I See It Now (Dharius Daniels)

0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:05.840 Welcome to the Elevation Church Podcast. Today we have the 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:09.920 privilege of welcoming Pastor Darius Daniels from Change Church and 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.000 we're excited for you to hear what you shared with 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:18.480 our church. We hope you enjoy this message. Well listen. 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:21.000 I love God's word. I'm excited to share it today. 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:25.040 And you know, I'm thinking around this whole idea of 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:29.200 questions and questions from the Bible, questions that people in 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.880 the Bible had about God. This is what I've learned. 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:35.600 It's one thing for us to question God. We see 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:38.800 some of that in the Bible. It's another for God 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:45.760 to have questions for us. And when God asked us 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.400 a question is not to gather information, is to give it. 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:51.720 When he asked us a question, he doesn't need to 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:56.040 see something. He's trying to show us something. And it's 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:58.440 around that thought that I want to read a few 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:03.240 verses in the Book of Job Job, chapter forty two, 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:11.280 verse number one, we see Job responding to a question 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:16.600 God asked him. It says, then Job replied to the Lord, 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.880 I know you can do all things. No purpose of 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:26.200 yours can be thwarted. You asks Job is saying God, 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:29.679 you ask who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge? 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:32.680 Then Job says, surely I spoke of things I did 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:37.080 not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, 0:01:37.480 --> 0:01:41.240 listen now and I will speak. I will question you 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:44.559 and you will answer me. Listen to what Job says 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:48.000 in verse five, he said, my ears had heard of you, 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:55.640 but now my eyes have seen you. I last time 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:58.880 I was here, I taught from the subject. I didn't 0:01:58.880 --> 0:02:02.720 see that coming. I want to talk from this subject 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:09.000 and our time together today I see it now. Clap 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:12.040 your hands in the house, and in your house if 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:23.160 you're ready for God's word, you could be seated. A 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:29.080 Danish philosopher and theologian Soaring Kirca Gard is credited with 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:38.600 this quote. He says life is lived forward but only 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:45.440 understood backwards. He seems to be suggesting that there are 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:49.880 some things that are going on or that will go 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:55.480 on in your present that will only make sense in 0:02:55.520 --> 0:03:02.400 your future. In other words, just because something doesn't make 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:12.000 sense now doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. It may 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:16.400 mean you have not gotten to the place, space or 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:21.720 season in your life where God makes sense out of it. 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:26.320 And I'm wondering if any of us can pause for 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:30.400 the cause and do some reflecting in our own life. 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.600 And if we reflect objectively, I believe we have to 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:38.880 honestly admit that there were some things in our past 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:43.480 that we did not understand then, that we did not 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:47.600 value then, that did not make sense to us. Then, 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:52.240 That felt damaging then, But now when we look back 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:57.160 in retrospect, we gain respect for that season because the 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.000 thing I thought that was destroying me was the thing 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:05.440 God was using to develop me. Come here, Joseph, and 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:09.600 my pit and my prison became the pathway to my palace. 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:21.480 Life lived forward but understood backwards. Kireker Gard is articulating 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:25.520 the essence of this principle I call the principle of perspective. 