Why Me? - Pastor Otis Amey

We're in the middle of a sermon series or transitioning to a new sermon series.

So for a while we were in a sermon series called God Is, which was really a blessing.

We were talking about all the different names of God, which you can do that sermon series forever.

And so we're transitioning to a new sermon series called Go.

That'll be in a couple weeks.

I believe Pastor Susie was here last week.

And so we're in a standalone series, if you will, and it's interesting that the Lord led me to preach about something I did not want to preach about.

The interesting part about a standalone sermon is you can preach about whatever you want to preach about.

Sometimes it's easier to be handed an outline and say, Here, here's what you're preaching about.

Build it out.

But to have to just say, okay, Lord, where do you want me to go?

And as I preach this message, it's so timely.

I mean, even right now, Pastor Tyrone's family is going through a death in a family.

My family's going through a death in a family.

And so I've been wrestling with how do you navigate through trauma?

How do you navigate through situations where it seems things seem to not make any sense?

And so the Lord led me to preach about Job.

And I was like, Lord, I don't want to talk about Job.

That's that's that's rough.

I wouldn't want my worst enemy to go through that, but we're gonna dive into this sermon.

You're gonna see why the Lord led us here.

So the title of the message this morning is Why Me.

Have you ever had a why me moment?

Why me day?

Why me month?

Maybe a why me year.

So let me ask you this.

Who who asked the question why the most?

Kids.

Somebody said kids.

You got some kids in the house.

Kids usually ask the question why the most?

Usually it's around the two to three uh year range, and then from three to five is OD.

It's like, why, why, why?

And so I've learned not to be frustrated with that, is to understand it's a teachable moment, it's a teachable moment.

Why?

Because that is the age where kids, their synapses are firing, they're starting to put together uh uh uh how things work and why things work, and they're asking questions.

There's times where I'm in the kitchen and I'm holding my wife, maybe I'm kissing her, and I can see my son going, and I say, son, that's the first step to how you got here.

Don't question that.

He's wondering why?

Why are you kissing my mom, my mother?

Uh they they they have these questions.

And so I'd argue that the why phase should never end.

There is a good uh uh there's a good thing spiritually for to to being curious and asking those questions, and our God is is is strong enough, is why is why enough to handle our whys.

Uh we're instructed in scripture to change and become like what?

Like little children.

When I first read that, I'm like, why would I want to become like a little child?

Because little children, they get it.

Little children are completely, solely dependent upon the parent, especially in the in the nursing years in the beginning phase.

But they're dependent upon you for wisdom, for counsel, for protection, for guidance for their next meal.

They're looking to you like that.

This is why Jesus says you need to become like little children if you want to enter the kingdom of heaven, you need to be like those little children.

Right?

The problem is we get a little strength, we get a little wisdom, street smarts, business acumen, business savvy, and we start wanting to be the CEO of our own lives.

And Christ is saying, no, no, no, no, no.

I'm the one that promotes, I'm the one that demotes, I'm the one that gives you breath.

We just sung it.

I placed the breath in your lungs.

You need to be solely dependent upon me for everything.

And if you stop for a second just saying, Yahweh, the inhale, the exhale, you're proclaiming his name.

See, we're supposed to be like little children because they completely understand this.

And Pastor Susie so vividly illustrated it last week.

She made the point that we are all, at the end of the day, no matter how much you earn or how smart or how good you look this morning, we are all sheep desperately in need of a shepherd.

And so I had a why morning last Sunday.

So I was up and I, you know, planned on going to bed early.

It's about 8 30.

All of a sudden, I'm up until like 2 30 in the morning.

There's some things that happen in the family, there's a death in the family, and I was still studying the message.

So I maybe slept for four hours, and so I was scrambling out of the house, getting ready to preach three times at Midtown Sacramento.

So I go to my favorite burrito spot, I order the same burrito, it's already on my phone.

They know me by name, that's a whole nother situation.

So I get the burrito.

I'm eating the burrito on the way to church, and then about two-thirds of the way into eating the burrito, I see avocado and I'm allergic to avocado.

