Praising God in the Storm: A Call to Trust

• The Book of Job and Suffering [00:24:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the Book of Job as the oldest book of the Bible and the source of the age-old question of why bad things happen to good people.
• Job's Character and Blessings [00:25:38 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes Job as blameless, upright, fearing God, and possessing great wealth and family before his suffering began.
• Satan's Challenge to God [00:33:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains Satan's argument that Job only fears God because of his blessings, leading to the request to strike everything Job has.
• Job's Catastrophic Losses [00:35:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor details the series of tragedies: death of livestock, theft of camels, and the death of all his children in a windstorm.
• The Nature of Suffering [00:32:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes that Job's suffering was epic and unimaginable, serving as a lesson for believers facing their own storms.
• Response to Suffering [00:36:49 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts turning from God and blaming Him with turning toward God and praising Him, using Job's reaction to his losses as the primary example.
• Personal Testimony of Loss [00:39:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares the story of his brother Jeff's death in a car accident to illustrate personal grief, the temptation to blame God, and the choice to worship God despite the pain.
• Faithfulness Amidst Doubt [00:45:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses Job's friends blaming him for sin and his wife's advice to 'curse God and die,' highlighting Job's refusal to sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
• Divine Testing and Refinement [00:46:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that God allows hardship to test faith and develop a 'powerful testimony,' citing Job's statement that he would 'come forth as gold' after being tested.
• Human Limitation vs. Divine Wisdom [00:49:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the final lesson from Job 38, where God questions Job, teaching that humans should not presume to be greater or more knowledgeable than God.
• God's Sovereignty and Human Limitation [00:49:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites Job 38 to illustrate that God's plans are beyond human understanding, urging believers to trust God rather than questioning His wisdom.
• The Purpose of Suffering [00:52:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that suffering is not meaningless but serves to test faith and bring believers face-to-face with God, citing Job 42:5.
• God's Redemptive Work in Suffering [00:53:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using Romans 8:28, the pastor argues that God works for the good of those who love Him, turning darkness into light and providing spiritual growth.
• Christ's Suffering and Salvation [00:56:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects Job's story to Jesus' suffering on the cross, explaining that Jesus endured pain to provide salvation and forgiveness for sinners.
• Evangelistic Invitation [00:58:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites listeners to admit their need for a Savior and experience the peace of Jesus, leading into a prayer of confession and faith.

• Sermon Illustration [00:29:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about driving by a huge fallen pine tree in Barium Springs, noting that it fell safely without hitting a car, contrasting it with a tragic news story of a tree falling on a woman.
• Sermon Illustration [00:30:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references recent news of devastating floods in Texas that killed young girls, using it as an example of tragic events that prompt hard questions about God.
• Sermon Illustration [00:39:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story about the death of his brother, Jeff, who was killed in a car accident when a distracted driver hit his car at a stoplight. He describes the pain of the loss, the temptation to blame God, and how he chose to worship God and trust that he would see Jeff again in heaven.
• Sermon Illustration [00:43:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of Job's wife advising him to 'curse God and die' when he was suffering from painful sores, illustrating the lack of empathy and support Job faced.
• Sermon Illustration [00:48:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares the story of his brother-in-law Jeff, who passed away, and describes how God cared for Jeff's family, including his daughters and son who is now a youth pastor.
• Sermon Illustration [00:49:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of Job, highlighting his suffering, his questions to God, and his eventual restoration and faithfulness.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the suffering of Jesus on the cross as the ultimate example of God working through pain for a specific purpose (salvation).

• Pastoral Charge [00:58:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor requests the congregation to stand for a prayer.
• Pastoral Charge [00:58:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites listeners to confess their sin and accept Jesus as Savior for the first time.
• Pastoral Charge [01:00:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor leads a prayer of salvation, asking listeners to profess faith in Jesus and ask Him to be their Lord.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:11:04] Here to watermark for a snack for to seeing y'all there that need to be filled. Saturday is a great way to get out in the community, make an impression, and leave a mark for Jesus Christ. So scan that QR code in your bulletin to get signed up for one of those events. Last but not least, mark your calendars. October 18th, we're going to have our Fall Festival. More details to come, but for now, just make sure you've earmarked the date. Alright, with that, let's continue worship.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:12:16] tries to steal the joy I'd be shaking my fear my fear doesn't stand

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:12:38] a chance when I'm standing your love and a chance when a chance with our hands up, lifted

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:21:21] to our high king the one who loves us and we thank you so much father for loving us for giving us all the many blessings for sacrificing yourself for us Lord, we ask that if there's anyone here that is suffering, needing, wanting, feeling in pain,
[00:21:44] that, Father, you come and you wrap their arms around them.
