10/11/20 Job 23:1-9, 16-17 “Where Is God?”

09 Oct 10/11/20 Job 23:1-9, 16-17 “Where Is God?”

10/11/20    Job 23:1-9, 16-17    “Where Is God?”

Last weekend, Sharon and I were on the run a lot.  By the time Monday afternoon rolled around we were both tired.  I think that we had a bunch of fun and hopefully we did some good.  But we were outside a lot in the cool air plus all of our activities contributed to our tiredness.  It was good we got to see a lot of old friends and we even made some new acquaintances.   But I have to realize that I’m getting a little older and I get tired.  I think that some of you folks might get some of these same feelings as we have started to do the fall harvest in earnest and that is always a headache for many.  It is just a very stressful time when we have to get all the crops in before winter comes.  It is also hard to dress the children for this season as it will start out cold in the mornings but then it warms up to a nice day.  The coronavirus is going around and no one wants any part of that.  Plus, the flu season is upon us.  All in all, this seems to be a stressful time for many of us.  But the stress we have pales in comparison to the stress of Job.  Today I would like to take a closer look at Job and see if any of his thoughts are similar to ours.

I would like to begin with a little story from Ryan Johnson.  He tells of a man who found the cocoon of an emperor moth.  He took it home so he could watch the moth come out of the cocoon.  After a few days a small opening appeared.  The man watched for several hours as the moth struggled to force his way through this small opening.  It seemed to the man that the moth had gone as far as it could on its own and was now stuck in the hole.

Out of kindness the man decided to help the moth.  So, he took a scissors and cut off the remaining cocoon so the moth could be free.  Some of you might even know what happened next.  The moth came out with a great big body and tiny wings.  The man thought that with a little time the moth’s body would lose some of its size while the wings would get bigger.  But neither thing happened.  The moth lived out its life with a swollen body and little wings.

The man was trying to be kind but he didn’t understand that the moth needed that tiny hole in the cocoon to force its body size to that of a normal moth and to also force all the fluid to the wings so that they would develop and it could fly when it came out.  The emperor moth has to struggle immensely if it is going to live in the world.  We are similar to this moth in that we need the struggles in life to help us become whole.  Job shows us the way.

But before we look at this, let’s recap what had been happening.  The book of Job is very vague as far as its time line goes.  We aren’t really sure when it was written.  We are not sure of how long all of the events in Job took to transpire.  Did the events in the first two chapters where Job lost all his wealth and his health take place of the course of a few weeks or months or years?  We don’t know.  After that comes the long dialogue with his friends.  Once again, we can ask, did these conversations take place in a matter of weeks or months or years?  We don’t know.  So, this whole story could have taken place in the span of a few weeks or a few years.  These are some of the things that those wonderful experts try to figure.

At the time of today’s writing, we find that Job had been talking to his friends.  He had lost everything as we saw last week and now his friends attack him.  He is accused of being wicked, not repenting, not fearing God and other things.  These are very serious accusations to a man who thinks of himself as innocent.  Even though all of these bad things had been happening to Job, he maintains his innocence.

In those days people thought that bad things happened as punishment for those who had sinned against God.  This idea lasted for centuries as we see these same things happening in the New Testament.  They also thought that you could be lame from birth or blind from birth by the sins that your parents or grandparents committed.  These ancestors had been wicked and this was their punishment a generation or two later.  Here we have Job’s friends accusing him of all kinds of wickedness.  With friends like this, who needs any enemies!  This whole dialogue should be a testament as to how not to act with someone who is sick or ailing.

I’m sure glad that we have gotten past this kind of behavior, or have we?  We hear things like this all the time in times of crises.  People who think they are doing the right thing will say, “You will get through this if you just trust the Lord.”  Now this statement is spot on true but this is not the thing to be said when a loved one has died.  This is not to be said when there has been a terrible accident.  The reason that we are to shy away from these kinds of comments is because they insinuate that the person in crisis has no faith in God.  They hear this and think, “Just trust in the Lord?  Well of course I’m going to trust in the Lord but help me to get through this hurt right now.”  We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in this world.  We are not called to hurt people more when they are in times of great loss.  Let me try to explain this a little better.

Do you remember me telling you about how we are to serve the hungry? We have to feed the hungry before they can hear what we have to say about God.  They can’t hear us as long as their stomachs hurt from hunger.  It is the same principle with people grieving.  It is the same with people who are in shock.  It is the same with people who are injured.  We have to take care of their immediate needs before they can hear us.  So, when you find yourself in a situation like this, don’t tell them all the standard religious clichés that you know.  The first thing that you are called to do is tend to their physical needs and you can tend to their spiritual needs later.  This is what I call pastoral care 101.

We tend to do the same things that Job’s friends did to him.  I would like you to notice another thing here.  Job was a pillar of the community.  He would have known lots of people.  He would have had lots of friends.  Yet we only see a few come forward to even talk to Job after all of his calamities.  Most people stayed away.  Again, we are just like this.  When someone is sick or in the hospital, we don’t go and see them.  I have probably heard every excuse in the book for this.  You sure cannot be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ when you sit at home and don’t visit the sick and the needy.  People need your presence as much as they need your prayers.  When you hear of someone you know who is in trouble or sick; then go to them.  It is the right thing to do.  This was part of the problem in the story of Job.  Then we have the few friends who did come, say all the wrong things.  Job had truly lost it all.