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:32.160 What does that mean? Where you sit determines what you see, 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:39.280 and what you see determines what you do. Where you 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:44.279 sit determines what you see, and what do you see 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:49.640 determines what you do. There are some things you can 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:54.360 see that I can't see, not because they don't exist, 0:04:55.839 --> 0:05:02.120 but because we aren't sitting in the same place. Because 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:06.599 where you sit determines what you see, and what you 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:12.760 see determines what you do. And this is why some 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:20.839 individuals become confused, dumbfounded, flabbergasted when they look at your 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:25.520 life in the midst of this uncertain season, you're still 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:29.720 living with a degree of conviction and certainty that they're 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:34.279 looking at you when everything seems to be crumbling all 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:39.280 around us, but somehow you're still being held together. They're 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:43.200 looking at you when everyone else seems to be having 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:48.720 pity parties. You're having praise parties in the closet, in 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:52.359 the car, in the living room, on the iPad with 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:56.960 the desktop. Come on, talk to them. We're having praise parties. 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:00.400 And people feel like, well, maybe they're just in engauge 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:05.720 in some religious fanaticism. Maybe they're just denying the reality 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:09.760 of what's going on. Maybe they're operating with some sense 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:14.520 of intellectual inferiority. No, no, no, no, no. You don't 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:18.080 understand what I'm doing because you don't see what I'm seeing. 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:21.240 And you don't see what I'm seeing because you're not 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:24.919 sitting where I'm sitting. When I got saved, I was 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:29.680 raised to life in Christ, seated in heavenly places, and 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.120 so now I see things from a different perspective, and 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:36.960 I see what the enemy means for evil God's gonna 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:40.240 work for good, so I don't have to wait until 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:44.799 the battle is over. But I can praise God right 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:54.120 now because where you sit determines what you see, and 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:59.200 what you see determines what you do. And this is important, 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:05.240 essential when we find ourselves, listen to me, please. In 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:10.960 job like seasons, Pasadarius, what is that? What do you 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:15.000 mean by that a job like season? I'm referring to 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:18.720 a gentleman in the Old Testament named Job. There's a 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.120 part of his story situated in a section of the 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:28.240 Bible called wisdom literature, meaning that this part of the 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:34.400 Bible contains books that God wants us to gain wisdom from. 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:39.120 And Job's story is put in the pages of scripture 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:44.600 because God wants us to gain wisdom from Job. On 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:50.880 how to handle job like seasons, Darius, what is a 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:56.720 job like season? A job like season is a season 0:07:57.000 --> 0:08:03.480 of ambiguity. It's a season where you have to watch this, 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:14.000 where you have to keep advancing without some answers. It's 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:18.440 a season where you want answers God refuses to give you. 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:29.960 It represents seasons where where you have to move on 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:41.720 without closure. It's the season where God separates and differentiates 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:48.280 between what you think you need and what you actually need. 