[00:21:48] Fill them with peace, Father, peace that I've learned from you.
[00:21:53] Lord, you have done so much, and we can't thank you enough.
[00:21:59] And, Father, I ask all of this in your precious Son's name.
[00:22:03] Amen.

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:22:37] Well, good morning.
[00:22:38] Hey, and happy Labor Day to you.
[00:22:41] You know, it's the last, what, unofficial last weekend of summer, right?
[00:22:46] You know, kind of the end of it, the end of a great season.
[00:22:50] How many of you are sad to see summer go, right?
[00:22:53] Yeah, a lot of you are.
[00:22:54] How many of you are happy to see the heat go, though, right?
[00:22:59] So I am looking forward to that.
[00:23:00] I love the fall season.
[00:23:02] I just do.
[00:23:03] It's my favorite season of the year.
[00:23:05] You know, when it starts getting cool, that humidity, especially in the south here, we experience it.
[00:23:09] when that starts to go away, man, life just starts to feel really good.
[00:23:13] I love this season. I'm looking forward to it and I'm excited about it. But I'm glad you're here today. You're one of the few who didn't get to go to the beach this weekend, right? Some of our
[00:23:23] friends are down there, I'm sure. So you're here for a really good sermon today because we're finishing up a series we've been in all summer long, calling this series Legendary. And we've been looking at some of the remarkable heroes of our faith that are captured in God's word we're
[00:23:40] in part 15 so we've covered a lot of remarkable people and characters that again are found in God's word and if you missed any I hope you'll go back and listen so I say we're wrapping up this
[00:23:51] series in a lot of ways kind of not because we're gonna dig into one more remarkable hero of our faith but we're gonna spend a long time in his light because we have to and kind of like we did
[00:24:04] with Moses last year, but I'm not going to tell you who it is yet. You're going to have to tune in to our e-newsletter later this week, and I'll reveal that in my little video. So if you're not
[00:24:14] getting the e-news, make sure you get that. But today we're going to talk about a fellow that you probably heard of. Even those who don't yet believe have heard of Job. His story, his suffering is renowned and people know his story in fact his book the book of Job in the
[00:24:34] Bible is considered by many scholars the oldest book of the Bible did you know that so Job's suffering is well known in fact it's a story that prompts an age-old question maybe one you've asked
[00:24:48] maybe one a friend of yours or one you're working to lead to Christ has asked why do bad things happen to good people. You ever heard that? You know, it's a hard question, but believers know,
[00:25:03] we trust that God is always at work no matter what, and that nothing happens in this world by accident. Again, God is always at work. He can bring about good in the same way that we sang in
[00:25:16] the very first song today. You know, Job's story is one that is filled with epic suffering. I call him the broken-hearted, heartbroken believer because even as a believer, he suffered unspeakable tragedy and heartache. And when we meet Job, he seems to have it all. Take a look at Job chapter
[00:25:38] 1 verses 1 through 3. And if you want to follow along in your Bible, you're welcome to do that or in your outline. In the land of Uz, there lived a man whose name was Job. The man was blameless.
[00:25:50] He was upright. He feared God. He shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys. He had a large number of servants.
[00:26:08] Note this, he was the greatest man among all the people of the east. Have you ever noticed that in Job's story? The greatest man, even the greatest aren't exempt from suffering, right?
