Hardship | Pastor Rick Wright | The Church at CW

Good morning, church.

Why don't you take your Bibles and turn them to the book of Job, chapter two this morning?

And uh hope you had a good week.

And uh it has been good, it has been hot.

We spent almost a full half at an Alabama football game, and we found out the definition of hot yesterday.

And then the game really got going after we left, so I don't know what that means for us.

Um but welcome.

And uh I have some special people here this morning that they wouldn't want me to do this, but I'm going to anyhow.

Uh Heather's Aunt Jo is here with us, and her friend Patty and Miss Sue traveled uh from Chattanooga and Texas and places all in between.

But thank y'all for being with us this morning.

And then my childhood best friend, if you want to hear every bad story there might be, uh his name is Tom Scott and his girlfriend Renee and Becky, they're here with us.

They travel from Delaware.

Did anybody travel any further?

So glad you're here, man.

This is awesome.

Just don't ask him too much.

That's all I'm saying.

Job chapter 2.

Job 2 · chapter mention

Hardship is certain.

Amen.

We all have troubles.

Some of you have house troubles, some of you have car troubles, some of you have dishwasher troubles, some of you have tax troubles.

Most certainly, some people here today have work troubles.

You got troubles.

Some of you, your kids are in trouble.

We've got troubles, might be here today with marriage troubles, health troubles.

Some of you, depending on how yesterday went, you might have Alabama, Auburn, Georgia troubles.

I don't know.

Some of you say, man, Pastor, my troubles have troubles.

And I would say, Amen.

And this is where we meet with a character in the Bible named Job.

When we meet with Job, we find a man that is full of trouble suddenly.

And so let's pray and then we'll jump in.

Father, we love you today.

We thank you for the opportunity to dig into your word.

And God, I pray that your word would do its work, get the rest of everything out of the way.

God, for a few moments I pray that we could focus on what you have to say.

And God, let our hearts be in tune with you.

And God, I pray that you would take people today from this place changed, different.

Lord, if we're just the same, what have we accomplished?

God, meet with us and do your work in our hearts.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Letter A, we see this that pain comes to Job unexpectedly.

If you missed that first point, it was hardship is certain.

There in Job chapter 2.

Job 2 · chapter mention

I want you to see verses 3 through 8.

This is the second round.

Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless, upright man, and one who fears God and shuns evil, and still he holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without cause.

So Satan answered the Lord and said, Skin for skin.

Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone, his flesh, and he'll surely curse you to your face.

And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.

So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, and he took for himself a pot's herd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of ashes.

If you look back at chapter one, the Lord says to Satan in verse eight, Have you considered my servant Job?

Job is put to the trouble test.

How many of you have felt like that?

It says that God is having this conversation with Satan.

He says, Have you considered my servant Job?

Seems like a weird conversation, right?

Have you considered Job?

Job is upright.

Job does right.

Think about testing him.

Have you ever been voluntold something?

Put you to the test.

My aunt was a choir director, and she volunt me that I had to be on the choir team.

Y'all, I can't sing.

I can't even hum.

I can't clap on tune.

I'm pretty much a threat to worship.

And my aunt made me get on this team.

And not only did I have to get on the team, you know when that class took place in school?

Doran, gym class.

The greatest class the high school and junior high ever had was gym.

And so instead of going outside and playing football or instead of playing dodgeball, there I was singing.

Not only did that happen, but my aunt on the first program we had in this particular year had me singing a solo line for Purple Mountain's Majesty.

But the song went off and everybody had their line.

Amber waves of grain hit, and I froze, and I sang for amber waves of grain a second time.

She never asked me to sing again, folks.

You ever been voluntarily?

It feels like Job, a servant of God, is getting a backslap to the face.

Like he says to Satan, have you considered Job?

And Satan says, Yeah, you've made his life easy.

You've hedged him in.

And in chapter one, verse eight, it says, before verse eight, it says he lost all of his livestock.

You heard about the boils in chapter two, he lost all of his livestock, he lost all of his workforce, and he lost all of his children, what seems like ours.