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.440 It's God's way of saying, you think you need an 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:58.400 answer to advance, and because I'm committed to supply all 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:01.800 of your needs, if you really needed an answer right now, 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:06.000 I give you one. But because I haven't given you one, 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:10.240 it's an indication that you got the ability to advance 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:14.120 without it. And I need to pause today, and I 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.440 need to speak to somebody who feels like you're waiting 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.680 on some answers and you're trying to make sense out 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:24.120 of some things that don't make sense. If God hasn't 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:27.760 given you an answer now, it's because you don't need 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:32.120 an answer now. And maybe God's encouragement to you is 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:36.640 to move on anyway, is to advance anyway, it's to 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:46.960 thrive anyway. Maybe you don't need what you think you 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:52.040 need to do what God is calling you to do. 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:58.240 Maybe God's trying to wean you off of something that 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:02.880 you become code dependent on that he gave to you. 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:10.360 But you used the gift as a crutch, and you 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:14.960 became more confident in the crutch than you did in 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:21.200 your crisis. And he says, in this season, let me 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:30.400 take that crutch to reveal to you. Sometimes you don't 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:34.800 know I'm all you need until I put you in 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:46.880 a situation. Well, I'm all you got, job like Caesars. See, 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:51.040 this principal perspective is incredibly important because it helps me 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:57.160 manage wisely job like seasons. It helps me manage those 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:04.240 seasons with wisdom so that our anxiety about ambiguity does 0:11:04.320 --> 0:11:10.079 not cause us to act impulsively. You understand what I'm 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:15.240 saying that, right, So the damage that anxiety about ambiguity 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:18.079 can cause is not just what we feel, it's what 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:22.640 we do as a result of those feelings. Right. It's 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:28.040 like an Old Testament character named Abraham who was very 0:11:28.080 --> 0:11:31.080 old in age and his wife was old also, and 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:33.480 God says to them, Okay, you guys are gonna have 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:37.240 a child in the old age. And so they were 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.360 already old when they got the promise, and watch this 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:43.400 and watch this. While they're waiting on the promise, they 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:48.160 deal with a season, I believe, a season where they 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:50.880 get to the point and they something causes them to 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:55.520 act impulsively. So Sarah recommends that Abraham hook up with 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:59.560 someone named Hagar, and as a result of that, she 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.480 gives birth to a child named Isaac. What does Isaac represent. 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:10.920 Isaac represents the fruit of impulsive activity. It's what you 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:18.400 produce when you get ahead of God. And it didn't 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.600 stop Abraham from getting to the place God had for him. 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:26.440 It just made the journey much more difficult than it 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:33.760 had to be. This principal perspective helps us manage these 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:42.280 seasons with wisdom, because where you see determines what you see, 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:47.320 and what you see determines what you do. So maybe 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:51.199 there are times I don't understand what God is doing 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:58.760 because I'm not seeing what God is seeing, and I'm 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:01.640 not seeing what God is saying because I'm not sitting 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:05.600 where God is sitting. I see to the corner, he 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.920 sees around the corner. I see to the hill. He 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:12.800 sees over the hill. I see today, he sees tomorrow. 