[00:26:22] So Job was on top of the world. He was a well-liked, genuinely good. He was a God-fearing man. He had a beautiful, large family, a thriving business. Now all seemed to be right in Job's
[00:26:36] world until it wasn't. And suddenly his life was turned upside down. The question is what happened and why did it happen and how could it happen? How did Job respond? And the most important question
[00:26:49] for you and me is what can we learn from his faith story? What does it teach us? Because here's the truth. Some of you are in a very dark season of your life right now, a season of suffering,
[00:27:03] and you're not sure what to do. You're not sure even how to respond. You know, some of you maybe you have friends who are walking through what seems to be for them a tunnel of chaos and they're
[00:27:14] looking to you for answers for encouragement for inspiration you're not sure what to tell them some of you have experienced tremendous pain and suffering in your life it's a kind of pain that's left you reeling maybe you wonder how God could work in a situation like yours and how you can
[00:27:33] respond in faith even as you grieve as you suffer as you mourn listen I don't know where you are in your faith journey I don't know where you are in life's journey but I'm confident of this that you
[00:27:48] are not here today by accident I believe the Lord has you here today or tuned in today on purpose and for a purpose I think he has much to teach you to teach me today from Job's story about how
[00:28:02] God works in his life and how God will work in our lives, even through our suffering and pain and heartache, no matter what we endure in this life. But before we dig into God's work today,
[00:28:17] let's pray. Lord, I just thank you so much for the opportunity you've given us to come into your house God to to lift you up to praise you you are worthy of our adoration God worthy of our praise
[00:28:33] and Lord as we open your word to hear from you today I pray that you'll speak to the hearts of every person in this room we're watching today God we have heard Job's story maybe we've heard
[00:28:47] of his suffering and God we wonder what is that about and what does it mean to us I pray that you open our eyes today God because the truth is there are people in this room today who are suffering
[00:28:59] they're experiencing heartbreak and loss and pain right now so I pray God that you encourage them and inspire them God that you'll convict them or change them today through your word I know that you can, I think that you will. I pray all this in Jesus' holy name. Amen. So I'm going to ask
[00:29:20] you a rhetorical question. I believe I know the answer. Have you ever experienced inexplicable pain and suffering in this world? Some of you may be experiencing that right now. Some of you have experienced heartache and loss in the past. And if you haven't, then just wait. Because my experience
[00:29:40] is that life this side of heaven is far from perfect. Amen. You know, sadly, we see it all the time. You know, I was writing in a Troutman recently. In fact, even this morning, I noticed
[00:29:53] that this huge tree had fallen from up an embankment over here on the other side of Barium Springs out 21. Maybe you saw it as big pine tree. Can't hardly get my arms around it,
[00:30:03] I wouldn't think. And I told my wife as I drove by it, I said, you know, I'm glad because I would have heard, I'm glad that there wasn't a car that was passing under that tree at the moment that it
[00:30:14] came down. Because I'd read recently in an article where a tree did that. It came down exactly on top of a car of a woman in her 30s as she passed under it. Unfortunately, she did not survive.
[00:30:28] In the article, they called it an act of God. You know, there are all kinds of tragic events that happen every day. The news stations love to glorify them, especially weather-related tragedies. I hear some thunderstorms out there. You can bet that the weather stations have warnings that it's going on,
[00:30:47] right? You know, who can forget those devastating floods that ravaged that camp in Texas last summer that killed so many of those young girls? It was devastating. I can't imagine the pain suffering those girls families experienced you know many of us have seen or experienced the
[00:31:05] devastation caused by floods or by hurricanes or by other natural disasters you know we see them all the time in the news we see the consequences of what happens when those disasters occur we see
[00:31:21] consequences of disease that leave people devastating and shaking their heads there are so many grievous events that happen in this world that might spur us to ask hard questions including why a lot of people do you know to be clear the last thing we want to do is to try to offer trite
[00:31:43] and simple answers for what may seem like a very complex question but i want you to understand that the bible answers those questions to a certain degree and it offers us a tremendous amount of insight. And we can learn a lot from Job's story. In fact, the suffering that Job experienced
[00:32:01] is truly epic. It is unimaginable. You'll see that today. The heartache, the loss that this man endured is greater, I think, than any of us will ever endure. I think this is one of the
[00:32:17] reasons that Job's story is captured in God's Word. In fact, I would encourage you, if you're taking notes to write this down it's our first lesson today and I'll give you five from his story
[00:32:28] I think the first is this that no matter what suffering you experience in this life you'd be hard-pressed to argue it was greater than Job's and it was tough now listen I know that doesn't
[00:32:40] offer much solace when you're settling through your own storm or walking through your fire I certainly don't mean to discount any suffering that you're going through that you've been through in your life. But Job endured monumental heartbreak and loss. So his story begins by
[00:32:58] telling us about this huge family, which I talked about earlier. He had seven sons and three daughters. He was, you know, an owner of a booming farming business. He was highly regarded in his community. I said he was the greatest, right? People thought he was the greatest man
[00:33:14] of the East. He was a good, God-honoring believer. In fact, in Job 1.1, it tells us this man, he was blameless. He was upright. He feared God. He shunned evil. So the Bible tells us that Satan
[00:33:30] presented himself before God one day, and God asked him, what do you think of Job? Satan essentially told God that Job only honored God because God had blessed him. In fact, take a look at verses
[00:33:46] nine and following. Here's what Satan said to God. Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied, have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You blessed the work of his hands so that his flocks and the herds are spread throughout the land.
