"When God Is Silent"

"On that day, a servant came to Job. The servant said, ‘Your oxen (farm animals)

were ploughing. And the donkeys (small horses) were eating together.  But then,

people from the nation called Sabea attacked. They took the animals. And they

 killed all your servants. I alone escaped to tell you.’   While that servant was still

speaking, another servant arrived. This other servant said, ‘Fire came down from

 God in heaven! The fire burned your sheep. And the fire burned your servants. I

alone escaped to tell you.’   While this servant was still speaking, another

  servant arrived. This next servant said, ‘People came from the nation called

Chaldea. There were three groups. They stole your camels. They killed your

servants.  I alone escaped to tell you.’   While he was still speaking, one more

servant arrived. This last servant said, ‘Your sons and daughters were in your

 oldest son’s house. They were eating together. And they were drinking wine.  But

then, a great wind blew from the desert. It was so strong that the house fell down.

 Everybody died. I alone escaped to tell you." 

And Satan caused Job to have spots on his body. The spots were sore. And the

spots were on every part of Job’s body.  Job took a piece of pot, which he rubbed

 against the spots. And Job sat on the ground, on the ash heap."

(Job 1-2)

The suffering of Jesus Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ understands suffering; He understands pain; He was no stranger to injustice; He knows what it means to be misunderstood; He comprehends mocking  ...  The Lord was with Job in his nine months of suffering.  Job lost all of his cattle, all of his servants, all of his children, all of his assets, and then he lost his health with boils covering his entire body.  Job's wife said, "Curse God and die."  But, Job told her that she spoke as a foolish woman. 

Job was a righteous man, and this was a test.  A test?  Yes, a test; satan approached God and God told satan that Job was a righteous man, that he was his servant and that there was no one else in the world like him.  Then, satan told God that Job served Him, God, because he was rich and had many assets, and that it was because God protected him.  God allowed satan to attack everything in Job's life, but told him that he could not take his life.  This occurred and satan came against him with fury; Job endured this horror for nine months.  If this was not enough, Job's three so-called friends came on the scene and accused him of being sinful, telling him that was why he was going through this.  Of course, this was untrue; Job was a righteous man, and he knew it  ...  Job went through all this  ...  And God was silent.

God finally spoke those powerful words of "Where were you...?"  He brought everything into perspective for Job, because poor Job had gotten to the broken place in his unbelievable pain and suffering to say that he wished he had not been born, and God, in so many words, informed Job that He, God, was in full control of Job's life.  Job was restored, with more than he had before, in assets, in children, in servants, and in wealth.  But, Job passed the test; he never accused God falsely.  Oh, he complained, and moaned and wished he had not been born, but who could blame him?  The main thing is Job never lost his faith in God. 

What about you?  What's going on when you feel God is silent?  Does He care?  Does He know what you're going through?  Is it a test for you?  Does God still test His own?  Oh, it's no doubt that we still battle satan, just like Job did; we still are tested; we still go through times when God is silent.  Why?  This walk with God is a walk of faith; sometimes He just says, "Trust Me."  Well, do we tell our own little children things they can't possibly understand? No, we love them through it.  If we jumped every time our own children whined, we would end up with brats.  Sometimes, we explain things to our kids, and teens, but they still don't get it.  We wring our hands, pray our prayers, stay up nights  ...  "so are we" to our Father God.  Some things we won't understand until we get to the other side; some things we understand later down the road; some things are just "Wait."  There are three answers we get from God: Yes, No, and Wait.  And, sometimes, we grow in Him by searching to find Him, by sitting at His feet in prayer, by fasting, by times in the desert, by times by the brook, by times in prisons of worldly injustice, like what Joseph suffered, having been accused falsely.  Sometimes, God does not remove the storm, but carries us through it, and sometimes it's a refiner's fire. 

Through it all, we must keep the faith, and remember this life is not all there is; we have an eternity to live  ...  earth is just a precursor to our forever.  If we live long enough, every one of us has some Job-like experiences, maybe not as severe, but to us they feel severe.  We don't give up when God is silent; we know that the scriptures say that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.  (Romans 8:28)  And, we're told we must "endure" to the end.  That word "endure" means to "hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding."  God is always working in our behalf behind the scenes, even when we can't see it.

Fight on, children!  Worship Him in the good times; worship Him in the bad times; worship Him when you feel like it; worship Him when you have no strength left; worship Him in the morning; worship Him in the evening  ...  Worship Him!  Joy Comes In the Morning!  God is never really silent; His Word screams what He thinks, who He IS, and what He feels  ...  His whisper comes through the gentle breezes; His comfort comes through the Holy Ghost and fire; His arms hold us through our brothers and sisters; His song speaks through the voice of His singers  ...  We can hear Him, see Him, feel Him, touch Him through everything and everyone around us.  He's a lion at times, a lamb at times, but He's always a Savior.  He's only silent if we're not listening  ...

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.)

Pastor Kenneth Phillips

(God's voice, hands, and feet in earth)

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas

Services Sunday 10:30 am and Wednesday 7:15 pm

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