And if you lost just your job, you would say, that's a hard day.

If you are an employer and you lost all your employees in one day, you'd say, that is the worst day.

If you lost all of your children in one day, you'd say, What is going on with my life?

Why am I so afflicted?

And then it moves on to chapter two, and it says, that's not enough.

So he gets skin boils from foot to crown.

Hear this, church.

Job was not some super saint.

Job was a man like you and me.

And what we find out in this instant is pain comes to people unexpectedly.

Job didn't know about the challenge from Satan.

He didn't know God permitted a test.

He didn't know of any idea why this would take place.

From his perspective, this is the worst week there's ever been in the history of mankind.

I um went to Delaware last week to officiate my nephew's wedding.

And um, it was project time with dad, which is fine.

My dad, he'll have metal saved up, and we'll go to the scrapyard.

He'll have wood to be chopped, he'll have, and that was all fine.

Went to the wedding, and um, it was sweet.

Wedding went fine, you know, got married, the kiss, everything's perfect, and we go in, and there's this first dance, and I'm kind of listening, watching, I'll you know, look over at the dance, and all of a sudden, in the midst of the song, this song comes on called Then.

Maybe you know it's by Brad Paisley, and these words hit, Now you're my whole life, now you're my whole world.

When your hair is turning gray, what I can see is how I how am I ever gonna love you more?

And I look over at Catch My Dad at this other table, and he's just weeping, just bawling.

And I thought, when I heard gray in that song, I thought about my mom before she passed.

My mom had this grayish, whitish hair that there was a time where she'd dye it forever, and it just got, you know, this pretty white or pretty silver, whatever you want to call it.

And I looked at dad and he's just weeping.

I saw a cousin go over and I saw my sister, and this is what I know from my dad this year.

My dad didn't know in January that he was going to catch on fire.

If you're visiting today, my dad spent six weeks in a burn unit.

He didn't know when he came home from that fire after a few short weeks, my mom would have a heart attack and pass.

My dad had no idea of those things.

And I think about that, and that's me and my life, and it's been hard.

There's sweet families in here, and you've lost somebody, and it hurts.

And you've gone through a hardship, and your heart is burdened.

And there's some people in here you've lost a job and it hurts.

And you're walking through tension right now, and it hurts.

As I was leaving, I grabbed a hold of my sister.

We didn't even talk about my mom, and we just hugged, and she wouldn't let go, and she just wept because it hurts.

And for you, somebody here has been given a health diagnosis, and you're saying, Why, God, this trouble.

And there's people I know in this season at this church that have gotten a diagnosis, and you're saying, God, this hurts.

And I want to tell you that I'm sorry with you, and I'm heartbroken with you.

But we've learned this that pain comes unexpectedly.

Why, Pastor?

Unexpected does not mean uncontrolled.

Pain may surprise you, but pain has never surprised the God who authors pain.

Unexpected.

Why?

It's unexpected because unexpected reveals control.

To believe that you and I have any semblance of control in this life is a huge mirage.

It's false.

You say this, but when I have control, Pastor, I feel comfortable.

I need control.

Don't you understand?

That puts me in my comfort zone.

And here's how it would work.

If we knew a hardship was coming Tuesday, we'd take all a Monday and plan for the hardship, wouldn't we?

We'd cancel appointments.

We'd be on the phone with our insurance agents before noon today.

Hardship is coming.

We need a plan.

But unexpected pain makes you face something.

It makes you come face to face with this.

What matters most to you?

Tribulation, hear me.

This is hard.

It's aim to hurt.

It's aim for pain.

God had this open conversation of how he would test his good man.

So you say, Pastor, I'm a, yes, you are.

There is good, and we're bad.

And God says, there's going to be tests, there's going to be trial for everyone.

Why?

Romans 5, 3 and 4 says it this way.

It encourages believers, it's a hard verse.

I don't even like to really say it.

Rejoice in sufferings.

Why would I say, praise the Lord?

I'm going through hard things.