I order this burrito all the time.

For whatever reason, the new person that was there messed up.

And so what usually happens is my glands start going and eventually.

So it's 10 minutes before I'm supposed to preach.

The first service, and my body's going, and I'm fighting, and I'm just praying, like, Lord, why?

So I end up just on the on the way, I just go into the corner and I'm worshiping and I'm calling on the name of the Lord.

And uh something strange, not strange to me anymore, happened.

Is where he allowed all that to just stop.

Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals, allowed it just to go away.

Where every single time my clockwork, I would have been on the side, not able to go.

And he healed.

In his presence, things change.

And so I want to set the stage and let you know that if you've ever wrestled with why something happened, or maybe you're struggling right now, it's okay.

Jesus can handle our cries and our whys.

He says, Come to me.

He said it then and he still says it now.

Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you that, give you something that this world can offer.

I will give you rest.

Not just physical rest, something that your boss can offer, your CEO can offer, I'll give your soul rest.

Have you ever needed your soul to rest?

I'm in that season of life right now.

We see in this story, not the story of Job, but Mary and Martha.

They come to Jesus after their brother Lazarus dies.

So how they approach and how to respond to Jesus is a great picture of the internal battles that we fight when life starts throwing unexpected situations at us.

Right?

Sometimes it's like life is trying to hand you uh uh Costco's a sample.

Like, here, here, take this.

Right?

Life throws you tragedy and trauma like an alley oop.

Like, here, catch this.

My wife was literally a week and a half ago on her way to work, and she gets a call that her grandma died.

Right?

She thought the cancer had metastasized, so they knew that it was gonna happen at some point.

She was making plans to go back to Oakland, had been going, and she just knew everything was gonna be okay.

Within two days, her body deteriorated.

A 92-year-old woman that uh migrated uh uh from the Philippines that was a matriarch of the family, healthy, 92 years old, working for Kaiser forever, sharp, still driving, all of a sudden, within two days, gone.

Oh, you still gotta go to work though.

You still gotta go to Costco, you still gotta take your kids to practice.

How do you navigate that when life happens?

How do you keep going?

See, Lazarus had been dead for four days when Jesus came to town.

Martha doesn't wait for Jesus to arrive at their home.

She pulls up on him, like, hey Jesus, hold on.

Why weren't you here?

If you had been here, he would not have died.

But I love how she reels herself back into reality.

She realizes who she's dealing with, who she's talking to.

So at the same moment when she says, Why were you not here?

If you'd have been here, Lord, my brother would not have died.

She also catches herself and she pauses and she says, But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask.

So even in the midst of her pain and agony, something reels her back into reality.

And what is it that reels her in?

She knows that she's talking to Jesus.

And if Jesus decides to, he he can resurrect her brother.

And she kind of gets it a little, a little, uh, she's off a little bit where she says, Well, you meet him in the resurrection.

She doesn't assume that Jesus is going to raise her, and he says, I am the resurrection.

I you gotta read scripture like slowly, and just look at the times where, like, I'm gonna read something later in Job where there's sarcastic.

God is speaking to Job and it's very sarcastic.

Like, brother, who are you?

I'm the one that makes the wave stop.

Where were you at?

Gird up your loins like a man.

There's times where I read scripture, and I'm like, okay, Lord, you're clapping back.

She's aware, and this is, I think, the main point, she's aware that she's in the presence of God, the presence of God incarnate.

So before we dive deeper into the uh the heart of this message, I want to be clear that I'm not trying to minimize anyone's pain, their grief, or your trauma.

Some of you have gone through unspeakable tragedies.

And some of you right now are in the midst of situations to where you're probably regularly calling out to God and even asking him, trying to process and navigate through why.

I want us all to constantly remember that God knows what we're up against and he promises to be with us in the trial.

One of his names is Emmanuel, God with us.

So, since we know that we serve a God who causes all things to work together for our good, we can trust whatever his plan is, even if we don't realize it in the midst of it.

It's hard to see the picture when you're in the frame.

There's things that happen in my life that I didn't realize what he was doing, what he was cooking up until like 10 years later.

