A loved one dies. You lose your job unexpectedly. Your spouse walks out on you. You’re working harder than ever and money is still low. Your marriage is crumbling. You’ve tried to raise your children in a Christian home and instead they consistently rebel. You obey God as best you can but still…no husband…no wife…no prospects. You’re in and out of the hospital and the medical bills keep coming in. How do you even begin to have hope that your situation will ever change? How can you still have faith in a God who has the power to change your situation but chooses not to?
There is a man in Scripture who can relate to what you may be facing today, and his name is Job. He lost all his wealth (Job 1:16), all TEN of his children (Job 1:18), and he lost his health (Job 2:7). He lost…everything…everything that was dear to him. I believe he is our example for how to trust God when everything in us wants to quit and give up. The first lesson we learn from him is to…
#1 – Be Real about Where you are Right Now
(Trust God with your PRESENT)
As we read the story of Job, I see that he expressed at least 3 very REAL emotions.
Loss of Hope
What strength do I have that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?
Job 6:11-13
Essentially what Job was saying is probably the same thing you may be thinking right now. “When I look at my situation I don’t see any prospects or signs that anything will change any time soon.”
Loneliness
When you are experiencing trials, loneliness is a natural emotion to experience. Job said,
13 “He has alienated my family from me;
my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My relatives have gone away;
my closest friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner;
they look on me as on a stranger.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer,
though I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
I am loathsome to my own family.
Job 19:13-17
He felt alone. He had all of these people around him but they just couldn’t understand what he was going through. Although they tried to comfort and console him, their presence wasn’t enough to take away the pain. Have you ever felt that way?
Frustration with God
Finally, Job was frustrated with God about his situation.
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter;
my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his seat!
8 “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
9 on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
Job 23:1-9
Can I paraphrase? “God, I’ve been searching for you EVERYWHERE! I’ve been going to church, studying my Bible, giving You my money, praying, fasting and you are NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!” We don’t like to admit we are having these thoughts because many people think it’s not spiritual to admit you are frustrated with God. But let’s be honest…IT’S NATURAL! In our hearts we cry out, “God you alone have the power to change my situation and you sit up there and do nothing!”
Job did not sugarcoat his feelings with God or with those around him. He didn’t keep it in. For over 30 chapters he EXPRESSED his emotions. He didn’t hide behind a guise of spirituality. He was REAL about where he was and trusted that God was big enough to deal with his PRESENT grief. If you’re hurting today, be real about how you’re feeling and where you are. God can handle it (He already knows anyway).
#2 – Meditate on God’s Past Faithfulness
(Trust God by looking back into the PAST)
Faithfulness in Your Past
When I was 30 years old I was unemployed…couldn’t collect unemployment, had lots of bills, had recently gotten out of a difficult relationship, was living with my sister and I had 3 degrees (2 advanced degrees (I say this because it added to my perplexity as to how I could have found myself in this situation)). I questioned what God was doing, why He was doing it, and how long I would be in this dreadful season. Had He forgotten me? Did He still have a plan for my life? Then after a couple of years everything in my life began to change. Doors began to open and opportunities came my way. I now can look back and see why God allowed me to go through that season. It was first because He wanted my faith to be stronger. He wanted my faith to be REAL rather than the mere head knowledge I had learned in seminary. Also, He wanted me to be able to teach others with an assurance that I really believed what I was teaching others to believe. Finally, He wanted me to have this experience to draw from the next time I found myself in a similar season.
Faithfulness to people in the Word
As I look in the Scriptures I see a laundry list of people who experienced very difficult situations. There is Abraham who had to wait 25 years to see God’s promise of a child. There is Moses who made one mistake and for 40 years it seemed like God had forgotten about him until God met him in a burning bush. There’s David who was promised as a teenager he would be a king only to be attacked and driven away leading him to make his home in a cave. There’s Hannah who desperately longed to have just one child and while she was waiting for God to open her womb she had to live in the same house with her husband and his side chick and watch her pop out babies left and right (1 Sam. 1). Fast forward to the NT and we see Paul being stoned, shipwrecked, beaten with clubs, and imprisoned all for preaching the gospel. And as I was reading these stories I started thinking to myself, “Who am I to think that I should receive a free pass that would exempt me from any and all suffering when all of these biblical heavyweights had to endure their share?” My point in sharing these is to encourage you. YOU. ARE. NOT. ALONE. Peter said,
…standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
1 Pet. 5:9
But my encouragement really came when I continued to read about how faithful God was to each of the aforementioned people. I saw that even though it wasn’t in their timing God still came through for them. When I looked at what God had done for them and what He had done for me countless times in my life, I drew encouragement that I could trust Him to be faithful…again. Sometimes this is the ONLY thread you have to hold on to.
#3 – Trust that God is in Control
(Trust God with your FUTURE)
If there is one thing that the book of Job teaches us is that no matter how things appear, God is in absolute and total control. From the opening chapter (when He allows Satan to attack Job) to the end of the book (when He restores Job’s family and fortune), it is clear that God is running the show and that although Job may not realize it, he is not out of God’s radar. One of my favorite verses in the ENTIRE book is found in Job 23:10. After spending 9 verses complaining about how he cannot find God, Job asserts…
But He knows the way that I take; and when He has tested me I will come out as gold.
In other words Job was saying, “God I may not be able to find you but you know every step I take.” He was assured that even though He couldn’t see God, God’s eye was on him.
In Job 38-41, God fires off a series of satirical questions that Job obviously has no answer for. One of which is…
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. (Since you think you’re SO smart)
Job 38:4
In a sarcastic way God wanted Job to realize that his finite mind could not begin to understand God’s overall plan for humanity or His plan his life, more specifically. If God is big enough to have created the world then He is big enough to control it. When negative things happen don’t assume that God is out of control. If you are a Christian you are saved today because God allowed the most negative thing a person could think of to happen to His own Son Jesus. As negative as the cross was God had a bigger plan that clearly demonstrated He was still in total control of HIStory.
Summary
I’m not sure what you are facing today but be encouraged. Weeping may endure for a night but joy WILL come in the morning. This is a season you are going through. As the old folks used to say, “you may not be able to trace God’s hand, but you can trust His heart.” For a fuller treatment of this issue I invite you to listen to my sermon “When Dreams become Nightmares.” I trust it will encourage you.