If you are a part of our church family, or if you read this devotional regularly, you cannot help but notice that our little church has been hit hard with its share of challenges. I have heard from many asking what is going on at NWBC? We have many friends and family who are dealing with cancer and other illnesses. It has impacted both the old and young alike. Like other churches, we have many who have done battle with the Covid virus; some have won and some have lost. We have people on our prayer list who have been killed in car wrecks, attempted suicide, and even murdered. Several of our people have recently gone through surgeries and gotten relief and others have not been able to get relief and have in fact received the news that everything that can be done has been done. We have loved ones who are battling the ugly disease of Ahlzeimers that robs your loved one of their mind and personality, almost making them a stranger. We have a friend who is currently battling ALS where his mind remains sharp and yet his deteriorating body restricts him from doing what he desires to do. We have another friend who has been unable to get relief from excruciating pain after visiting many doctors and taking many different medications. There are also those who are no longer with us and are now with Jesus and we are left to grieve and hurt and try to go on in life without them. We have been hit hard!
Where is God? Where is He? We are not the first people to find ourselves in this situation. The book of Job tells us about a man who God thought was head and shoulders above the rest. God is talking to Satan and He asks him if he has ever taken a good look at Job. God describes Job this way: “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” (Job 1:8) If you think at ll like I do, the fact that Job lived like that, would automatically mean that he was protected from all of the kinds of stuff that you find on our prayer list. He was a good man! God said that he was blameless! Blameless should not equal trouble in my opinion. In fact, blameless, you would think, should mean exempt from trouble. That is what Satan thought too! That is not too comforting for me to know that I think and reason and rationalize a lot like Satan does. Satan said the only reason that Job is that way is because you have blessed him and protected him. Is that not true? Don’t you think that that is how things should work? The fact is that we think and reason and rationalize a whole lot more like Satan than we do like God. God was up to something and Job knew nothing about it. In ONE DAY, Job lost everything! He lost his businesses, his wealth, and even all of his kids. That’s a bad day! That is a horrible day! One day later, he lost his health! UNBELIEVABLE!!! What did Job do? He worshiped! EVEN MORE UNBELIEVABLE!!! How did Job make it? Why did he not just fall apart? Because he knew that God was up to something. In Job 2:10 he asks his wife “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” That sounds like someone who knows who is in charge and who is pulling all of the strings behind the scene.
Friends come to console and pray with Job. Good friends! The consoling and comforting turns into a discussion and mission to look for the sin that Job committed to bring all of this on himself. There has to be a reason or perhaps something you did, because this is not the work of a sovereign and loving God who might be up to something. Is that not the way that we think? 1plus 2 always equals 3, right? One of his friends tells him in Job 22:21 “Submit to God and be at peace with Him; in this way prosperity will come to you.” Submit to God and you will prosper. That is exactly how we think! I find it interesting that all of this discussion with some good Christian brothers eventually leads to a downward spiral and Job says 23:2-5 “Even today my complaint is bitter; His hand is heavy in spite of my groaning. If only I knew where to find Him; if only I could go to His dwelling! I would state my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would find out what He would answer me, and consider what He would say.” For whatever reason, his time in discussion with his friends led Job to the point that he lost sight of God. “If only I knew where to find Him…”
WHERE IS HE?
Friend, He is right beside you!!! He promised that He would always be with us. He said so as He ascended from His earthly ministry to take His seat in the throne room of heaven. Matthew 28:20 tells that Jesus said “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” It ain’t over yet! That means that He is right there with you! Because of that, we are told in Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.” He is faithful!!! In the middle of the heartache, pain, and fear, know that He is right there with you. Talk to Him. Tell Him where you are at and what you are thinking. You will find out that He already knows. Rest in that! Rest in the truth that God is up to something in your life and in your church! “Be still and know that He is God.” Psalm 46:10