A Sovereign God: Following the Example of Job

"God is wonderful in His design and excellent in His working. Believer, God overrules all things for your good. The needs-be for all that you have suffered, has been most accurately determined by God. Your course is all mapped out by your Lord. Nothing will take Him by surprise. There will be no novelties to Him. There will be no occurrences which He did not foresee, and for which, therefore, He has not provided. He has arranged all, and you have but to patiently wait, and you shall sing a song of deliverance. Your life has been arranged on the best possible principles, so that if you had been gifted with unerring wisdom, you would have arranged a life for yourself exactly similar to the one through which you have passed. Let us trust God where we cannot trace Him. " -Spurgeon

Do you believe God is sovereign? Do you believe He is in control of EVERY affair of not only the world but of your life? Do you believe that there is not a "mistake" in God's economy? Do you believe that there is NOTHING in this world or outside of it that can thwart His providential hand? Do you believe that He has been working from before the foundation of time to work everything together for the glory of His name? Now, like me you may be saying "yes" and "yes" and "of course"...but the question then becomes but do you live that way? Do you live in such a way that reflects that you actually believe that? The fact of the matter is is that we all as humanity, as sinful flesh, struggle with this very thing. Trusting God seems easy enough in our mind but when push comes to shove it is a constant battle that wages war on our souls, and oh how it grieves the Father to know that His kids don't trust His providential and sovereign plan and hand; yet it is a common reality for the believer. But what am I supposed to do you might ask? How on earth do I trust Him when my circumstances are falling apart all around me? Or maybe you say I want to trust Him but no matter how hard I try I just can't seem to. You may even be like me in which you grieve over your lack of trust...I can count on numerous occasions in which I have sat broken at the foot of the cross begging the Lord to give me the ability to trust Him because I deeply long to. The battle may be one which will endure for the rest of our earthly lives but it is one that should become easier over time as we put on the strength of the Lord and prepare for it!

Job is one of my favorite characters in the Bible; not because I relate to him in any way (because let's face it we can't really because chances are none of you have lost everything, including your health) but because I look at him and am so humbled. I was reading through Job today and I couldn't help but shrink back in humility at my own sinful heart as I looked at the response of a man who couldn't be considered anything less than righteous, but because of the strength of God in Him. Picture the scene for a moment: God and satan are having a conversation in heaven in which God's sovereignty over all, even evil, is revealed. God GIVES satan permission to take from Job everything but his own health and life. In a moment Job is stripped of everything that he has ever known or loved. Think about it for a moment...EVERYTHING taken away...now from the world's perspective he had every reason to be angry with God, or to be in despair right, and maybe even from Christians he would get the sympathy card and the excuse to cry out in anger towards the Lord? But does he? NO! In fact he does the exact opposite, he praises God! He says in Job 2:10b " "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips". WOW! I can't even imagine what he must have been going through and yet he responded rightly, in a God-fearing way. After studying Job's response and everything he went through and God's dealing with Job, I think that he is one of the best examples for us of what it looks like to live a life of trusting God. We can learn a lot from Job in how to trust God, so here we go...

1. Eyes and Hope Fixed on Eternal Rather than Earthly Things
Job had the right perspective when it came to life and death, he realized as he said in 1:21 that "naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there". He knew that nothing on this earth would follow him into death, he came with nothing and he would return with nothing. What Job knew and had fixed His hope on was seeing the Lord and we see that in 19:25-27 "I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last He will take His stand on earth"; you see Job was confident that after he was dead that His Redeemer would vindicate him and that he would enjoy perfect fellowship with Him. Job realized something that many of us don't realize until we are faced with a near death experience or until we are crushed to the point of brokenness and despair; it is what Paul realized in Philippians 1:8, that to live is Christ and to die is gain...it is ALL about Christ. Job was hoping in what He knew was true, the fact that He would spend an eternity with His Savior, His God and no matter what happened to him on earth it didn't matter because his eyes were fixed on what was eternal and not temporal. May we too have this perspective daily, that as Hebrews 12:1-2 says our eyes are fixed on the "author and perfector of our faith".

2. Talk Truth/Think Truth To Oneself
If anyone knows me they will tell you that "Think Truth" is a common saying from my mouth. I have those words posted in many prominent places in my home, car, and office because I so often forget and need to be reminded. Job sets an example for us in how we need to make sure that we are talking to ourselves rather than listening to ourselves. Martyn Lloyd Jones said, "Most of the unhappiness in your life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself." Do you realize that your thought life is very powerful? That you are constantly thinking and whatever you are thinking is more influential than anyone or anything in your life. Our hearts are wicked and deceitful (Jermiah 17:9) and they convince us of many things that aren't true. As you read the book of Job you can see that as he deals with his "friends" or I should say enemies, and with himself he is constantly trying to remind himself of the Truth he knows...fundamentally that His Redeemer lives and His hope is found in that. We too need to live this way. We need to be CONSTANTLY talking the Truth of the Gospel to ourselves no matter what circumstances or situations we are in! We NEED to be reminded because we so often forget. So stop listening to yourself and the agony of your wicked soul and start talking to yourself the Truth of Scripture...this I promise you will radically change your life!

3. Talk to God and Give Him Glory
Lastly, what we see with Job is that He cries out to God, He talks to God consistently even when He doesn't "feel" like it or "feel" like God is answering him. But boy does God answer back in his perfect timing (Job 38-42). It is amazing to know that the God of all the universe hears us, and not only hears us but answers us! Do you realize that God answers the prayers of His children? Now you might say well not mine! But the truth is, He does answer every prayer, just not always in the timing or way you may have expected. God delights in the petitions of His kids. Job 42:2 says, "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted"...Job not only talked to God but ascribed Him the glory due His name! God wants to hear from us, but even more so wants us to tell Him of His greatness and give Him glory!

Job will forever be ingrained in our heads as a well as God called Him, "a blameless and upright man". The way that he lived his life in trial is remarkable and something to be admired (and we know that he lived well in blessign as well because of what God refers to Him as). We may strive to have the kind of faith like a Job or a Daniel or an Abraham or Paul, but feel as though we are just loosing the battle of trusting God...and be tempted to despair. But trust HIM by fixing your eyes on Him and hoping in what is to come, by talking and thinking Truth and by talking to your Father in heaven! If I can offer you one piece of encouragement, wisdom or exhortation it would come from Psalm 42 and the man after God's own heart, v5 "Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence!"