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:16.240 I see the crucifixion on Friday. But it lets me 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:21.920 hang on the cross because he sees a resurrection coming 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:25.720 Sunday morning. And maybe God's not behaving the way we 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.679 feel like we should he should be behaving. Maybe God's 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.880 not intervening in the way we feel like God should 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:35.240 be intervening because we're looking at the same thing. But 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:39.520 we don't see the same thing right. An example of 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:42.280 this is in John eleven when the Bible says there 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:45.040 was a man named Lazarus who was dead, and the 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:48.520 scriptures say who was Yeah, who is dead? And the 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.640 scripture says that Jesus gets word of his death and 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:56.040 he says these words, Lazarus has fallen asleep. Now everybody 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:59.880 else is saying he's dead, but from Jesus's perspective, he's 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:04.080 so everybody else is expecting the Jesus to rush because 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:08.280 Lazarus is dead, But Jesus doesn't rush because in his mind, 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:11.600 Lazarus is sleep. They looking at the same thing, but 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:14.560 they aren't saying the same thing. And Jesus is like, 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:17.520 I'm not rushing because you think what I'm actually doing 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.600 is performing a resurrection. But in my mind, I'm just 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:27.640 wakning them up from a nap. Because where you sit 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.680 determins what you see, what you say, determins what you do. 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:40.080 Maybe that opportunity didn't manifest itself. Maybe that that promotion 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:44.320 didn't happen, Maybe that transfer didn't happen, Maybe that contract 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:48.440 didn't have Maybe you being positioned at the department in 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:52.080 that department didn't happen six months ago, because God knows 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:57.120 six months from now that department's gonna phase out. See 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:01.480 where you sit determines what you see, and what you 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:05.720 see determines what you do, and Job's story is an 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:11.840 incredible example of this reality. We are introduced to this 0:15:11.960 --> 0:15:15.840 gentleman named Job with these words. In Job one, verse one, 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:18.320 it says, in the land of us there lived a 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:22.440 man whose name was Job. He was blameless and upright. 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:27.400 He feared God and shunned evil. I very rarely have 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:31.760 I seen the Bible speaks so favorably about a man, 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.680 and very rarely have I seen the Bible give such 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:39.280 detail about the character of a man. So the writer 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:42.680 of this narrative is trying to get us to see 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:47.360 that if anybody should have been able to avoid seasons 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:54.120 of ambiguity and uncertainty, it should be this man. It's 0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:56.840 trying to get us to see, if anyone should be 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:03.360 exempt from unfavorable ccumstances and inconveniences, it should have been 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:12.960 this man. But this man starts experiencing this downward trajectory 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:17.440 of tragedy, and so the writer, rather literally or metaphorically, 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:22.720 gives us some behind the scenes spiritual backstory to see 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:26.520 what is happening to facilitate this tragedy, and so, whether 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:31.280 literally or metaphorically, the writer says that one day angels 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:35.520 will lined up to have conversations with God, and one angel, 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.520 a fallen angel named Satan, had to stand in line 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:42.400 just like everybody else. So he standing, uh huh. That's 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.040 how much of a defeated foe he is. He's got 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:47.560 to stand in line just to get an audience with 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:51.800 the Father. He overinflates his ability because he wants to 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:56.280 intimidate us into believing he's got more power than he has. 0:16:56.440 --> 0:17:00.360 But my Bible tells me Jesus gave us power, all 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:05.360 the power up the endemy, he got a stand in line. 