We Trust God in Our Pain

Scripture: Job 1:22

Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

Insights: Today’s verse tells us Job did not sin nor did he BLAME God.  What an amazing testimony.  I pray the Lord is able to say such a statement about me when I face trials and difficulties which result in incredible pain.  This verse is basically telling us that Job trusted God.  He believed God had a plan and a purpose behind this entire calamity.  Remember, Job did not know about the cosmic conversation between God and Satan.  Job, however, trusted in the reality that God is not a capricious God dangling him over the fiery coals of life.  God had a reason to allow Job to go through all of this and it was because God also trusted Job enough to know he was not going to sin and curse God.  In other words, Job was God’s champion before Satan, and Job won the victory for God.  Beloved, it is my prayer that you can display your love for God in the midst of your pain and suffering and He helps you realize He trusts you as well.  We need to be a champion for the Lord in these trying times of life. I know I don’t always live this verse out well, but I am going to apply yesterday’s lesson to my life and strive to be humble myself before the Lord.  From this state of dependence on God for my security I hope to not sin nor blame God for my struggles.  Beloved, let us be trophies the Lord is able to raise up before Satan and declare, “This child was found faithful!”  Trust Him today!

Questions:

1. Do you trust the Lord to be faithful to you no matter what you are presently facing?
2. Can God trust you to be faithful to Him and bring Him glory as you experience your pain?

Prayer: Father, You see the big picture and I do not.  Forgive me when I look at my difficulties with grumblings and complaints.  You are working everything to my good and I need to learn to trust You more fully.  Grant me Your grace to live such a hope out before a watching world.  Amen.

We Humble Ourselves in Our Pain

Scripture: Job 1:21

He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."

Insights: Verse twenty-one reveals to us the condition or standing Job took before the Lord God.  In other words, Job humbled himself before God.  He declared that he was naked when he entered this world and he would be naked when he departed.  His security and trust was not in his neighbors, his wealth, his family or even his own health.  His security was found in the Lord God.  Because of this humble attitude he was able to say, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.”  Beloved, we need to get to such a place in our walk with the Lord.  This kind of relationship can only be cultivated and developed by spending time with the Lord Jesus.  We must daily open up His Word, the Bible, and read it and ask Him to reveal His truths to us.  As He illuminates His Word, we then must obey what He shows us.  As we grow in His Word, He will allow us to go through the difficulties of life and our response to those situations will reveal the depth of our relationship with Jesus.  My prayer is that you will be like Job and receive the difficulties of life well.  It is very easy for me to type those words, but I must confess it is very hard for me to live them out at times.  I will attest to this statement, however, I am able, because of the growth in Jesus, to humble myself better today than I was yesterday.  In other words, every day I grow with Jesus makes the next day easier to live out this life of humility before our Sovereign One.  It is my prayer that every year I grow closer to Jesus and am able to positively reflect this relationship to a watching world that is in desperate need of a Savior.  May God be glorified because of our humble position before Him.

Questions:

1. In what or whom are you placing your security?
2. Are you willing to humble yourself before the righteous and holy God?

Prayer: Father, forgive me when I put my security in anything other than You.  Let my heart be a humble heart before You my King, Lord and Savior.  You are my all in all and I desire for my life to reflect this reality before a watching world.  Amen.

We Seek God in Our Pain

Scripture: Job 1:20b

and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

Insights: This entire week we have been and will continue to look at the proper response to pain.  Yesterday we learned that it is okay to mourn in the midst of our pain.  Today, however, I want you to notice the rest of verse twenty.  Immediately after tearing his close and shaving his head, the Scriptures inform us that Job fell to the ground and worshiped.  Job absolutely understood that his only hope was the Lord God.  This past week my father-in-law was telling me about a billionaire who had made a poor investment and lost two or three billion dollars.  His net worth went from around five billion to two or three billion.  Apparently, according to my father-in-laws retelling of the news story, he committed suicide.  His hope had been in his money and even though he had an amount of money that is beyond most peoples comprehension, it was not enough for him.  He was in pain and he did not know Who he ought to turn to for his sorrow.  Job, on the other hand, did know who to turn to and that was the Lord.  His hope was in the Lord God and because of that his mourning was a form of worship.  In our service Sunday, we had people who were in pain and sorrow to raise their hands.  After that we had the body of Christ to surround them and to pray for those individuals.  Afterwards, I closed in a time of corporate prayer for those who were hurting.  Beloved, as a bystander to those in pain, let me encourage you to worship the Lord on behalf of those in sorrow.  You are able to perform this act of worship by praying for those with whom you know are going through the storms of life.  If you are one who is in the storm, let me also encourage you to run to Jesus.  He truly is our only hope and the only One who can truly give us comfort and peace in our pain.  Let our sorrow be a worshipful type of sorrow as we run to Jesus. 