[00:34:02] But now, stretch out your hand and strike everything he has.
[00:34:06] And he'll surely curse you to your face.
[00:34:11] Satan wanted to prove that Job only feared, he only loved and honored God because God had blessed him, because God had been good to him.
[00:34:21] In other words, Satan essentially said, let him face some heartache, God.
[00:34:26] Let him face some suffering.
[00:34:28] Then we'll see his true heart.
[00:34:30] surely he'll curse you in that moment you know I think it's true to a large degree Satan's not wrong when he says that you know how we respond to heartache says a lot about what we believe
[00:34:44] about God about our faith in him so soon Job's troubles began a series of messengers brought him terrible news first his donkeys his oxen the workers who were with them were attacked they were killed. Then his sheep and shepherds were killed in a fire. After that, he was told
[00:35:06] that his camels were stolen, that is, their caregivers were slaughtered. Moments later, he got the horrible news that all of his sons, all of his daughters who had been together at their oldest brother's house for dinner had been killed when the house collapsed on them
[00:35:24] during a windstorm. In a series of tragic events, Job lost nearly everything that he had. Everything that mattered to him. And I don't think that there's any greater loss in this world than to experience the loss of a child. Those of you who have gone through that or you know someone who
[00:35:43] has, you know how devastating and heartbreaking and gut-wrenching that is. So Satan must have believe he had gotten to this man right to this God-fearing man to Job Job went from seeming to have it all to literally losing it all in no time could you imagine who would want to right
[00:36:05] so what would you have done in Job's situation you know what have you done when you've experienced grievous and tragic and heartbreaking loss in your own life because you probably have what if you do what are you gonna do when something catastrophic happens to you you know
[00:36:24] we don't like to think about that do we we don't want to talk about it we pray that it never happens but you know again this world is far from perfect and satan is definitely roaming around he's
[00:36:34] creating havoc and chaos but i don't have to tell you that do you here's the first lesson or second lesson for you and me today, that when you experience suffering, you can turn from God
[00:36:49] and blame him, or you can turn toward God and praise him. So what do you think Job did? Remember Satan believed that he would turn from God. Do you remember that? So let's take a look at verses 20
[00:37:04] and following of chapter 1. At this, Job got up, he tore his robe, he shaved his head, and then he fell to the ground in worship and he said naked i came from my mother's womb naked i will depart the lord
[00:37:19] gave and the lord has taken away by the may the name of the lord be praised and all this job did not sin by charging god with wrongdoing now job knew that he had brought nothing with him when he
[00:37:33] came into this world and he would leave in exactly the same way just like you just like me He recognized that anything he had in this world was a blessing from God given to him by God.
[00:37:47] So no matter his circumstance, Job chose not to blame God, but to praise God.
[00:37:55] So amazingly, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
[00:38:01] He never blamed God.
[00:38:03] Instead, he fell to his knees and he worshiped God.
[00:38:08] what a glorious illustration of remarkable resilient faith you know the truth is many would be tempted to turn from god in that situation and in fact many do turn from him and they face tragedy or laws or heartbreak and i've seen it and some of you have too
[00:38:28] some of you may have been tempted to turn from god in the midst of loss or pain or heartache now that's not to say that you or I can't cry that we can't grieve or mourn when we endure pain or
[00:38:42] or loss in life in fact you should if you didn't I think it would be unhealthy but when we grieve and even ask hard questions we can do it without sinning or blaming God or charging God with
[00:38:55] wrongdoing I'm sure that Job grieved deeply don't you in fact at one point he regretted that he was ever born he spent some time really seriously lamenting his birth and in Job chapter 3 but still
[00:39:11] he didn't blame God it was sadly I think there are many who again choose to turn away from God in times of of great pain and suffering they turn from their faith but I want you to note this you
[00:39:23] might write it down that Job models for us a resilient a committed faith that's not dependent on circumstances. You know, Satan was wrong. Job loved the Lord and he would worship him in good times and in bad. Fifteen years ago, my family and I suffered a tragic loss. Many of you
[00:39:47] know this, but many of you are new or newer to Watermark and maybe you haven't heard this. I share it often. It's part of my faith story, my testimony. My brother was killed when a work truck
[00:39:59] ran into the back of his car while he was at a stoplight.
[00:40:02] The driver was distracted.
[00:40:05] He was traveling 60 miles an hour when he hit the back of Jeff's car.