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.560 He's standing in line, y'all. He's standing in line, and 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:14.480 he gets he finally, he finally gets his turn, and God, God, 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.800 such a boss. He gets his turn. God say, what's up? 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.479 He said, nothing? So where you've been? I've just been 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:30.400 to Valentine and Roanoke and Melbourne and Greenville and rock 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:34.160 Hill and University City, just trying to find somebody's life 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:41.520 to mess up. And God says, have you considered job? 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:50.760 Wait a minute, God, wait, a minute. I just read 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:54.080 in the Land of Us that lived a man named Job. 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:59.520 He was blameless and upright. He feared God has shunned evil, 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:04.920 and God says, yeah, hell you consider Joe. Wait a minute, 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:10.760 there are some other people in my Bible that I 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:15.399 think might be better recommendations. I'm gonna see if I 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:20.760 can find anybody that's honest. Have you ever felt like God? 0:18:20.880 --> 0:18:24.359 I don't want this to happen to anybody, but I 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.840 am wondering why this happened to me and not the 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:38.640 person down the street. It's a powerful picture, right of 0:18:38.720 --> 0:18:44.600 just ambiguity won't have an answer. I can give you 0:18:44.640 --> 0:18:50.240 some hypothesis. I don't have an answer this. It rains 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.359 on the just and the unjust. That's the declaration of 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:55.919 a reality that exists in the world. But I do 0:18:56.040 --> 0:19:01.040 not have the rationale for that reality. It's like, man, 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:10.120 sometimes the worst stuff happens to the best people. That's tough, 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:14.600 isn't it. So he says, have you considered my servant, Joe? 0:19:15.840 --> 0:19:20.920 And watch what Satan says. He says, well, does Job 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:24.560 fear God for nothing? He says, have you not put 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:29.439 a hedge around him and his household and everything? He has. 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:35.639 Hold up, Wait a minute. The text says that Satan says, 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.880 have you not put a hedge around him? His household 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:44.480 and everything he has? It didn't say that. God said, 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:48.520 I put a hedge around him, his household and everything 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:50.920 he has, and I'm follow the floor donary time. He says, 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:54.560 where are you been? I've been all over trying to 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:56.919 find somebody's life to mess up. Have you considered my 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:00.879 servant Joe? Yes, but you put a head hedge around him, 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:05.080 his household and everything he has. Wait a minute, You 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:08.680 not only Satan know who job is, but you also 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:12.359 know there's a hedge around him. Here's my question. If 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:15.400 God didn't tell you that was a hedge, how did 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:19.240 you know unless you try to get to him previously 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:25.600 and you couldn't because of the hedge. And maybe we 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:30.480 ought to pause and thank God for hedges you don't 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:36.840 know about. Maybe sometimes we are so focused on the 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:41.159 things that got to us, not realizing that every day 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:44.679 there are some things that don't get through because of 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.720 a hedge. I want to tell you, for every time 0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:51.040 the devil got through, there were more times he couldn't 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:54.720 get through because of a hedge of protection that was 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:58.199 around you. Now. Listen, I know what it's like to 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:01.240 praise God for things we know about that he did. 