Well, Paul goes on to tell us this is why.

He says it produces endurance, it produces character, it produces hope.

Job was chosen.

We saw there in chapter 2, verse 4, it says, skin for skin.

He was chosen for this affliction.

And I want to tell you today, like it or not, you that are troubled, you've been chosen.

Look at the chosen man of trial.

I want you to see more about Job.

Letter B.

Look down at verses 9 and 10.

Letter B is faith is revealed unmistakably.

Job's wife asked what seems to be a fair question.

Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast to your integrity?

Curse God and die.

But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks.

Shall we indeed accept good from God?

And shall we not accept adversity?

And all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job in chapter 1, verse 20 through 22, we see he tears his mantle, which is a picture of suffering.

And he says, This, Naked came I into this world, naked will I leave, blessed be the name of the Lord.

And he worships God.

And so he says, How can I receive blessings from the same hand and not expect pain?

You don't get to choose when hardship is coming, church.

But when hardship comes, it will reveal what's in you.

God permitted a test that seemingly Job had no idea was coming, would never maybe even understand as you go through the chapter.

And Job, from what he says, accepts the terms that his existence is in God's hand, it's in God's design, and it was never his own.

And the problem of control is when you say, This is mine.

This is all about what I will do, what I can do, and the plan that I will make to get out of this test.

But Job accepted the terms.

When we have the blessed, and I say that, and it's hard for me to say, when we have the blessed opportunity to be tested, we have the opportunity to both weep and to worship.

We have the opportunity to grieve and give glory.

We have the opportunity to hurt, but still hope.

We have the opportunity to break down and to bow down.

Look at the New Testament.

There's people riddled throughout.

There's a man full of leprosy.

You know what it says the man full of leprosy did?

And Mark it says he saw Jesus, he saw the answer, and he came and he fell down before him.

He knelt before him.

There's a man named Jarius whose daughter was dying.

He heard of what Jesus could do.

And he thought to himself, if I can just get to this man, hear the answer during a test.

If I can just get to this man, and he fell down before that man, and what did it do?

He fell down in worship, showing his faith.

You think about those two?

What about the demoniac of the Gadderenes?

You think you got trouble?

This man's name was Legion for the 2,000 demons that were inside of him.

You think you've done wrong?

I bet this man did everything wrong.

And it says that this man who had these demons, I struggle trying to really understand this because these demons would try to take him over, but there was enough humanity in him that the man that was still there ran with his one last worship.

He ran with all that he had and he fell down a lifetime of brokenness.

And he fell down and he managed to worship in the middle of all of his mess.

Here's what we know about all of them.

Hear me, church.

They all stopped trying to stand on their own.

Somebody here today needs to hear.

They all stopped trying to stand on your own.

Do you know what worship means?

It means to abscribe worth.

And it's a posture of your heart.

I say posture, it means that the heart is knelt down.

Today I hope you'll join me because the troubles that I walk through, I can't carry.

I want God to see me on my knees today because my faith, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

He's everything that I need, and he's everything that you need.

And when you come face to face with the world's worse, what is your faith going to say?

Look at the second point this morning.

Turn to Job 2, verses 11 through 13.

Job 2:11–13

It takes a shift into these friends.

Harshness is costly.

The word harshness is the Hebrew word Zoram, and it means jarring like a loud sound or a light, something that jars you that hurts.

Harshness.

Look at verse 11 through 13.

Now, when Job's three friends heard of all this adversity that came upon him, each one came from his own place.

Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Namathite, for they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him to comfort him.

And when they raised their eyes from afar and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept.

And each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven.

So they sat down with him on the ground.

Seven days they sat with him, and seven nights, and not one of them spoke a word to him during that time, for they saw that his grief was great.

So letter A is this their presence was comforting.

These men, friends of Job, came with the intention that they were going to comfort their friend.

It was good and noble intentions.

They came to be with him, they came to share in his sorrow, to mourn with him, and bring relief to comfort their friend.

And it says that when they seen them, when they saw Job and Saw was going on outwardly, they tore, they wept, they fell to their knees, they mourned, all of it was right.