And when I was crying out, why and why this, why that?

Now I say, Hallelujah.

I was not prepared for what I wanted back then.

So now I wake up every day and say, This is the day that the Lord has made.

I will rejoice and be glad in it, no matter what happens today.

So a little bit of biblical background, we're examining an old book with timeless lessons, and this book is not about employment, but it is about a brother whose name is spelled J-O-B.

Chronologically, Job is the oldest book in the Bible, predating the Torah, uh, Genesis through Deuteronomy, the first five books.

And the main theme, as you already guessed it, is human suffering, loss, pain, grief, trauma.

So I believe at least one reason why the book of Job was written was to help us learn how to navigate through tragedy while still trusting God.

Uh it's kind of reverse-engineered because the book of Job, initially at least, is a story of rags, uh of riches to rags.

And if you know the end of the story, he gets double for his trouble.

He goes back to balling again.

But he goes through some extreme tragedy and trauma.

There's 42 chapters in the book of Job, and 39 of the conversations are in the form of dense Hebrew poetry, even how God speaks to Job, it's in dense Hebrew poetry.

It's not rhythmic in the way that we're used to.

A heap and helping a fried chicken, macaroni, and beans and collagen too big for my jeans.

It's not like that.

And there's 330 questions asked in the book of Job.

For to compare and contrast, Genesis has 160 questions in 50 chapters.

So in Job's case, with all these questions that he has, the thing that blows my mind is the answer of why, what happens to him, happens, God never answers it.

So what do you do?

God never answers your why.

How do you keep going?

How do you keep trusting?

And so the big idea of the message is this give God the control he already has.

Give God the control he already has.

Uh this reminds me when I was young, Chris.

Uh I'm the youngest of four boys, so this is back.

I'm old enough to where I used to have to hold the antenna on the TV, right?

And then when I would get my opportunity to play the video games, oftentimes about 30 minutes into it, I would realize that my controller wasn't even plugged in.

I thought I was doing up, down, up, down, left, right.

You ain't even playing.

This is how some of us we think that we're doing all these things in life, and then you realize, like, oh no, it's it's God's the one who's really in control.

So give him back the control that he already has.

Point number one is this we don't even know.

We don't even know.

In the book of Job, chapter one, verse one through eleven, it says, In the land of us, there lived a man whose name was Job.

This man was blameless and upright.

He feared God and shunned evil.

He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants.

He was the greatest man among all the people of the east.

His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified.

Early in the morning, we would uh he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.

This was Job's regular custom.

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.

The Lord said to Satan, Where have you come from?

So just keep that in context that we serve an omnipotent God, an omniscient God that's all-knowing.

So he's not really asking Satan, where have you come from?

I'll get back to that in a second.

Satan answered the Lord, from roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.

Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job?

Every time I read this, I'm like, Don't consider me.

So don't just let me.

My motto is stay out the way and pray.

Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job?

There is no one on earth like him.

He is a blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.

Satan replies, Does Job fear God for nothing?

Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?

You have blessed the work of his hands so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.

But now, Lord, stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.

So we don't know exactly where the land of us was, but it's obvious that Job was sitting on some serious acres.

Just see when you read you gotta read the scripture slowly.

This man had seven thousand sheep, three thousand where are you gonna put those sheep at?

In my suburban house in North Natomas.

We can maybe put eight sheep in our backyards.

He has seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, one thousand oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a massive staff of servants.

I don't know where you reside.

Maybe we could have six people if we, you know, put some bunk beds in our house, but he must have been sitting on a lot of land.

The book opens up by letting us know he's not only wealthy, but he's a great man.

In verse 3, the Lord says he was the greatest man among uh all the people of the East.

And so you have to dive deeper.

You get to chapter 29, where you find out that Job was really about that life.

It talks about how he fought against injustice, how he helped the poor, the marginalized, the fatherless, the orphans, the widows, the things that we're supposed to do after we leave from the service.

So highlighting this is important because the story of Job, uh, in this story, there was near east thinking and wisdom and theology.