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:04.679 I want us wherever we are, in the car, in 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:07.679 the living room, in the kitchen, I want us to 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:11.160 praise God for the things he blocked that we don't 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:23.639 know about. Has hedge, he says, He says, have you 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:26.119 not put a hedge around him and his household and 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:29.240 everything he has? It means you've been trying, not just 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:33.480 to get to me, you've been You've been trying to 0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:38.520 get to my house. Some people in your house are 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:44.880 being blessed by your hedge. That's a result of your 0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:48.159 faithfulness to a god. They want nothing to do with 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:53.080 you what I just said. There are times of people 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:54.720 like why are you so committed to that church? Or 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:56.479 why are you so committed to that God? And they 0:21:56.480 --> 0:21:59.040 don't even realize that the reason I'm able to be 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:02.679 who I am to you, and the reason I the 0:22:02.760 --> 0:22:06.280 reason I am to able to handle you in a 0:22:06.400 --> 0:22:10.560 responsible manner is because of this very church you're complaining about, 0:22:10.800 --> 0:22:14.960 and you're benefiting from a heads that is protecting you. 0:22:15.119 --> 0:22:20.080 That's a result of my commitment to God's church that 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:30.920 you're complaining about. Complaining about what they benefiting from don't 0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:42.840 even know they benefit from your heage. So the Bible says, 0:22:44.680 --> 0:22:52.240 Satan leaves presence of God and begins to engage in orchestrating, 0:22:52.400 --> 0:22:59.280 so influencing some people to do some interesting things. And 0:22:59.320 --> 0:23:05.479 then there are some unexplainable natural disasters that happen that 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:09.200 also directly impact Joe. So this is one of the 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:11.480 things that happens. The Bible calls it a windstorm, so 0:23:11.720 --> 0:23:16.120 we don't know. During these times, there weren't meteorologists and weathermen, 0:23:16.240 --> 0:23:17.920 and so we don't know if this was a tornado 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:23.320 or a hurricane. But some natural disaster happened and it 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:28.400 hit his children's house and he lost his kids. Now, 0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:31.040 this was the text says, and it says while someone 0:23:31.240 --> 0:23:33.680 was giving him that news, while they were still giving 0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:35.960 that news, somebody else came and said, listen, all of 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:40.000 your assets, which were agricultural back in that day oxen 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:44.080 cattle says, a group of people named the Sabians have 0:23:44.320 --> 0:23:49.800 just come. They've stolen that from you, and are you 0:23:49.840 --> 0:23:52.320 following me? And while that person, the Bible says, while 0:23:52.320 --> 0:23:56.919 they were still speaking, someone else comes and gives some 0:23:57.040 --> 0:23:59.200 bad news. I want you to see how the enemy 0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:03.920 is at work here. It is sequential, it is cumulative. 0:24:04.640 --> 0:24:07.520 Have you ever felt like, if it's not one thing, 0:24:08.680 --> 0:24:12.240 it's another. Have you not felt like when it rains, 0:24:13.200 --> 0:24:18.040 it pours. This is a strategy of the adversary to 0:24:18.119 --> 0:24:23.040 get us out of our anxiety, because when it before, 0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:26.639 the enemy takes us out. He tries to wear us down. 0:24:28.920 --> 0:24:31.600 Did you hear what I'm saying? So the sequential nature 0:24:31.680 --> 0:24:34.840 of what's happening weakens your resolve. Have you ever felt 0:24:34.880 --> 0:24:37.199 that way that, Okay, I got big faith and I'm 0:24:37.240 --> 0:24:39.879 believing God, and then you just get hit with blow 0:24:40.080 --> 0:24:44.840 after blow after blow, and then your resolve is weakened, Samson, 0:24:45.000 --> 0:24:48.600 your hair is cut. And then when you lose your strength, 0:24:48.840 --> 0:24:59.520 here come the Philistines, and the Bible says, in the 0:24:59.520 --> 0:25:03.199 midst of ball all of this job did not charge 0:25:03.240 --> 0:25:09.879 God with any wrong doing. It's amazing. But what I 0:25:09.880 --> 0:25:14.320 love about this story is that that very often is 0:25:14.359 --> 0:25:19.479 where teachers and preachers stop. But in chapter two, the 0:25:19.520 --> 0:25:24.040 Bible says, Satan comes back to God and says, yeah, 0:25:24.080 --> 0:25:28.280 I need another round. Here's my question. If you took 0:25:28.320 --> 0:25:33.160 his kids, if you took his assets, if you disrupted 0:25:33.240 --> 0:25:36.239 the course and the quality of his life. Why are 0:25:36.320 --> 0:25:41.200 you coming back in chapter two trying to get more 0:25:41.240 --> 0:25:46.280 access to Job. Maybe it's because everything you took in 0:25:46.400 --> 0:25:55.960 chapter one was not what you were really after. Because 0:25:56.000 --> 0:26:02.800 Satan's exchanged with God initially said if you take his stuff, 0:26:03.880 --> 0:26:08.200 then he will curse you to your face and break 0:26:08.240 --> 0:26:12.320 his level of commitment. So maybe Satan is coming back 0:26:12.840 --> 0:26:17.119 because he's frustrated that no matter what he took, he 0:26:17.240 --> 0:26:19.600 still didn't get the one thing he was really after. 