[00:40:10] Jeff never knew what hit him.
[00:40:13] He left behind a wife, three young children.
[00:40:16] He was an integral part of this church before his death in 2011.
[00:40:22] Other than my wife, he was my very best friend, the only brother I had.
[00:40:28] we were only 17 months apart. You know, I joked that he was my little brother, but Jeff was a little bigger than me. We talked multiple times every single day on the phone. And then all of
[00:40:41] a sudden, without warning, he was gone. Now, there were a lot of people who suffered with Jeff's death. I can only speak to my pain. I can tell you it hurt terribly. In fact, it still does,
[00:40:53] as you can tell the only real solace that I had was the absolute assurance that as a believer as a committed follower of Jesus that I would see Jeff again one day in God's heaven and I rejoice
[00:41:07] in that but still there's the pain right of the loss right now I could have gotten angry with God I could have blamed God I could have asked God hard and difficult questions answers to which I
[00:41:21] may not fully understand or comprehend. I could have cursed and screamed at God, but to be honest with you, none of those things ever occurred to me. It just didn't. I cried a lot, and for some time,
[00:41:38] but I would never charge God with wrongdoing for Jeff's death. It's never occurred to me, not once. In fact, Jeff's life celebration was a wonderful time of worship. For a believer, it makes sense to worship God, even when we experience great and grievous loss. From Job,
[00:41:59] we learn that it's wrong, that it's sinful to blame God. When we experience epic suffering, we always have a choice, you see. We can blame God, or we can praise God, not for the losses
[00:42:15] in life, but for the blessings in life. You see, as Job made clear, we had nothing when we entered this world, and we leave with nothing. Anything we have is a blessing from God. It is a gift
[00:42:30] from God. Job taught us no matter what our circumstances, we can, we must always worship him. So you may hear this part of Job's story and even mine, and you think, well, that sounds good,
[00:42:45] But could Job really authentically react that way?
[00:42:48] Could you react that way, pastor?
[00:42:50] I did.
[00:42:51] And I think Job did too.
[00:42:53] So what happened after that?
[00:42:55] You know, the truth is, poor Job's woes weren't over.
[00:43:00] And Satan wasn't done with him.
[00:43:02] He still hoped to make Job stumble.
[00:43:05] So he afflicted Job with painful sores from head to toe.
[00:43:11] Can you believe that?
[00:43:12] And Job's wife, she wasn't very supportive.
[00:43:16] She wasn't particularly encouraging.
[00:43:18] In fact, you know what advice she gave Job when he was, you know, kind of sharing his trouble with her?
[00:43:23] Here's what she said in Job 2.9.
[00:43:27] Curse God and die.
[00:43:30] How about that, right?
[00:43:31] With a wife like that, who needs enemies, right?
[00:43:36] So when you're sick and when you're struggling, you're looking for a little sympathy, right?
[00:43:40] Just a little bit of empathy.
[00:43:42] not callousness, not bitterness. Now, look, I admit, men can be a little dramatic when we get sick, right? We can get a little bit whiny when we get puny. I understand. But that doesn't mean
[00:43:58] we don't deserve just a little bit of empathy, right? Just a little bit, ladies. Don't forget that. But Job was really hurting. He was. And the last thing he needed here was a wife that would
[00:44:10] turn on him now some might argue that she really wasn't turning on him but really she was empathizing with him that she wanted the pain to stop for him she wanted him to to be mercifully you know put
[00:44:23] out of his misery but either way she wasn't taking the the path of faith was she yet despite his wife's brutal advice here Job he remained faithful I want you to look at verse 10 he replied you're talking
[00:44:38] like a foolish woman shall we accept good from God and not trouble in all this Job did not sin and in what he said I think that's a fair question what Job asked here don't you take a look shall we
[00:44:53] accept good from God and not trouble and how would you answer that you know in our time another way to approach this idea when hardship strikes is is to ask not why me but why not me why not me
[00:45:11] how am I exempt from suffering you see Job's wife wasn't the only one who was unsympathetic later Job's so-called friends blamed all Job's woes on him saying that he was being punished for sinning. But Job still remained faithful, even with all these doubters and haters around him. I
[00:45:32] want you to look at verse 15 of chapter 13. Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him, Job said.
