ENDURING HOPE

Job part 3

            “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long.  Yet they produce for us glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!

            So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. 

            For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever!”  2 Cor. 4:17-18

         You want to talk about enduring?  Well Job endured much.  Wouldn’t you say?  There he is sitting on a pile of burned garbage, amongst the ashes and dust of a garbage pit scraping his irritating sores.  His heart is so broken and his spirit is in such despair that he really doesn’t care that he is pitiful and alone. He only knows of the great pain in his heart.

            Three friends sit around him.  Later a fourth friend, who wisely kept his mouth shut until the older men had spoken their piece, joined them.  These friends seem very supportive as they sit with Job for 7 days.  Just sit on the rubbish heap with him and say not a word. 

Wow! That is far beyond what I would be willing to do.  However, I wonder did they really do the helpful thing? Did they pray with him? Did they encourage him?  Did they bring him food? Did they wash his sores and put ointment or oil on them?  Or did they just sit there staring at him, thinking condemning thoughts?

Because when they did open their mouths, the support flew out the window.  They said things like “But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart.  You are terrified when it touches you.”  Job 4:5

Well Eliphaz, wouldn’t you lose heart if you lost everything?  Wouldn’t you be afraid if all your kids died in one smashing blow?  Obviously he had never experienced such tragedies in his life.

Also Bildad had the gall to say, “Your children must have sinned against Him, so their punishment was well deserved.” Job 8:4 NLT

OH MY GOODNESS!  What a thing to say to someone who had just lost ALL his kids! And all his everything!  If I had been Job I would have smacked Bildad, hard, and knocked HIM into the ashes and dust. 

            But Bildad is not finished; in fact this tirade of all the friends goes on for days. Bildad says, “Can papyrus reeds grow tall without a marsh?  Can marsh grass flourish without water?  While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither more quickly than grass.

            The same thing happens to all who forget God.  The hopes of the godless evaporate.  Their confidence hangs by a thread.  They are leaning on a spider’s web.  They cling to their home for security but it won’t last.  They try to hold it tight, but it will not endure.” Job 8:11-15 NLT

            I must admit there is some truth there.  Job had depended on his wealth and home for security. His life was wrapped up in his family, his prestige, his wealth and his material belongings. He had a certain pride in his standing in the community.  He does equate good times and abundance with God’s blessings and presence with him.  He says, “I long for days gone by when God took care of me.  When He lit up the way before me and I walked safely through the darkness.”  Job 29:1-6

            But had Job forgotten God?  Was he, as his friends kept insisting all through the chapters of Job, sinning and wicked? NO!

            Remember what God, Himself, said about Job?  “He is the finest man in all the earth.  He is blameless, a man of complete integrity.  He fears God and stays away from evil.”  God told Satan this not just once, but twice! 

            Read it again, “He is the FINEST man in all the earth!  He is BLAMELESS!  A man of COMPLETE INTEGRITY!  He FEARS God.  He STAYS away from evil!”

            So you see Job’s friends don’t have a leg to stand on! Not even one. I really wish they could have heard God saying this.  They were all wet.  Especially when the storm hits. 

            Oh yes a storm came.  You see there were days and days that they sat there on the rubbish heap and accused Job of sinning. 

Oh yes Job defended himself. “One should be kind to a fainting friend,” he says after being stomped on many times, “but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty! Stop assuming my guilt, for I have done no wrong!  Do you think I am lying?  Don’t I know the difference between right and wrong?”  Job 6:29-30

Oh Job went through the stages of grieving, as they say.  He was angry at God.  He questioned God. He wished he had not been born. He hoped he would die.  He despaired.  He was deeply depressed.  Of course who wouldn’t be with friends like that! He says, “Lying in bed, I think, ‘When will it be morning?’ But the night drags on and on and I toss till dawn.” Job 7:4   Of course he was referring to the night of his trial.  He was waiting for the joy that comes in the morning.

Job seeks God, “If only I knew where to find God, I would go to His court.  I would lay out my case and present my arguments.  Then I would listen to His reply and understand what He says to me.  I go east, but He is not there.  I go west, but I cannot find Him.  I do not see Him in the north for He is hidden.  I look to the south, but He is concealed.” Job 23:3-5, 8-9

I know the feeling.  When trouble hit, when life dumped me upside down, I felt as if God was far away.  My cries for help in the dark night seemed to evaporate into nothingness.  Job had been striped of all he held dear.  He lost everything that was everything to him.  His wealth, his health, his children, his prestige.  He thought God had forsaken him and wished to destroy him.   