Questions:

1. When you are in the midst of pain and mourning, do you quickly turn your focus on the Lord?
2. Is your mourning a form of worship to the Lord as You seek His comfort and will?

Prayer: Father, forgive me when I turn my pain into something that detracts from Your glory.  Help me to respond to the sufferings of this world like Job and quickly turn my sorrow into worship.  Amen.

We Mourn in Our Pain

Scripture: Job 1:20a

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head,

Insights: As we are chronologically reading through the Bible, we now come to the book of Job.  Job is a hard book for many people through which to read.  For many people it is because they identify with Job so well.  There are a lot of people who believe, act or even tell others that Christians are not supposed to suffer or experience pain and grief.  These kinds of thoughts are straight from our enemy Satan who is the villain of chapter one and two.  Beloved, let’s look at four areas in Job’s life in which he experienced pain.  As a result of such pain he tore his robe and shaved his head.  This external act of mourning shows us that it is okay and appropriate for us to mourn and grieve in the midst of difficult situations.  The first area in which Job experienced pain was in his relationships with his neighbors.  This relational strife was with the Sabeans and the Chaldeans who robbed job and murdered his work force.  The second area in which Job experienced pain was in his finances.  These economic struggles can be seen with his loss of manufacturing capabilities.  In other words, his assembly line of oxen and donkeys were stolen.  He lost his raw materials when his sheep, which produced his wool and reproduction lines, were burned up.  He lost his distribution system when his camels were stolen, and finally, he lost his labor force because they were all killed except for four men.  When you break it down like this, Job went from being the wealthiest man to the most unemployed and poor man in the region in a matter of minutes.  The third area in which Job experienced pain was in his family.  This domestic sorrow was a result of all his children dying in a storm that blew the walls in on the house they were all in during a birthday party.  If all of these situations were not bad enough, when we get to the second chapter we are introduced to a fourth area in which Job experienced pain and that is in his physical well-being.  This health situation was boils that afflicted him from the crown of his head to his feet.  Beloved, Job had reason and cause to mourn his pain and so do we when we experience sorrow.

Questions:

1. Are you able to identify with Job in anyway in regards to mourning pain?
2. Do you ever allow Satan to lie to you and tell you it is not okay for a Christian to grieve through pain?

Prayer: Father, thank You for the grief process.  When I experience the pains of this world, teach me the proper way to grieve and mourn.  May my crises be a tool in which You are brought glory because I display before the world the proper way to deal with pain.  Amen.

Only an Advocate Can Get Us Out of the Pit

Scripture: Genesis 37:21-22

But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, "Let us not take his life." Reuben further said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him"-- that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.

Insights: Our final thought this week comes from verses twenty-one and twenty-two.  Notice with me that Reuben acted as an advocate for Joseph.  It was his idea to put Joseph in the pit in order to save his life.  It was his idea to come back later and get him out of the pit and return him to his father.  It was his idea to save Joseph.  In some way, he did, because Joseph’s life was spared.  If Reuben had not spoken on Joseph’s behalf to his brothers, Joseph would have died that day and the dreams the Lord had given to Joseph would not have come to pass.  The point, however, is Reuben, in a flawed way, is representative of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the perfect advocate which God sent to this earth to get us out of our pit of sin.  Every one of us is in a pit of sin and is unable to get out of it.  Jesus speaks and acts on our behalf by dying on the Cross of Calvary and paying our sin debt.  He then intercedes on our behalf before His Father and tells Him of those who have received Him as Lord and Savior.  For every one who has Christ Jesus in his or her heart is saved the eternal punishment of slavery to sin, which leads to the Lake of Fire.  Beloved, I am so grateful God sent Jesus to be that perfect advocate for us.  Not only does He save us from our sin, but He gives us a relationship with the Triune God.  I promise you there is nothing greater than a relationship found with the perfect advocate, Jesus!