0:26:20.560 --> 0:26:23.720 He was after Job's commitment. And I want to tell 0:26:23.760 --> 0:26:26.879 somebody that's listening to this and watching this that the 0:26:27.080 --> 0:26:30.639 enemy is equally as frustrated with some of you because 0:26:30.680 --> 0:26:34.040 he's been coming after this and messing with that and 0:26:34.200 --> 0:26:39.760 infiltrating this and stealing that. But he's upset because he's 0:26:39.840 --> 0:26:42.840 not getting the thing that he's after. He wants your 0:26:42.880 --> 0:26:46.640 commitment to God, but you got a job like resolve 0:26:46.760 --> 0:26:50.800 that says, though he slay me, yet, will I trust him? 0:26:51.200 --> 0:26:55.440 You can take everything, but you cannot have my commitment. 0:27:03.720 --> 0:27:05.800 So Satan says, all right, I got all this stuff, 0:27:05.840 --> 0:27:09.760 but let me get access to him, and Joe gets 0:27:09.840 --> 0:27:14.960 inflicted with personal sickness. And suffering. His wife is his 0:27:15.080 --> 0:27:21.120 only caretaker because his children are gone, his assets are diminished, 0:27:21.480 --> 0:27:25.720 he can't hire any help. He's not used to living 0:27:25.800 --> 0:27:35.439 this way. Listen. His quality of life has diminished relationally, 0:27:36.280 --> 0:27:42.400 financially and now physically. And his wife, who I don't 0:27:42.400 --> 0:27:51.480 believe was a bad woman. I believe she got caretakers fatigue. 0:27:51.720 --> 0:27:53.800 I don't think we should judge her whole story on 0:27:53.840 --> 0:28:00.880 a statement. I think we at times pain and unfair 0:28:00.960 --> 0:28:06.359 picture of Job's wife, not excusing or affirming or endorsing 0:28:06.400 --> 0:28:10.000 what she said. But stress will make you say things. 0:28:12.080 --> 0:28:15.159 Let me see if I can find the honest section. Uh, 0:28:15.680 --> 0:28:19.080 if I'm teaching. If if you're honest, say you teaching? 0:28:19.160 --> 0:28:22.320 Passor put it in the chat. Listen to this. Listen, 0:28:22.920 --> 0:28:30.560 stress and pressure will make you say things. Listen to this. 0:28:30.920 --> 0:28:39.320 You don't mean two people you really love? And that's 0:28:39.320 --> 0:28:42.920 what she said. She said, It's interesting the coincidence. She said. 0:28:43.000 --> 0:28:46.200 She recommends to job that job do the same thing 0:28:47.720 --> 0:28:50.280 that God said he wouldn't do. She said, why don't 0:28:50.280 --> 0:28:59.680 you just curse God and die insensitive? So everything in 0:28:59.760 --> 0:29:04.600 Joe's life seems to be unraveling at the same time, 0:29:05.800 --> 0:29:11.560 and he did nothing wrong. Then all of a sudden, 0:29:12.200 --> 0:29:23.280 his pseudo spiritual friends come over, his friends come over, 0:29:24.560 --> 0:29:32.560 one comes over, all deep. You know, I had a dream, right, 0:29:32.760 --> 0:29:36.280 And everybody's giving him. All of his friends, they're either 0:29:36.280 --> 0:29:41.800 trying to give him spiritual answers or religious platitudes that 0:29:41.920 --> 0:29:46.720 you don't want to hear in a season of him ambiguility. 0:29:47.480 --> 0:29:53.920 God's got a plan. I know God's gonna work it 0:29:53.960 --> 0:29:58.760 all together for your good. I know they miss UNDERCID. 0:29:58.800 --> 0:30:03.680 They didn't have relational lif intelligence. They misunderstood the power 0:30:03.760 --> 0:30:10.200 of the ministry of presence that when there is trauma 0:30:11.320 --> 0:30:17.000 and ambiguity and pain, you don't always have to offer words. 0:30:18.040 --> 0:30:22.760 You give the gift of your presence. The Bible refers 0:30:22.760 --> 0:30:26.240 to the Holy Spirit as a comforter. There are times 0:30:26.360 --> 0:30:32.320 where God helps us with strange and suffering seasons, not 0:30:32.440 --> 0:30:38.200 by saying anything, but by giving us the gift of 0:30:38.280 --> 0:30:43.640 His presence. And sometimes many of you may feel like 0:30:43.720 --> 0:30:45.880 I don't know what to say, I don't know what 0:30:46.040 --> 0:30:49.360 to do, and it's like no, Sometimes the doing is 0:30:49.440 --> 0:30:56.960 in the being. And Joe now at this point, he's deflated, 0:30:57.400 --> 0:31:01.360 he's confused, and what he didn't do in chapter one, 0:31:02.320 --> 0:31:09.440 he did. He starts to question God, and God sits silently, 0:31:09.480 --> 0:31:13.000 and he listens. From chapter four all the way to 0:31:13.080 --> 0:31:21.520 chapter thirty eight, God says nothing. Job questions God. I 0:31:21.600 --> 0:31:24.080 love this. You know why I love it? The fact 0:31:24.120 --> 0:31:27.000 that Job questioned. God says to me, he has a 0:31:27.040 --> 0:31:30.920 healthy view of God because you cannot hide your real 0:31:31.000 --> 0:31:35.800 thoughts from a God who knows them. And there are 0:31:35.840 --> 0:31:43.040 times we deny what we feel right. And so all 0:31:43.080 --> 0:31:45.920 these chapters God just listens to Job, and then all 0:31:45.960 --> 0:31:48.160 of a sudden he says, all right, I'm kind of 0:31:48.160 --> 0:31:50.760 tired of this. And in chapter thirty eight God speaks 0:31:50.760 --> 0:31:52.640 to Job, and in verse three this is what he 0:31:52.640 --> 0:32:00.640 tells Job. He says, brace yourself like a man. He says, 0:32:00.680 --> 0:32:07.320 all right, He says, now I will question you. You've 0:32:07.360 --> 0:32:10.920 had questions of me, but now I have a question 0:32:11.000 --> 0:32:15.880 of you, and I want you to answer me. Gone, Jesus, 0:32:18.440 --> 0:32:23.320 where were you when I laid the Earth's foundation? Tell 0:32:23.320 --> 0:32:27.520 me how I did that? Right? He's talking about what 0:32:27.560 --> 0:32:31.960 Calvin would call natural creation that demonstrates the genius of God. 0:32:32.280 --> 0:32:36.120 That just creation itself is evidence of intelligent design. It 0:32:36.200 --> 0:32:39.920 takes more faith not to believe in intelligent design than 0:32:39.960 --> 0:32:42.600 it does to believe in a god. Watch this, who 0:32:42.640 --> 0:32:44.920 put the sun close enough to the earth where you 0:32:44.920 --> 0:32:47.840 can get his heat, but far enough away where you're 0:32:47.880 --> 0:32:51.680 not consumed. A God who puts just