His friends operated in, they assumed that treating, uh, that God treated suffering based on the strict principle of justice.

And this is kind of a works mentality, meaning that if you do good and uh and treat people right, then God has to bless you.

But on the other end, if you're evil, you don't take care of people, then God is gonna strike you down.

God is gonna get you.

That's their thinking.

And so Job's argument based on this theology is that since he's innocent, then his sufferings are unwarranted and not divine justice.

So as Job is on this roller coaster of emotions and trying to figure God out, he ends up jumping to the conclusion that God does not run the world according to justice, or that this is scary, maybe God, you're unjust.

Maybe you're unjust.

So you understand, eventually, God is like, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.

You be quiet and listen to me.

And we'll get to that.

So from a logical standpoint, Job is not off because God Himself refers to him as what?

He says, Job is blameless, he's upright, he's a man who fears me and shuns evil.

But from a theological standpoint, Job makes the mistake of trying to place boundaries on an infinite and eternal, a self-existent, self-sufficient God.

And so at some point, you have to slow down long enough to look back and remember all the times that God blessed you and covered you and kept you and blessed your kids and open up doors for you that you never knew existed, and stop trying to figure out God and comprehend God, because if we could comprehend him, he would cease to be God.

But he understands us.

He understands, he made you look how you look, he gave you the specific gifts, talents, and abilities to honor and glorify him.

So we don't need to figure him out.

We just need to move at the pace of grace and say, God, what is it that you're calling me to do in this season of life?

Amen.

And he also says, Jesus says in John 16 and 33, in this is something good for Christians to hear because a lot of us have this Job and his friends' theology that once I give my life to Christ, everything's gonna be okay.

I don't know what Bible you're reading because Jesus Christ says himself, in this world you will have trouble.

So I wake up every day knowing that, but what's the next line that Jesus says?

He says, But take heart.

Exclamation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

And so what do I need to do?

I need to press into his presence.

If he's overcome the world and I'm in him, I'm an overcomer as well.

Everything's in him and through him.

James 1, verse 2 through 3 says, consider it, and this is another one of those scriptures that's easier said than done.

James 1:2–3

You just consider it pure joy when you face trials.

When's the last time you face a trial and say, hey, praise God?

Consider it pure joy when you face diverse or various trials.

Why?

Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

So here's something that you may have never considered before.

We're always asking God to deliver us from something.

What if he's delivering you to something?

You're praying to God, get me out of it.

And he's like, No, no, no.

I want you in it.

Because you have some children that need to learn, you need to instill with to them how to have this character, how to go through things, how to uh how to trust me to be strengthened in the trial.

So you don't have a testimony unless you pass the test.

You have to go through some tests so you can have a testimony.

I have three little children that I need to pour into.

You may be a business owner, have some people that need to you need to pour into, or your your co-workers you need to pour into, or your teammates, or people in your class you need to pour into.

We need to represent him well.

Um Jesus told his disciples, he said, get on the boat, let's go to the other side.

So they all get onto this boat, and while Jesus is asleep on a pillow, a violent storm causes the waves to crash over the boat.

They swear that they are about to drown and die.

So they wake Jesus up.

Jesus gets up and says, You of little faith, why are you so afraid?

Then he rebukes the wind and the waves.

Could it be that when anxiety and fear and anger get the best of us, it's because we were more focused on the sea than the Savior.

We were more focused on the ocean than the omnipresent God.

All they should have remembered, you have to hold on to what he promised in the midst of the trial.

Jesus, you said, we're going to the other side.

Your word never returns void.

And you're on the boat with us.

So regardless of what happens in this moment, you're on the boat with me.

For those of you that are giving your life to Christ, he indwells you and he promises we're going to the other side.

His word never returns void, so we are getting to the other side.

That's what the mindset should have been.

See, having faith and having doubt are both beliefs in a future outcome.

You can have faith about it or you can doubt it.

They're both about things that have never happened.

I think maybe a sermon I preached a couple months ago, um, there was a study that came out and it said about 85% of the time, when you have thoughts, they're negative.

Right?

This is why we need to renew our mind in scripture.