[00:45:40] Hope is no doubt in the Bible. Even in the depths of his epic misery, his suffering, Job firmly believed that God would vindicate him. Now, why do you think that God allowed Satan to put Job
[00:45:56] through such hardship wasn't it to test him to test to allow Job to prove his faithfulness even in the midst of hardship and heartache it was a friend of mine loves to say you you can't
[00:46:11] have a testimony without a test and some of you are enduring a test right now in your life God is allowing you to walk through this difficult season to develop in you a powerful testimony
[00:46:24] This brings us to lesson three.
[00:46:26] You might write this down.
[00:46:27] You can trust that the tests that you endure in life develop powerful faith testimonies in you.
[00:46:35] Take a look at how Job responded to all of this that was going on in Job 23, verses 10 and following.
[00:46:41] But he knows the way that I take.
[00:46:44] When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
[00:46:49] My feet have closely followed his steps.
[00:46:51] I've kept to His ways without turning aside.
[00:46:54] I've not departed from the commands of His lips.
[00:46:57] I've treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.
[00:47:02] Job firmly believed that God would honor his faithfulness, his commitment to Him, even as he endured this despair and depression in his life.
[00:47:10] Even as he endured his wife's terrible, faithless advice.
[00:47:14] Even as he endured the lack of empathy from his so-called friends.
[00:47:19] Even as he was tested, he believed.
[00:47:22] he would come forth as gold do you believe that do you believe that as you're tested in life right now that you'll come forth as gold because you can believe that you know I'm inspired by Job's
[00:47:36] faithfulness and I hope you are too I think that Job was able to stand strong to praise God even in his darkest days because he believed that God would honor his faithfulness that through his
[00:47:47] stiff test God was refining him and his testimony and that he will honor your faithfulness too I believe that in life's fiery test God will refine you he'll develop a powerful testimony in you that will inspire others for Christ's glorious sake so I know that when I walked
[00:48:12] through the loss of my brother I was concerned about what might happen to our family to his kids, even to our church. And though I grieved and lamented his loss, I never doubted that God
[00:48:26] could, that he would take care of all of us. And though Jeff could never be replaced, God made sure that his family would be okay, including his precious children. You know where they are today?
[00:48:39] His daughters are sweet. They're God-honoring young ladies. His son, my nephew, has graduated from Liberty University. He's married and he's serving as a youth pastor in Alabama where his wife is from. You know, God is good. He always is. I don't want to pretend that any of this was easy
[00:49:03] for Job or even our family. But to be clear, Job was tormented. He was brokenhearted. He was miserable as he suffered through this terrible season in his life. He had questions and lots of questions like any of us who are going through pain and suffering. But after dozens of chapters
[00:49:19] of reckless dialogue between Job and his friends, we get to chapter 38 and the Lord begins to ask Job a series of questions. It starts with one that carries a big lesson for you and me. I want you to
[00:49:32] see it. It's in Job 38 too. Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?
[00:49:40] brings us to lesson four you might write this down unless we presume to be greater and more powerful and more knowledgeable than God we would be wise to stay quiet and to trust him and Job had been questioning God's divine wisdom and speaking about things far beyond his limited
[00:50:00] human understanding God decided he had heard enough of the questioning and he was now ready for some questioning of his own.
[00:50:08] It was worth noting here that God never tells Job the reason for his suffering, though I think it seems clear it was to test the authenticity of his faith.
[00:50:19] And God asked Job who he was to question him, his plans, his decisions.
[00:50:25] And the same is true for you and me.
[00:50:27] You know, who are we to question God?
[00:50:30] Do we know more or better than he knows?
[00:50:32] And the last time I checked, God's decisions are far above my pay grade here's what God said through his prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 55 8 for my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways declares the Lord
[00:50:46] so as God asked Job unanswerable question after question all designed to illustrate who God is in who Job is not, Job is left overwhelmed by the sheer majesty of God. We should be too.
[00:51:04] So finally, again, after dozens of questions, Job prays. And here's what he says. It reveals his heart. Look at verses 2 and following of chapter 42. I know that you can do all things.