Seven days, these friends were exactly what Job needed.

They showed up, they sat down, and they shut up.

They cried with him, and honestly, as friends, they were crushing it.

They were doing exactly what they needed to do.

And then they started talking.

Some of us have been better friends before we ever opened our mouths.

Their actions should teach us that they cared, even though they misunderstood.

They misunderstood their friend.

Verse 12, it says that they wept.

The whole picture of grief, they were there for Job, and they were really physically distraught at his troubles.

I'm painting all this because I don't want you to get all off on his friends as they're terrible because of what happens.

But we should learn this lesson, church family.

The first action that you've heard many people say is, I just don't have the words.

And it's absolutely correct.

There are no words that you're gonna orate to somebody who has lost a loved one.

There are no words when somebody has lost their job.

Words are not gonna write it.

But sometimes they just need your shoulder right next to theirs.

And if you will be there for them, they're not asking you.

There's no magic that's coming out of your mouth.

If we had that, we would bottle it up and we would sell it for millions.

We don't.

But being there, their silence was not awkward, it was ministry.

They couldn't fix it, they couldn't restore what was broke, they couldn't take the pain away.

And for seven days, Job's friends were exactly what he needed.

And so when you're wondering, how do I help somebody?

Just show up.

Just tell them I'm here.

Be there.

You don't have to fix it with words.

They were what he needed.

But let her be.

It didn't stop there.

We have a lot of chapters in the book of Job.

Let her be as their presumption was condemning and cruel.

After those seven good days, we have thirty-five chapters of bad days.

I don't know of any other book in the Bible that's like this.

35 back and forth chapters of Job's friends and his and the presumptions.

They were their best when they were present, and they were their worst when they presumed on Job's life.

Here's the danger of presumption today, church.

The danger of presumption is we can almost completely be convinced that.

That we are right about something without understanding it.

There's a difference in discernment and presumption.

Discernment seeks truth.

Presumption assumes, I already know.

See, we see things in moments while God across the canvas of time is painting a big picture.

And what we might get a glimpse of for a moment doesn't tell us all of God's sovereign hand.

And so these men, judged by appearance and by every appearance, they thought they were dead on.

Everything they saw, they thought this is exactly how it is.

I know it.

And they go on for 35 chapters telling all about what they know and what they see.

John 7, 24, church, tells us don't judge things by appearances.

The fruit of the Spirit is not harshness.

It's gentleness, goodness, kindness.

Soft.

Be a shoulder next to somebody.

It's not presumption.

Let's look at what they actually say.

So turn to Job chapter 4.

Job 4 · chapter mention

There's a little bit of turning.

We won't go to the lengths of all of these, but I've selected a few.

Job 4, 7, and 8.

Remember now, Job, whoever perished being innocent.

But where were the upright ever cut off?

Even as I have seen those who plow iniquity and sow trouble, reap the same.

He says, basically, you must have done something wrong.

As I see it, you must have done something wrong.

Look at chapter 8.

Verses 3 through 6.

Bildad says, Does God subvert judge?

Or does the Almighty pervert justice?

If your sons have sinned against him, he has cast them away for their sin.

If you would earnestly seek God, Job, and make your supplication to the Almighty, if you were pure and upright, surely now he would awake for you and prosper your rightful dwelling place.

He says, Your children suffered because they are sinners.

Look at chapter 11.

It goes from bad to really bad.

Verse 5 and 6.

But oh that God would speak and open his lips against you, that he would show you the secrets of wisdom, for they would double your prudence.

Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.

He says, You actually deserve worse judgment than you've got.

What a friend.

And you can go into chapter 22, we won't for time.

Verses 5 through 10 in chapter 22.

He lists out these are the sins that I see of you, Job.

It's tough.

Tough to hear all that.

Here's what happens: pain can make a person interpret everything through the wound.

Job's friend had decided that they understood everything that was going on, and they had understood some things that God never revealed to them.

Do you ever do that?

I do.