And we we need to know more scripture than just Romans 8 and 28, right?

That's one of my foundational scriptures for this year.

I know that he's gonna cause it all to work out for my for my good.

And so say this with me.

God is with me all the time.

And all the time, God is with me.

This is what a practical thing.

I don't know what season of life that you're in.

This is a saying.

You need to uh you can also have some breath prayers.

Sometimes you say it out loud or under your breath.

God, you're with me.

Lord, you're with me, God, you're good, Lord, your way is better.

Those things sound like very simple, but there's times where I'm in meetings and I'm like, man, these people are tripping.

I don't say that out loud.

Internally, I say, God, you're good, Lord, you're with me.

Let me represent let me represent you well.

God, you're with me all the time, all the time.

God, you're with me.

See, it's hard to see the picture when you're in the frame.

And God is so amazing and present that while he's working all things together for our good, he is simultaneously with us in the stress and the mess, in the addiction and the pain.

Psalm 46 and 1 says, God is an ever present help in times of trouble.

Ever present.

So, really, it's not about asking the question, is he there?

He's everywhere.

It's are you aware?

Are you aware that he's there?

Then we get to verse 6 in this story.

It transports us into the heavenly realm where we cannot see.

Where God has summoned Satan to give an account of himself.

So while he's temporarily allowed to be in God's presence, there's an entire discussion about Job's righteousness and Job's loyalty.

So Satan accuses Job of only following God because God has blessed him.

He thinks Job has impure motives.

He thinks he's a front runner and he challenges him, strike him down, take away these things, and watch, he'll curse you to his face.

And while this heavenly convo is happening, Job, like us, is completely unaware of what's about to happen.

So my first initial reaction reading this was like, dang, that's cold.

Job has no idea what's about to happen.

But then this hit me.

We usually have no idea that tragedy or setbacks are on the way, but how many times has God prevented tragedy from even arriving at your doorstep?

Every time I read this story, I just start saying, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Because here's what happens God asks Satan, have you considered Job?

And the word consider there is not what we think about it.

It's way deeper.

It's what military generals would do at the time in this ancient times when they were checking out a city planning to destroy it.

And he's actually not asking Satan a question because God knows all.

He's saying, I see you.

You've been plotting to kill my servant Job.

Huh?

But what is this, what is Satan's response?

And this is where I get excited.

He says, Man, guy, you already know.

You know what I've been trying to do.

Every single weapon that I've formed against him has not prospered.

Why not?

Because you have put a hedge of protection around him.

So Satan is saying, I've been trying to get to him, but it's because of you.

You have not, you have not allowed me to.

So think about this.

How many times has a Satan been plotting to get you or your kids?

He don't care how young your daughter is or your son is, he's not waiting for them to have a kingston yet or turn 18 or 21.

He's coming for them right now, trying to steal, kill, and destroy.

But how many times has God been like, nope, you cannot get to my son, you cannot get to my daughter.

I place a hedge of protection around them.

He says, I will keep those in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on me.

There's been times where I know, he says it's a promise.

He will set up shop around your heart and around your mind.

But every promise is not just yes and amen.

Some are conditional.

There's things we need to do to get in alignment for the promise to be fulfilled.

How many battles, how many times of death and destruction were on the way, and God said no.

See, we don't know what's going on in heaven, nor are we fully aware of what God's doing here on earth, but we have to trust God and believe that his plan is way better than any syllabus we can create for our own lives.

Point number two is this we have to respond.

Oh, I actually we often respond incorrectly.

After playing football at Sack State and then playing seven years professionally, I had to retire because my left ankle, when I got the MRI and the uh x-ray, was almost bone on bone.

And so you have an ankle of like a 65-year-old man.

And uh there were days where I wept and cried.

I have three little kids that want to go out, take us out and play, daddy, and I can't even run.

If I don't put on my hookeless lies immediately, I'm walking like this in the morning most days.

And so, what do you think I'm asking God?

Why did you allow me to play this game for more than half my life and now this is my circumstance?

Why would you do it?

Why would you bless me and then leave me like this?

