Trusting God Through Suffering

Speaker 0 0:00

Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. Job, chapter 5, and today's title is simply Don't Give God the Silent Treatment. Don't Give God the Silent Treatment. We're going to talk about today one of my favorite things my girls used to do when they were little, and we're going to get into how we don't need to do that with God. But before we get into all that, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and to the podcast, and make sure you are going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on social media, because I'm going to tell you something the more we dig, the more we find, and it is awesome that we get a chance to do this thing called life together. So, if you have your Bibles, I want to open up with me to Job, chapter 5. I want to remind you that the overall idea of the book of Job is trusting God, god's wisdom in suffering, trusting God's wisdom in suffering, and that can be really really difficult because sometimes, when we're going through very difficult situations, it's hard to see anything other than whatever that difficulty is. You know what I mean. Just like, whatever, that big mountain in the way. Whatever it is, it tends to cloud out everything else that God is doing. But the reality is is God is always doing more than we can see. And while we need to give ourselves grace in the moment, we also need to realize that God is always working and before we know it, god is going to come through in amazing ways and that comes in all types of circumstances and, as you can see, job really is suffering because of some good things. God's been using him to really show the devil hey, I love this guy, this guy's awesome, he's got it all put together. Show the devil hey, I love this guy, this guy's awesome, he's got it all put together. And so there's so many things going on. Job doesn't know and Job is kind of dealing with all of this and all these kinds of things are happening and kind of going on.

Speaker 0 1:53

And there is a moment here in this particular chapter where a guy named Eliphaz is responding to what Job is saying and he talks about this idea in here of not being silent before God, not going against what God is saying and what it reminds me of is one of my favorite things when my girls were little and they wanted to pitch a fit or do whatever. One of my favorite things they would do is they would give me the silent treatment. They thought that when they were being quiet and were not talking to me, that was their way of showing me they were angry. Well, can I tell you that was my favorite, because it was fine. I would if they were, because both I had two girls. They both loved to talk all the time, and so they thought they were punishing me by not talking and I would get so tickled because all they were doing was upsetting themselves rather than if they would come and talk to me we could work it out and we could try to help them understand what was going on and all of that. But they thought they were hurting me by not talking to me and it would. I would just get so tickled about it and I wonder how many times? Because think about that, when God thinks about us, he sees us as his wonderful creation, what he has created and who he loves so very much. And so I even wonder sometimes, when we pitch fits as his children, we do different things. You know how many times does God look at us and just kind of shake his head and smile and go man, little guy, little lady, if you just come to me, everything will be better. And that's kind of, I think, what Eliphaz is trying to say. But let's see if he kind of gets it across. You ready, here we go.

Speaker 0 3:33

Job 5, verse 1 says this Cry for help. But will anyone answer you? Which of the angels will help you? Surely, resentment destroys the fool, the jealousy kills the simple. I have seen that fools may be successful for a moment, but then comes sudden disaster. Their children are abandoned, far from help, and they are crushed in court with no one to defend them. The hungry devour their harvest, even when it is guarded by brambles, the thirsty pant, even after their wealth. But evil does not spring up from the soil and trouble does not sprout from the earth. People are born for trouble and as readily as sparks fly up from a fire. If I were you, I would go to God. I would present my case to Him.

Speaker 0 4:25

He does great things, too marvelous to understand. He performs countless miracles. He gives rain for the earth, water for the fields, he gives prosperity to the poor and he protects those who suffer. He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed. He traps the wise in their own cleverness so that their cunning schemes are thwarted. They find it is dark in the daytime and they grope at noon as if it were night. He rescues the poor from the cutting words of the strong and he rescues them from the clutches of the powerful. And so, at last, the poor have hope and their snapping jaws of the wicked are shut. But consider the joys of those corrected by God. Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin, for though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.

Speaker 0 5:25

From six disasters, he will rescue you Even the seventh. He will keep you from evil. He will save you from death in time of famine and he will power of the sword from the power of the sword in time of war. You will be safe from slander and have no fear when destruction comes. You will laugh at destruction and famine. Wild animals will not terrify you. You will be at peace with the stones of the field and its wild animals will be at peace with you. You will know that your home is safe. When you survey your possessions, nothing will be missing and you will have many children. Your descendants will be as plentiful as grass. You will go to the grave at a ripe old age like a sheaf of grain harvested at the proper time. We have studied life and found all this to be true. Listen to my counsel and apply it to yourself Now.

Speaker 0 6:20

Let's pause one quick second to say, mr Eliphaz a little bit of a low blow that he's talking about all these descendants Job's going to have when, just days before that, job had lost his entire family. So a little bit of a low blow there. But you see what Eliphaz is trying to say to Job. He's trying to say that, instead of just wallowing in all the badness and all this kind of stuff, go to God and even if God tells you something you don't want to hear, realize that even though God disciplines us, he also heals us. Even though he corrects us, he's also what the Bible calls the lover of our soul. And so Eliphaz is getting to the right point. He's just really being a jerk about it, and I think the growing moment for us is this to remember that we trust God's wisdom in suffering. We trust that God is with us more than we can imagine.

Trusting God Through Difficult Times

Speaker 0 7:12

So when we go through difficult times, the worst thing we could do is to turn our hearts away from God. Don't give God the silent treatment. Don't say, well, I'm mad at God. I don't understand why I lost my relative. I don't understand why the job situation didn't work out. I don't understand why my marriage is in trouble. So, in order to pay God back, I'm not going to talk to him, just like with my girls. They think that they're hurting me and really they're just hurting themselves, and the whole time I'm wanting them to come back to me.

Speaker 0 7:40

Come on, let's talk it out. How much more does our heavenly father stand there with his hands open saying I'm not mad at you. I promise you I'm doing more than you can see, and so the worst thing you can do is to disconnect from the only one who can do anything about it. Anyway, and so I want to say this to you today If you're going through a difficult season and a difficult time, as we read through the book of job, you're gonna see, job gets very honest with God. But the only way you can get honest with God is you've got to go to him. So if you're going through a difficult time, don't run away from God. Don't give God the silent treatment. Run straight to him. He can handle it. God's not nervous, he's not worried, he's not on medication, he's good, he can hear everything that your heart needs to say and he's going to love you anyway.

Speaker 0 8:30

Let's pray together today. God, thank you so much for your goodness, your kindness, your mercy. Thank you, god, that you can handle whatever we have to say. You're not mad, you're not vengeful. You're for us. I pray today as we bring to you the deep things in our heart. You will have your way in our lives. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. Well, god's word says in Job 1, verse 21,. I came naked from my mother's womb and naked, I'll be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord. In other words, I trust God in all things. He never fails. I'll see you tomorrow for Job, chapter 6.