And you know what I've had to learn in life?

I've got to rewind.

I've got to back up and punt.

I've got to be willing to change.

I've got to be willing to be flexible.

Pride says, it is what it is.

I hate this phrase.

I don't use this phrase.

Because it is not what it is.

As a Christian, you're called to something called sanctification.

And it's a lifelong process of change and growth.

So to say, I'm geared this way, I'm keyed this way, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, that's not Christian.

That's a thought process.

A Christian is not someone who has arrived.

We're in a process of change.

Well, what should we do, Pastor?

Help me make it practical.

Here's a few things that I believe you should do.

Ask before you assume the worse.

Ask.

Listen before you label someone.

Compassion comes before any criticism.

And give grace where you would want grace.

And before you send that text, this isn't in the same line.

Read it again.

Read it one more time.

Job's friends comforted him, and then they crushed him.

Point three this morning.

Healing that is compassionate.

Look to the end of the story, Job 42.

Verse 7 and 8.

We have this back and forth.

The Lord is revealing to Job who he is.

Job is questioning God.

Job is questioning his friends.

His friends are questioning him, and then we land.

Verse 7 and 8.

And so it was after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.

Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering, and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken to me what is right as my servant Job has.

Letter A, we see this that God rebukes Job's friends.

Job, before that, if you go the first part of the chapter, you see that Job repents.

That seems interesting.

Verse 6, you can see it.

Therefore I bore myself and I repent in dust and ashes.

Job repents not because he finally discovered some secret sin that led to all of this struggle.

Job doesn't repent because his friends were right for 35 chapters and he was wrong.

Job repents because as he listens to God's words and gets closer to God and encounters the greatness of God, Job begins to see himself for exactly what and who he was.

And as he saw God in the presence of God, he began to see himself different.

And so he repents.

And I want to offer today, church family, are you getting in the presence of God?

The key to revival in 2 Chronicles says, if my people will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, then will I forgive their sin and heal their land.

But none of it happens until the wickedness of people is able to be pulled out.

Are we willing to look at the mirror of self because we're getting into the presence of God?

And what happens, Job repents.

Job says, Oh God, now that you have talked to me of the creation and the control and the strength that you are, I see myself a what I really am.

I'm not better than these friends.

I'm not better than anything.

He says, God, I repent.

Job, who God offered up because of his righteousness, because he was a good man, he says, put him to the test.

And then that Job, seeing the sovereign hand of a God of all creation, repents.

Then God turns from a repentant, good Job.

And if you could feel the turn, and he says, Eliphaz.

I'd like to see who was in the room that day.

He turns from a repentant servant, and what a moment.

He says, but you, my wrath, is kindled against.

Hear me.

God says, you boys have hit my last nerve.

Anybody had their last nerve hit by a parent?

How about your parents?

Did you ever make your mom or dad say, now you're really making me angry?

And I said that to my mom.

I was afraid of what was coming next.

Was it a shoe, a spoon?

What was coming?

Now you're really starting to make me mad.

And that's what it feels like.

He says this to these men, you have not spoken of me.

This is your thoughts.

This is your theories, your speculations, this is your accusations and your condemnations.

He says, Go offer a burnt offering in the sight of Job and ask him to pray for you or else.

He says, if you don't get this done, then my anger, my wrath is going to deal with you.

Now I don't know who you've had mad at you that's ever made you frighten, but the God of all creation looks at you and says, I'm going to deal with you.

These men knew who the Lord was.

I believe these men had godly thoughts.

I believe these men went with godly intentions.

I believe these men spoke well and orated their thoughts based on what they thought religion was and right was.

And they thought the prescription of pain that they were giving to their friend was firm and he needed to hear a little firmness.

But it would help him in the long run if they just, if he could just get it.

If you could see the error of your ways.

And so when God turns, what a reversal of heart.

Letter B.

God restores Job.

Look down at verse 10.

We'll look at 12 and 16.

And the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends.

Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Go down to verse 12.

Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, for he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, and all these other things.

Verse 16.