So even though amongst the wise and me crying out to God, I still pray.

And I'm praying him and leaving for supernatural healing because he is Jehovah Rapha, but also even if he doesn't, we've come to the resolution that God is still good enough.

If I have to deal with this, it's okay.

But now my entire family thinks that they can beat me in a race.

They can't, they can't.

But because of my ankle, my wife clowns me, they all try to peer pressure me.

They all do races, and right now my 10-year-old son is the fastest in the family.

They try to get me to do it, and I'm like, nah, I don't want to prove to you guys what I already know.

I end up being like Odysseus.

Uh, I won the war, but at what cost?

But now I feel disrespected because I keep getting these ads from sketchers.

And in my mind at least, you gotta be 50 or older to wear sketches.

Because all the OGs that I golf with, they either golf in sketches or they put them on immediately after you get done golfing.

And so I'm like, God, I'm a I'm unk status, but I'm not an OG.

So give me some hokas, give me some on clouds, but it's crazy that I'm getting ads for sketches already.

Anyway.

Let's look at how Job responds to this situation.

And they try to make sketches look cool.

I said, nah, those those are still sketches.

I don't care what colorway, what air bubble.

No.

Let's look at how Job responds to a situation I wouldn't wish I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

The Lord said to Satan, Very well then, everything he has is in your power.

But on the man himself, do not lay a finger.

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house.

Now just picture, this is where I'm going right now.

Picture how you would respond.

There was a time, this is about a year ago, where I was in a hotel in Orange County, and I was up till 4 30.

For whatever reason, God led me to this story, and I just started weeping because I said, God, I I feel like I'm a man who is mature in my faith and has strong faith, but I would not respond like this.

Ask yourself, how would you respond?

Verse 13 One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, a messenger came and uh came to Job and said, The oxen were ploughing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabians attacked and made off with them.

They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you.

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you.

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them.

They put the servants to the sword, and my and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you.

While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house.

It collapsed on them, and they are dead.

Seven sons, three daughters, and I'm the only one who has escaped to tell you.

At this, Job got up, this is his response.

Job got up, tore his robe, and shaved his head, then he fell to the ground in worship and said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

May the name of the Lord be praised.

In all this, or after all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

I cannot speak for anybody else in this room.

Even today, I would not respond like that.

I hope and pray that I get there.

Not because of any possessions that I have, because I cannot fathom getting that news about my kids.

One of my greatest joys in life, I just got home.

I was with the Sacks States football team.

We got, uh we landed at 2.30 this morning.

I slept for maybe three and a half hours, and I'm here right now.

But one of the greatest joys this morning was my kids waking up.

Daddy, daddy, daddy, every single day.

Daddy, daddy, daddy, hugging them, kissing them.

To receive this news?

See, it's easy to read the story of Job and not consider how it relates to us today.

I think we need to be reminded that the same enemy that wanted to kill Job and his family wants to kill us.

And if he can't kill us physically, he'd love to kill us relationally and vocationally.

Job falls to the ground in worship.

He has a proper perspective, and this is the part that broke me.

He says, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

He's not just talking about his possessions or his ox and his cattle, even his own kids.

The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away.

See, we can skip.

He had the proper perspective.

He knew every single thing is the Lord's.

All we are is a steward.

Our finances, our abilities, our talents, even our own kids.

See, we can skip from chapter one to chapter 42 and see that he received double for his trouble.

But he does this without any idea of what's going to happen next.

He doesn't know what's going to happen.

And what happens next in the very next chapter?

Satan is allowed back in the presence of God.

He says, Have you considered Job again?

Then he allows him to afflict his body from the top of his head to the soles of his feet with very painful scars.

He afflicts his health.

Job lost everything, including his health.

So let me ask us this: what if you lost everything but never got it back?

What if God never heals my ankle?

Is God still enough?

Not the blessings in the gift, him is the person of Jesus Christ still enough?

In point number one, I ask you to consider that maybe God is trying to deliver you to something rather than from it.

Here's something revolutionary.

In Job chapter 2, verse 9 through 10, listen to his response.