[00:51:20] no purpose of yours can be thwarted you ask who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge surely I spoke of things I did not understand things too wonderful for me to know you know
[00:51:36] Job came to a place you see not of understanding but of accepting that he would never have all of his questions answered at least not this side of heaven and you and I won't either if we demand
[00:51:48] answers from God the truth is we may never know the reason for our suffering but we can be sure of this that God is always at work and nothing in this world happens without a reason that God
[00:52:01] works on purpose and for a purpose as Job said no purpose of yours can be thwarted it's also true that there's a very real enemy at work in this world that Satan wants to cause you all the
[00:52:16] heartache that he can. He wants to cause you to give up on God, to turn from him, to doubt God's love for you. That's what he hoped for Job. You know, the truth is no one is immune from suffering,
[00:52:30] believer or not. You see, Jesus didn't pull any punches when he talked about trouble, when he talked about pain. In fact, in John 16, 33, Jesus said, I have told you these things so that in me
[00:52:43] you may have peace. You see, in this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. I've overcome the world. God will redeem our suffering in this life or the next in his heaven. Brings us to lesson
[00:52:57] five. When we endure pain and suffering, we can confidently believe that God has the ability to bring good from it. In Romans 8 28 we're told and we know that in all things God works for the good
[00:53:14] of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose. You see when when we're in it in the darkness the gloominess of suffering we can't see the the good. We may think that no
[00:53:28] good could possibly come from it. Have you ever been there? But we can know and believe that God is good and that in all things God works for the good of those who love him the truth is we can
[00:53:42] gain through suffering what we can gain in no other way through suffering we come face to face with our God that's what happened to Job and Job 42 5 we're told listen to this Job says my ears
[00:53:56] has heard had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you you see our suffering allows us to see to experience God in ways that we we never would apart from it some of you know that others of you
[00:54:12] will know that the truth is we gain in suffering what what we'll gain in no other way we see no examples of meaningless suffering in the Bible even what appeared to be suffering for no reason
[00:54:26] always had a reason it was it was true in the lives of many of the faith heroes we've looked at during this series it was true in Job's life and it will be true in your life and in mine
[00:54:38] so Job's story it doesn't end with this suffering and pain though that's the part that people tend to focus on have you ever noticed that the truth is that God rescued Job from his pain and from his
[00:54:52] misery during his lifetime in Job 42 12 we're told the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part.
[00:55:02] Job's wealth doubled.
[00:55:04] He had seven more sons, three beautiful daughters.
[00:55:07] He lived another 140 years.
[00:55:11] So while none of what Job gained would ever replace what he lost, he gained through his suffering what he could have gained in no other way.
[00:55:20] And we will too.
[00:55:22] So some of you may ask this question.
[00:55:25] Maybe someone's asked you this question and you can answer it for them.
[00:55:29] How can we respond to what may seem like unexplainable, unfair, unreasonable suffering?
[00:55:36] I think we can apply these lessons that we learned from Job.
[00:55:40] And the first is this.
[00:55:42] You can know that there are many, including Job, who have suffered, who have survived, and who have later thrived in life.
[00:55:53] I want you to know this, that we can turn toward God and we can honor Him even when you may be tempted to blame Him and to run from Him.
[00:56:05] I think we learn from Job that we can trust that God uses tests in life to create powerful fate testimonies in us.
[00:56:14] And fourthly, you can believe that God knows what He is doing even when it doesn't make sense to you.
[00:56:22] and finally if you love him you can count on god bringing about good from even the worst situations in your life i know it i've experienced it and some of you have too i've found that god's word is true in every way joe's story is remarkable and for a lot of reasons
[00:56:48] i look at what god can do in even the worst situations that we can imagine Look at what God did with Jesus.
[00:56:57] Look at the suffering that Jesus endured on His way to Calvary's cross.
[00:57:03] The excruciating pain that Jesus endured as He hung on the cross.
[00:57:09] And why?
[00:57:11] On purpose and for a purpose.
[00:57:14] So that Jesus could provide for you what you could never get on your own.
[00:57:19] Salvation.
[00:57:20] So that you could be made right with God.
[00:57:22] so that your sins could be forgiven.
[00:57:25] You see, Jesus on Calvary's cross and through His suffering, He paid your penalty of death, which is what sin's cost is.
[00:57:34] It separates us from God.
[00:57:37] But yet Jesus endured unimaginable suffering for your sake and mine.
[00:57:44] Some of you know that.
[00:57:46] And you place your faith and trust in Him.
[00:57:48] Some of you, you hadn't thought about that before.
[00:57:51] And you've never experienced the peace that Jesus offers you.
[00:57:56] The peace that you desperately need between you and God.
[00:58:00] And maybe today for the very first time you would just admit to him, God, I'm a sinner in need of a savior.
[00:58:06] God, I've experienced a lot of suffering in my life.
[00:58:09] I never thought about the suffering Jesus endured and on purpose and for purpose for me.
[00:58:15] God, I want him by my side.
[00:58:16] I want to experience the peace that comes in him and only him.
[00:58:20] I want him walking with me through life.
[00:58:22] I want to yoke myself to Him.