After this, Job lived 140 years, saw his children, grandchildren, and generation.

So Job died, old and full of days.

We see the restoration of Job, but I want to go back and I just want you to see what got there.

So this was, to me, kind of humorous.

God turns to Eliphaz, he turns to these men, and he tells them what they need to do.

And he says, go to Job, he'll pray for you.

And they do what he says.

I guess so.

Right?

They do what he says.

The word there is Palau and it's intervening.

When Job intervened.

I love this, that God was confident.

He didn't say, you're going to go to Job and maybe he'll pray for you.

He says, go to Job, my good servant, and he's going to pray for you.

God was confident that Job would pray for his friends.

Job is such the tender man that God says, He'll forgive, he's humble, he's tender, and God says, Job will pray.

I wonder if Job's friends shared that confidence.

God just talked about how angry he was.

And they have spent 35 chapters talking to Job.

I wonder if they shared the same confidence.

But this is what the scripture says.

This is important.

It says, the Lord turned his captivity when he prayed for his friends.

It says they went to him and the Lord, verse 10, and the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends.

I don't want you to miss that.

When he prayed for his friends, not because he was innocent of the causes, not because God loved Job and intended to do that.

He restored Job when he prayed for his friends.

Sometimes being a godly friend means praying for a person that might have hurt, that might have hurt you, that you might have struggled with.

Consider Jesus' friends.

Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, hours till crucifixion, it says he prayed great drops, sweat drops of blood.

And he came back to where his friends were and he said, Couldn't you have prayed for me?

He said, I just asked you to pray for me.

In these same hours, Judas, his friend, betrays him with a kiss, sells him out.

Peter denies, Peter, not listen, the inside circle.

One of the ones that seems to have been closer to him, says three times, I'm a Christian, Christ follower?

I don't know what you're talking about.

Jesus restored Peter.

Jesus was beaten and mocked and berated and spat on on a cross.

And listen to me, this is what happened from the cross.

This wasn't just about disciples.

Jesus looked down on a cross, one of the seven statements of the cross.

He says, Father, forgive them.

They don't know what they're doing.

They know not what they're doing.

Giving us a picture of this ever undying hope.

And church, he forgave you and he forgave me.

And Romans 8, 1 says, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And Romans 8.39 says, nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

He turned our captivity.

That phrase turned his captivity is a Hebrew idiom and it means reversed his desperation.

But the key to unlocking it says, when Job prayed for his friends, I have to believe that Job had to swallow some type of pride from what he heard from his friends.

They had to swallow their pride, and they did quickly to come to Job.

And Job had to pray for his friends.

Now I want to ask you, are you holding on to something that God has called you to lay down today?

Church family pride can become a prison.

Pride says, hold on, and grace says, let go.

If you came in today and you honestly say, I don't have anything I've got to let go, I will honestly say to you, I don't think you're looking deeply.

In the presence of God, the upright man Job says, I repent.

When you get in the presence of a holy God, he has a way of showing what we're still holding.

Don't miss this morning that hardship, if you're going through it, it's an opportunity to worship.

And it's an opportunity that we won't get one day in heaven.

We don't have hardship there.

And so here on earth, Job was a good man, and hardship like gold purifies in the fire.

That's what happens in Job's life.

You see, how full circle is this story of friendship?

When Job's friends came for him, and then Job intervened for them.

Full circle.

I don't know if there's something you gotta lay down this morning, but I want to close and just share this old story.

There was an old story of this monkey trap, and people would put inside of this trap fruit or nuts that a monkey would want to get his hand in and grab a hold of.

And the monkey would reach in, grab a hold of whatever it was, and be desirous of this thing on the inside, but once it closed its hand around it, the monkey couldn't pull his hand back through the opening.

And here's the crazy thing: it was not trapped by the cage at all.

Not by the container.

The monkey was trapped by his own grip.

And if he would just open up his hand and let go, he would be able to be freed.

And I wonder if that's anybody today holding on to something.

And I want to invite you to bow your heads and close your eyes this morning.