Questions:

1. Have you encountered the perfect advocate, Jesus Christ?
2. Are you willing to receive His gift of salvation by receiving Him as Lord and Savior?

Prayer: Father, thank You for sending Jesus to be the perfect advocate for me.  Let my relationship with Him grow and flourish by Your grace.  Amen.

Greed Can Take Us Out of the Pits and Place Us in a Worse Situation

Scripture: Genesis 37:25-28

Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him. Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Insights: Today’s Thoughts by Scott are very similar to yesterdays, but with a slightly different nuance.  What we observe in today’s verses is not the same as envy, but rather of greed.  In other words, yesterday the brothers were envious of Joseph’s position.  In today’s verses, however, they are greedy for financial gain.  Joseph’s pit just went from bad to worse because of the greed of his brothers.  It was bad enough to have been stripped of his tunic and thrown into the pit.  Now, however, he is going from the favored son to being a slave.  And for what does Joseph have to go through this transformation? Money!  Beloved, we in America are driven by the all-powerful dollar.  It drives us to work.  It drives us in our decision making.  It drives us in virtually every aspect of our lives.  And it will drive us right into the pits of life as well.  There is only ONE who can ever satisfy our hunger and greed and that is Jesus.  When we jump on the greed cycle we go from bad to worse because greed can never be satisfied.  Greed always wants more and more and more.  Just like yesterday in regards to envy, let me encourage you to run to Jesus.  Let Jesus be the fulfiller of your life.  Let Him be the One who lets you know you have enough and can be content in life with little instead of a lot.  Find Jesus!

Questions:

1. Is your life characterized as a greedy one?
2. Do you understand that if you get the next greedy thing, then there will be another greedy thing around the corner?

Prayer: Father, protect me from my own sinful desires.  Help me become content with what You give to me and let me find my satisfaction in You and not the things of this world.  Amen.

Envy Can Lead to the Pits

Scripture: Genesis 37:23-24

So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

Insights: Before I share today’s Thoughts by Scott, let me give you a little background about this particular part of the story.  In today’s verses Joseph’s varicolored tunic is mentioned.  This tunic is crucial in understanding the thought for today.  This tunic would have reached all the way to Joseph’s ankles.  It was a type of tunic reserved for students and scholars.  In other words, while Joseph’s brothers were out working in the heat of the day, Joseph was back at school drinking lemonade under the shade of a tent.  These brothers were in essence paying for the betterment of Joseph while they had no such option because they had to work.  This background helps us understand the second thing that can lead us into the pits of life is envy.  When we are envious of other people, we can quickly find ourselves in the pits of life.  The reason for this truth is because there is always someone who has a little more than we do or whose life is a little better than ours.  When we find ourselves playing the comparison game, we can quickly become envious of the other person and soon we will find ourselves in a relational conflict like we looked at yesterday.  Joseph’s brothers could not have what he did, and therefore, they hated him for it.  Their response was to throw Joseph into a literal pit.  We can find ourselves in a figurative pit of torment and strife if we don’t turn our attention to the Lord Jesus and find our satisfaction in Him rather than the personalities surrounding us.  Beloved, let me encourage you to run to Jesus.  Whenever you start to compare your life with all of its flaws and defects let me encourage you to run to Jesus.  Do not let envy lead you into the comparative gave that will end up with you living in the pits of life.  Let Jesus be your joy and life and you will be amazed at how good your life soon looks to you.

Questions:

1. Are you envious of anyone?
2. What are you doing to lean contentment in who you are in the Lord Jesus?

Prayer: Father, I so often find myself comparing myself to others.  When I do, often times I become envious of the other person.  I ask, why do I not have a ministry like theirs?  Why do I not have an income like theirs? The list of questions continue.  Lord, forgive me for those kind of thoughts and help me to learn contentment in You.  Amen.