Yet, Job holds on to his hope in God.  He says, even if I don’t know where God is, “He knows where I am going!  When He tests me I will come out as pure as gold!” Job 23:10

So out there in the open far from the city walls where they were exposed to all elements of weather, sat Job and his four friends. The friends continued their tromping and stomping. And Job held on to his hope, yet sought understanding. Then a storm blew in.  Black clouds rolled across the sky and the wind roared.  It pounded against them pulling at their robes and head scarves. 

A whirlwind struck.  It swirled dust and ashes into the air, filling their nostrils and eyes with soot.  And out of the storm, out of the whirlwind, God finally spoke.  In the trial, in the terrible trouble, God revealed Himself.

You see what Job didn’t understand is:

            In the tearing away, God is piecing back together.

            In the breaking, God is repairing.

            In the sickness, and shattered heart, God is healing.

            In the barren desert, God is nurturing and growing.

            In the weakness, God is strengthening.

            In the battle God is training.

            In the striping, God is renewing.

            In the darkness, God enlightens.

            In the destruction, God enables.

            In the emptiness, God alone is sufficient.

            In despair, God comforts.

            In the whirlwind, God teaches us to cling to Him.

            In the torrent, God gives His wings for shelter.

            In the storm, He is there.

God spoke to Job out of the storm and His words were powerful.

“Where does the light come from and where does the darkness go?  Can you take each to its             home?  Do you know how to get there?  But of course you know all this! You were born before        it was all created, and you are so experienced.
Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail? I have reserved           them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.

Where is the path to the source of light?

Where is the source of the east wind?

Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the                       lightning?

Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?

Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?  Can you make lightning appear and cause it to          strike as you direct?

 Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind?

Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wonder about in hunger?

Do you know when the wild goats give birth?  Have you watched as deer are born in the wild?

Have you given the horse its strength or clothed its neck with a flowing mane?

Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar and spread its wings towards the south?

Is it at your command that the eagle rises to the heights to make its nest?

Are you as strong as God?  Can you thunder with a voice like His?

            All right then put on your glory and splendor, your honor and majesty.

            Give vent to your anger.  Let it over flow against the proud. 

            Humiliate the proud with a glance; walk on the wicked where they stand.

            Bury them in the dust.  Imprison them in the world of the dead.

            Then even I would praise you, for your own strength would save you.”  Do you still want to argue               with the Almighty?  You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” And it goes on in Job 38-40

God didn’t answer Job’s questions.  Nothing, at this point, had been resolved. Job still sat on the dusty rubbish heap with his four friends, who, after hearing God’s mighty voice in the storm, must have been wide-eyed and open mouthed. And maybe just a little bit fearful.  This is what Job said to his Creator.

            “I had only heard about You before, I thought I knew who You are, but now, now in the middle of this storm, I see You with my eyes.  I see Your might and Your power and I know You can do what you desire.  I also see Your love that endures forever, I know You care about my life. I know You control the storm and in the midst of the whirlwind, You have my back.  So I sit here in the ashes and I repent and humble myself to my Mighty God who I will trust for ever and ever.” From Job 42:5-6

            So will He bring bad things to good people?  People who have integrity?  Those who are upright and blameless in His sight?  Absolutely!

            Why?  So we learn to hope in Him alone.  So we have enduring hope even in the midst of the storm. So when the storm rages we have peace.  So when the whirlwind strikes, we have joy.  So when all is lost and all is gone, our hope endures.  We hope in an everlasting God who controls all things, not in this changing, shifting life on earth. 

            HOPE as in knowing, believing with all our minds and hearts, being certain of.  Not hoping that maybe it will happen, but knowing for sure.  Trusting in Him no matter how big the storm or how dark the night. Trusting that He is in control, nothing comes to us that does not go through His hands.  Trusting that if He brings it, He will work through it for our good.   Trusting in a mighty, all powerful God who keeps the stars in place and holds me in His hands.  Enduring Hope.

            So I sit on the ash heap and I say, “Whatever you have for me, Lord, whatever you bring my way, it is ok.  I will trust You, I will love You, I will praise Your name all days of my life and for eternity.”

“In Christ alone my hope is found.  He is my light, my strength, my song.

This cornerstone, this solid Rock, firm through fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace.  When fears are stilled, when striving cease.

My comforter, my all in all.  Here in the love of Christ I stand.”

In Christ Alone, by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

 “God’s way is perfect. 

All the Lord’s promises prove true. 

He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection.

For who is God except the Lord? Who is a solid Rock?

God arms me with strength, and He makes my way perfect.

He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.

He trains my hands for battle, He strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.

You have given me Your shield of victory!

Your right hand supports me.  Your help has made me great! 

You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.”

Psalm 18:30-36