[00:58:24] I need that.
[00:58:27] I don't know where you are in your faith journey, but again, I don't think you're here today by accident.
[00:58:33] I think you're here on purpose and for a purpose.
[00:58:37] Do you know why now?
[00:58:40] Can I ask you to stand to your feet?
[00:58:41] I want to pray with you and for you.
[00:58:44] Our Father, I thank You for Your Word, the power of Your Word.
[00:58:50] God, I thank You for Job's story.
[00:58:53] He was a great man in every way.
[00:58:56] a God-fearing man, Lord, but yet he wasn't exempt from suffering.
[00:59:01] He proved himself faithful, no matter what he faced in life, no matter what circumstances he endured.
[00:59:07] And God, it was unspeakable, unimaginable what he went through.
[00:59:12] But yet he remained faithful to you.
[00:59:14] He asked hard questions.
[00:59:16] We may too.
[00:59:18] But God, may we be as faithful as Job.
[00:59:21] in all things may we not run from you or blame you or charge you with wrongdoing but God may we trust you to believe that you're always at work in every situation on purpose and for a purpose
[00:59:37] God for those who are struggling today in this room or watching today who are walking through a very difficult and dark season of their lives I pray God in this moment you would come alongside
[00:59:48] them. Let them feel your presence and your love. God, let them fall to their knees and worship you as Job did. God, to praise you no matter what. Father, if there's anyone in this room who for
[01:00:00] the very first time would admit I'm a sinner in need of a savior. And I know that what Jesus did for me on Calvary's cross, the excruciating pain that he endured there was for me to pay my sins
[01:00:14] penalty of death so lord i profess my faith in him i ask him to be my savior to be my lord teach me more about what that means every day god thank you for being near to us
[01:00:27] in every season of life especially during the darkest seasons of life no matter what god

[01:00:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:00:37] we will praise you we will praise you in jesus name amen in every way and every day and no matter

[01:07:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:07:28] what we face in life and we will face hardship.
[01:07:32] We will face trouble in this life.
[01:07:35] Jesus was very clear about that.
[01:07:37] But as He said, I'm not going to fear for I know that He's overcome the world.
[01:07:44] And I want you to know that and believe that too.
[01:07:46] I want you to experience His peace in this life.
[01:07:50] And if you know Him, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
[01:07:52] If you do not yet know Him, then I encourage you to consider, to strongly consider placing your faith and trust in him and do that today don't delay and if you have made that decision and even today don't leave this place without sharing that with someone one
[01:08:09] of our renewed ministry shepherds are with me i'd love to talk with you more about that if you're watching online reach out to me joel at mywatermark.org i'd love to hear from you no matter
[01:08:20] where you are i want to talk with you about next steps in your faith journey in a couple of weeks we're going to have a baptism service here at Watermark. We already have 10 or 12 that have said, hey, I want
[01:08:32] to be a part of that. Maybe you've been thinking about that, praying about that. You're ready to take that faith step as a believer.
[01:08:38] And if you are, reach out to me.
[01:08:40] I'd love for you to be a part of that glorious celebration. I hope you will. Guys, I thank you for being here today. I hope you'll be back here next week and invite someone to join you. Invite a family
[01:08:52] member or a friend who's not connected in a church home right now. Bring them.
[01:08:56] I pray that you will.
[01:08:57] I hope that you will.
[01:08:59] God, I just thank you again for being here.
[01:09:02] I hope you're encouraged and inspired.
[01:09:04] Before you leave, I'd like to pray with you, for you.
[01:09:10] Lord, again, we thank you for this chance to be in your house.
[01:09:13] God, to be able to offer you the praise that you so richly deserve.
[01:09:19] God, we want to be able to do that.
[01:09:21] No matter what we face in this life.
[01:09:24] God, we don't want our praise to be circumstantial, only when life is good.
[01:09:28] That's what Satan believed about Job, but that wasn't true.
[01:09:32] And God, I don't want it to be true for anybody in this room.
[01:09:35] God will praise you no matter what we face in this life.
[01:09:39] So God, use us this week to inspire others.
[01:09:42] We want to make an impression.
[01:09:44] We want to leave a mark for Jesus Christ's sake.
[01:09:46] We want to have powerful testimony for His sake.
[01:09:49] We'll see every test as an opportunity to develop that testimony.

[01:09:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:09:52] So use us this week, Lord, we pray in the strong, the holy, the redemptive name of Jesus and all God's children said, Amen.
[01:10:03] Blessings.