This is where we begin today.  Job is in a real mental dilemma.  His so-called friends have put him down as an unworthy person and to top that off, he is now having trouble finding God.  He would like to see Him face to face.  He has looked everywhere but God is not there.

This is a huge problem that we have today.  Many people feel that they know that God is not near.  God doesn’t answer prayers the way that you think they should be answered.  There are many people in our world who almost look for ways so that they don’t have to follow Jesus.  Job is wrong in this reading.  “Where is God?”  God is not far away but He is always close.  But we still ask the question.  And it is ok to ask this question if we ask it to God and not to everyone around us.  God wants to hear from us.  The people around us will usually make it worse as we have seen in Job’s friends.  I’ve already given you examples of what not to say in different situations.

It is ok to ask God ‘Where are you?’ when you have someone you love who is fighting a deadly disease.  It is ok to ask when someone you love has died.  As a matter of fact, it is almost always ok to ask this question.  I always insist that the only bad prayer is the prayer not prayed.  Any time you are trying to talk with God in asking this question or any other question, you are praying.  Praying is always good.

Often times when God seems distant are the times when we are under a lot of stress.  Death is a huge stressor.  But God is always there.  He supplies us with a network of people who are trying to help.  He has given us all the people and things that are around us.  He is there.  One of the things that severe stress does is that it hides God.  We get so caught up in emotions that we cannot see God clearly.  But God understands this.  God knows that you have trouble seeing Him at times.  This is why He sends other people to you.  You often find God in the hands of people who are trying to help you.

This is why it is important to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Everyone listening to this, everyone in this county needs a relationship with Jesus.  When you have Jesus living right here in your heart, then you have a sure-fire way to get through all of your troubles; just the way that Job did.  It is important to trust Jesus today when the going isn’t quite so rough.  Then you will have Jesus to fall back upon when the going does get really hard.  I quite frankly don’t know how people get through life and all of its struggles without the comfort that Jesus Christ provides.  Many people don’t.  There are many people who never get over a major loss in their lives.  People living without the comfort of Jesus Christ are a part of a huge problem in this country.  This is the cause of just about all the unrest and riots you see.

I remember one time I was talking with a group of young people; I believe it was at a mission event.  As we talked, I realized that some of these people had far more trouble in their lives than I have ever had.  It was very evident that they had asked this very question during their times of trouble at a young age.  It was also very evident that they had not given up.  Years later they had the comfort of Jesus.  They had this wonderful faith that I am telling you about today.  Jesus Christ had gotten them through times of trouble.  Jesus will get you through also.

One of the problems that we struggle with is that we think things should be as we like them.  Things should be done our way.  We think that the world should be on our time schedule.  We think that when we die, then that is the end.  We like to think that everything is run by our rules and not God’s.  I want you people who think like this to listen for a moment.  This is important.

We have a loving God who loves every person listening today plus everyone in the whole world.  I’m not sure what the population of the world is today but let’s just say that we have 7 billion people.  Now I don’t know about you but I have a real problem with trying to comprehend what 7 billion people would look like.  I really cannot grasp what 7 billion of anything would look like.  This number is too large for me.  But God knows.  He not only knows but He knows each and every one of these 7 billion people on a personal level.  He calls them by name.

Plus, God knows all the troubles in everyone’s lives.  He knows the good, the bad, and the ugly.  He knows the number of hairs on everyone’s head.  He also knows how you interact with each other and all the possible outcomes of all of your possible interactions.  He knows everything and He keeps it all straight.  Now we know all of these things about God.  We are, for the most part, not in a time of crises today so we know this.  Nothing should be hidden from us.  Now think about this for a moment.  You know all of this stuff so who do you think that you are to be able to tell God that you have a better plan than He does when you only see things from your own life.  You don’t know anything compared to what God knows.  You are not capable of knowing most of the things that God knows.  Therefore, you should be committed to trusting God when you are in times of peace so that when turmoil hits you, and it will, you will be able to trust that God will get you through.

I think that the bottom line here is that God loved Job and God loves you.  He loves you so much that He doesn’t let you see the big picture.  It would be too much for you.  You couldn’t take it.  Instead He has a plan where you come and you trust in Him.  If you have never done this before, then ask Jesus to live in your heart today.  It will be the best decision that you ever make.  He will help you all through times of hardship.

Before we go, I would like to ask one thing of you.  Many of us have seen people in times of trouble like we found Job today.  We often hear the question ‘Where is God?’  We hear this from Christians and non-Christians alike.  It is a natural question.  Please don’t be too hard on these people.  Remember the strain they are under.  Instead of trying to correct these people or telling them that they need to have more faith, just make sure they are comfortable.  If they need to talk about things, then let them talk.  They are not looking for an answer or a response from you.  They are looking for comfort.  This is being the hands and feet of Christ.   This is you trying to love Jesus as much as He loves you.  Thank you, Jesus, for always being there for me.  And thank you for first loving us.  Let’s pray.