Job 2:9–10

His wife said to him, Are you still maintaining your integrity?

Curse God and die.

He replied, You are talking like a foolish woman.

Shall, here's the line, shall we accept good from God and not trouble?

Have you ever considered that?

Maybe we're quick to blame the devil.

We don't like to blame ourselves, even though scripture says it's often us.

We're drawn out by our own lustful desires, our own heart.

What if God is trying to bring you to something to strengthen your character, to strengthen your resolve, strengthen your perseverance?

There's an awareness that has to kick in.

If Jesus is with us, we can't forget the promise in the midst of the problem.

And so my question to everyone today is what promises do you need to hold on to in this season of life?

So on the way here this morning, I think I slept about three hours and 30 minutes, and I'm driving here, and I just start worshiping God, and I immediately feel everything shift.

I'm no longer tired.

I feel energy, I feel his presence, I feel locked in.

Why is that?

Scripture promises it.

The first thing that comes to mind right now is he inhabits the praises of his people.

So when you start worshiping him, even when you're here, if you don't feel like it, worship in your own way.

But you all should be worshiping.

Number one, because he's a worthy to be praised.

He put the breath in your lungs.

And when we start worshiping him, he inhabits, he literally takes up residence, he moves in where we worship.

So as I start to worship him, of course, scripture is being fulfilled, he takes over.

I'm no longer tired.

I'm ready to go.

I'm ready to be used.

Even though my body is physically on three hours and 30 minutes of sleep, you would not know it if I didn't tell you, because he inhabits the praises of his people.

So what I'm holding on to is this as well.

In his presence, there is fullness of joy.

So when, so three days ago, when I'm uh downstairs cleaning up, getting ready to go to bed, and it's about midnight.

Literally at 12 o'clock, my wife comes into the room and she starts weeping.

And she says, I don't know what's wrong with me.

And she comes to the realization, I tell her, nothing's wrong with you, baby.

You you you you're a human.

You're going through grief.

The matriarch of the family passed away.

And we've been holding on to scripture in his presence.

How do I just take the next step?

How do I get up and continue?

In his presence, there is fullness of joy.

That's what I experienced driving here.

I felt it.

Fullness of joy.

Here's the next scripture.

The joy of the Lord is our strength.

So if you want to be able to endure, if it's through trauma or trial or tragedy, reverse engineer.

The joy of the Lord is our strength.

In his presence, there is fullness of joy.

So I need to abide and press into his presence so I can experience a fullness of joy that gives me his strength.

So that is the answer.

This is why my favorite book in the Bible is John 15.

If you abide in me, I'll abide in you and you'll bear much fruit.

The warning, apart from me, you can't do nothing.

But as I abide in him, I feel his presence.

I feel his joy.

I feel his strength.

I'm able to keep going when I want to quit.

My wife is able to get up and still go to work, even though she's planning a homegoing celebration.

Because the joy, she doesn't have any strength.

The joy of the Lord is his strength and is found in his presence.

Amen.

So we need to restructure and rearrange our lives so we can put ourselves in position.

So let me wrap this up.

And point number three is a brief point.

We need to let God be God.

After going back and forth with his friends and lamenting and expressing his displeasure with how God operated concerning justice, the Lord turns the tables and speaks to Job out of a storm.

You can tell that God's not mad at Job, He just wants the light bulb to come on.

He wants him to repent and realize, like, son, I am God.

And so I want to read just a few verses.

There's three different times that God talks to Job, but in verse 38, you can hear the dense Hebrew poetry.

You can even sense some sarcasm in how God is talking to Job.

He says, under the heading, the Lord speaks in Job 38, says, Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm.

He said, Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?

Brace yourself like a man.

I will question you, and you shall answer me.

Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?

Tell me if you understand.

Who marked off its dimensions?

Surely you know.

Who stretched the measuring line across it?

On what were its footing set?

Or who laid its cornerstone?

While the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy.

Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb?

When I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed its limits and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, speaking to the waves, this far you may come and no farther.

Here is where your proud waves halt.

He wants Job to operate with this awareness of how big he is, his greatness.

This is the point.

