship even if you don't feel like it. Often our obedience then kicks in to where our thoughts should be. You don't feel like reading your Bible. You don't feel like worshipping God, but if you do it and you fight past your feelings to do the right thing regardless, the beauty of the Lord's power will kick in. Because he blesses obedience.
Okay, so then the rest of those verses I love. "I sought the Lord." So first, magnify him, exalt his name, and seek him. "I sought the Lord and what did he do? He heard me and delivered me from most of my fears. All. All of them." When we're anxious, we can become fearful because we don't understand, because it's scary, 'cause we can't see the way out. He delivered me from all my fears. "They looked at him and were radiant and their faces were not ashamed." How often when we're walking in a bad place and we're not obeying, we are shamed. Our light is dim and people can see it. Are you okay? Is there something you need? No, no, everything's fine. Total lie. We look at that as a white lie. It's not a white lie, it's a lie. Just say, yeah, I'm going through a hard time. I could use your prayer. You don't have to give all the details, but let's not lie about things. Because if that's a person who will pray, let them pray. What are we afraid of? May we not be ashamed or fearful in our trials. May we make him big in our lives and remember who he is.
Job is a man worth remembering for many reasons, but the way he suffered in all these trials. I want to remind you. Do you recall him saying these things after he lost everything? Job 1:21. "Naked I came from my mother's womb." Now that's after he's lost all his children, too. "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." That's amazing. He knew the sovereignty of God. These men were accusing him that he didn't. He actually did. It was a truth anchor holding him. He didn't float out to sea, but he did question. It's okay. That's why God says in Isaiah, "Hey, let's reason together, you and I. Though your sins are as scarlet, right? I'll make them white as snow." I love that he let me argue with him that day. It's impossible. Okay, he was right. He's always right. But go ahead and argue with him. He can take it. He'd much rather you be open and honest and vulnerable with him than to just not talk to him at all. Talk to him.
Job 2:10 said, "Shall we accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity?" He knew that true faith accepts both joy and suffering. That's huge, ladies. Don't discount the truth of that. He said that to his wife, right? So, and this guy is suffering, but do you accept that truth? Do you understand that? Is that something you hold on to? Job 5:18, he said, "For God, he bruises, but he binds up. He wounds, but his hands make whole." Still speaking truth. Chapter five, ladies, he's hurting. He's grieving. Now he's in absolute physical, agonizing pain. And he's got few guys there accusing him. And that's the kind of thing he says. It's amazing. He knew God was able to heal and restore even after pain and suffering. He didn't give up. He didn't turn his back on God. Do you trust him to do the same for you?
Job 10:12, "You have granted me life and favor, and your care has preserved my spirit." I tell you that's amazing. When you look every few chapters, he's saying something like this and he's being accused of the opposite. Yet, he knows these things. It's hard to believe that he can say that in the midst of everything he was going through. Would you be able to declare the same? What about Job 13:15, "Though he slay me, yet I will trust him." Unbelievable. His declaration of faith shows Job's unwavering trust in God even in the face of great despair. So, are you anchored in the truth of his word and who God is in your life? Do you know that?
Job 19:25, "For I know that my redeemer lives." Verse 26, "And after my skin is destroyed." 'Cause remember, it is horrible. "This I know." So, here comes the hope, ladies. "That in my flesh, I shall see God." This guy's amazing. Such a profound statement of hope and faith in God's ultimate justice and redemption. He knew it. Would you have that same hope if you were in that type of pain? I have been very encouraged by this man as I've seen, um, his struggles, and I know you all have, too. I'm sure you've been able to pick up on some of the beauty of those verses that I just read. Just amazing. Because our faith has to remain strong. Has to be anchored deep. Secure so that when the storms of life come our way, we aren't sent out to sea to perish. I know so many that have. Maybe you know some, too. And they've gotten so hopeless and in great despair. And you might even look at their life and think, "Oh my gosh, it's, it's horrible. There are so many things there." But, what did you get out of Job that you can minister to them in hope and love? So, that is my prayer is that we all would be able to take from Job the beautiful lessons that we've all learned. I can't wait for next week, though.
Let's pray. Dear heavenly Father, ah, you're so good, Lord. Thank you, God, for the many things that you've shown us. Thank you. Thank you for using Job. I thank you it's not the book of Lisa and I had to go through all that. I've gone through difficulties, but certainly not in comparison to his. Lord, I pray that you would bless each one of us with the power of your Holy Spirit that we would walk in the will and way of almighty God. That we wouldn't compare ourselves to others, look to the left or the right, but that we'd stay on the ancient path. Whatever path that is that you have called for us. Each one of us is going to have a different path. And we must accept that your will is okay with us. That we will walk in whatever you've given us, good, bad, or ugly. We will magnify you in it. We will look for those morsels to be thankful for. We would rejoice that we would count it joy when we do fall into those situations, which sounds so crazy to the world out there to think you could ever do that, that you would have any peace, have the peace that surpasses all understanding. But, that you, you guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. That's a miraculous thing. The world might look at, look at us like we're crazy, but they're supposed to. We're supposed to be so different than them. So, Lord, I pray you'd bless these women. I pray you'd bless the group time as they share. I pray, Lord, beautiful blessings upon them. And Lord, that you'd bind the enemy, but if you choose not to, just like with Job, you allowed the enemy to cause suffering for Job, that Lord, these ladies would walk in the power of your almighty spirit, not in their flesh, not trying to figure it out, not thinking they're strong enough because they're not. Neither am I. But, Lord, that we would trust you through it each and every day. We thank you, Lord, for what you're going to do. In Jesus' name, amen.