We need to be aware that God is everywhere, all powerful, all-knowing.

We will never be able to fully comprehend him.

We need to surrender to him.

God's response to Job is a powerful reminder that the universe is vast in many ways, incomprehensible.

But we can trust God.

This is what we all have to remember that we must operate with the God consciousness if we want to win the battles that we're in.

So here's a couple practical things, and it will wrap this up.

I talked about already breath prayers.

So you can start to ask God, what are some that you can have?

Whether it's scripture or just saying things, Lord, you're good.

Lord, you're with me.

God, you're with me all the time.

All the time.

God, you're with me.

Discipleship.

That is actually not a suggestion, that's a command in scripture.

Matthew 28.

Who is it that's pouring into you regularly?

I have three gentlemen, season more seasoned saints, more seasoned, more seasoned than I am, that pour into me that I can call, that won't just be like, yeah, you're right.

That will rebuke me, that'll challenge me, that'll encourage me.

And I'll also do the same thing.

There's some young younger brothers in the faith.

Therapy.

If you need a therapist, get one.

Maybe some places will tell you you just need Jesus, you do need Jesus, but it's okay to get therapy.

Just like it's okay to go to the doctor.

And then the last thing, maybe you never heard this before.

This is simple.

I have a playlist called Oil.

It's songs, like 27 songs, that instantly take me into the throne room.

And the one that I listened to on repeat on the way here was this.

I said, Can you guys please sing forward?

I listened to it probably five times from Northern Atomas to 30-minute drive here.

And it just took me to this place in his presence where I say, God, I don't know how to move forward.

But in your presence, I can move forward.

In your presence is fullness of joy.

Last thing I'll share is sometimes we ask God why.

Why, why, why.

And I had a why moment this Tuesday.

I went to go take my swagger wagon to uh made a Toyota to get service, and they always take an hour.

I've done it like 20 times.

They always take an hour to get it done.

And they're about an hour and a half in.

And if you know me, I don't like to be late to anything.

And so we have Tuesday staff meetings from Midtown.

I took it in at 8.

I'm thinking I'm gonna be out of there by 9, 9.15 to make the 9:30 staff meeting.

And it was 9:20.

And then the guy says, I'll be right back.

And 10 minutes later, I don't know where he is.

And I also was gonna meet up with somebody to give them Bibles to take for FCA to go on campus.

And something prompted me, said, Go outside and meet him and give him the Bibles.

Because he was gonna come inside.

The plan was for him to come inside.

So I'm like, okay, first of all, God, why are you allowing this?

I'm gonna be late.

You know I don't like being late.

And God said, just trust me.

So I go outside, I'm talking to the old ball coach, giving him this case of Bibles to take the kids that he's born to at American River.

All of a sudden, this white truck pulls in.

Brother, he has dark-tinted windows, we catch eyes, and he backs in.

I'm like, okay, I don't I don't know him.

He gets out of his truck.

Now keep in mind, I'm like, why, why, why?

I'm gonna be late.

Here's why I was late.

Because God had a divine appointment.

Brother gets out of his car and says, Pastor Otis, I just got done, like right now, listening to your message about Joe.

He said, I've been going through some things.

I've never given my life to Christ.

Can we talk about that?

And in the midst of in that moment, I said, Oh, I'm gonna be late, late, because this is way more important.

Here I am saying, Why, God?

Why are you gonna allow me to be late?

Artists in the picture when it's a friend of God was like, I have an appointment for you.

I have a man who has questions, and you have answers because I put it in you.

So just start speaking and let the rivers of living water flow from you.

And as I let this brother Christ can answer all these questions, he just texted me yesterday and said, We're killing me for coffee.

I have more questions.

I want to get bugged in the midtown church.

I want to go to the midst group, and I say, God, thank you.

And so now my perspective has shift has shifted.

I still ask God why, but now I'm saying, what is it that you want me to learn in the midst of this trial, in the midst of what I'm going through?

So, yes, we may have why questions, but we have to continue to trust God.

Even if it's just to take the next step, just to get up and keep going in the midst of trauma.