the right amount 0:32:51.760 --> 0:32:55.320 of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere so that 0:32:55.360 --> 0:32:58.600 you can breathe in a way. A God who allows 0:32:58.720 --> 0:33:02.240 clouds to be feeled with water, the water to release 0:33:02.320 --> 0:33:05.480 itself in the form of rain, to irrigate the land, 0:33:05.560 --> 0:33:08.360 to grow what we need to grow, to eat, to 0:33:08.400 --> 0:33:11.000 feed the cattle that we need to sustain us, and 0:33:11.040 --> 0:33:17.280 then evaporate back up in the atmosphere. He says, who 0:33:17.320 --> 0:33:23.560 marked off his dimensions? Surely you know, since you know everything, 0:33:26.120 --> 0:33:31.440 who stretched the measuring line across it, or on what 0:33:31.600 --> 0:33:37.040 footings where it's set, or who laid its cornerstone? While 0:33:37.160 --> 0:33:40.560 all the morning stars sing together and all the angels 0:33:40.960 --> 0:33:44.880 shout it for joy, you know what God's trying. God 0:33:44.960 --> 0:33:48.200 is asking Joe a question, and he's not trying to 0:33:48.280 --> 0:33:54.800 get information, He's trying to give it. When God asks 0:33:54.800 --> 0:33:58.560 a question, he's not trying to see something. He's trying 0:33:58.560 --> 0:34:00.800 to get us to see something. What is he trying 0:34:00.800 --> 0:34:02.880 to get? Job? To see. He's trying to get Job 0:34:02.920 --> 0:34:07.120 to see I am the ultimate expression of intelligence. And 0:34:07.400 --> 0:34:10.919 just because this wat's this, just because this doesn't make 0:34:10.960 --> 0:34:15.239 sense to you, doesn't mean this doesn't make sense. It's 0:34:15.280 --> 0:34:19.200 not that my ways job contradict reason. It's my ways 0:34:19.360 --> 0:34:24.000 transcend your reasoning. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. 0:34:24.400 --> 0:34:27.640 I see something you don't see. You looking at chapter 0:34:27.680 --> 0:34:30.799 thirty eight, but I'm looking at chapter forty two. Well, 0:34:30.800 --> 0:34:33.279 I'm getting ready to give you double for all of 0:34:33.320 --> 0:34:38.000 your trouble. What's this? This is what I want you 0:34:38.040 --> 0:34:41.840 to see. In the midst of uncertainty, God ask Job 0:34:41.880 --> 0:34:46.719 a question because he's wanting Job to get something. He's 0:34:46.800 --> 0:34:52.719 wanting everything God said was about him. He never told 0:34:52.760 --> 0:34:55.360 him why the sabans. He never told him why the sickness. 0:34:55.440 --> 0:34:57.279 He never told him why your wife said that He 0:34:57.360 --> 0:35:01.600 didn't give him assurance about it, but he gave Job 0:35:01.800 --> 0:35:06.719 assurance about him. In the midst of uncertainty, he says, Joe, 0:35:07.080 --> 0:35:09.680 you don't have to be certain about it as long 0:35:09.719 --> 0:35:12.520 as you're certain about me. And so when you hit 0:35:12.640 --> 0:35:16.200 seasons where you're filled with angst and anxiety about what 0:35:16.239 --> 0:35:19.640 you don't know, Job teaches us to lean on what 0:35:19.680 --> 0:35:22.680 you do know. And I do know God is good. 0:35:23.239 --> 0:35:26.600 I do know God is faithful. I do know God 0:35:26.640 --> 0:35:29.520 will come through. I do know no weapon for m 0:35:29.560 --> 0:35:32.399 that gets me shall prosper. I do know I'm more 0:35:32.480 --> 0:35:35.840 than a conquerer. I do know he will restore unto 0:35:35.960 --> 0:35:42.399 me the years that the enemy stole from me. He 0:35:42.400 --> 0:35:49.240 helps him walk through ambiguity, not by giving him certainty 0:35:49.280 --> 0:35:58.439 about it, but by giving him certainty about him. He says, Job, 0:35:58.480 --> 0:36:01.560 I know you won't to know the reason for all 0:36:01.600 --> 0:36:04.960 of this, and I know you want an answer with this. 0:36:06.080 --> 0:36:09.600 I know you want certainty about this, But right now 0:36:10.200 --> 0:36:17.160 you just need to be certain about me. And we're 0:36:17.200 --> 0:36:22.959 in an age of uncertainty. When a season of unprecedented uncertainty, 0:36:24.080 --> 0:36:28.799 you've got two options to focus on the uncertainty of 0:36:28.840 --> 0:36:39.239 it or the certainty of him. You can focus on 0:36:39.320 --> 0:36:43.840 what you don't know about it, or you can lean 0:36:43.880 --> 0:36:49.480 on what you do know about him. And I love it. 0:36:49.480 --> 0:36:52.920 It's in our foundational text, the Bible says. Then, Job 0:36:53.080 --> 0:36:58.040 replied to the Lord, I know you can do all things. 0:36:58.480 --> 0:37:01.640 Watch this, and no purpose of yours can be thwarted, 0:37:01.960 --> 0:37:05.239 meaning that what you have for me will be performed 0:37:05.320 --> 0:37:08.560 in me and through me, regardless of what happens to me. 0:37:09.239 --> 0:37:12.000 That I'm surprised by this, but you are not. And 0:37:12.080 --> 0:37:14.239 this may feel like a delay O to me, but 0:37:14.320 --> 0:37:18.080 it is not denial. No purpose of yours can be thwarted. 0:37:20.800 --> 0:37:23.640 You ask, who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge? 0:37:23.719 --> 0:37:26.160 And then Joe admits. He says, surely I spoke of things. 0:37:26.239 --> 0:37:29.200 I didn't understand. Things too wonderful for me to know. 0:37:30.360 --> 0:37:32.840 He said, you said, listen now, and I will speak, 0:37:32.880 --> 0:37:34.920 and I will question you, and you will answer me. 0:37:35.400 --> 0:37:43.000 And in verse five he said, my ears had heard 0:37:43.040 --> 0:37:47.880 of you. I was blameless, I was upright, I was moral, 0:37:48.120 --> 0:37:51.320 I hated evil. But I didn't know that I didn't 0:37:51.360 --> 0:37:57.080 know you. That I knew morals more than I knew you, 0:37:59.080 --> 0:38:01.840 that I knew ethics more than I knew you, that 0:38:01.920 --> 0:38:05.279 I knew religious platitudes, and I knew scripture more than 0:38:05.280 --> 0:38:08.399 I knew you. He said, I didn't know how much 0:38:08.480 --> 0:38:11.360 I didn't know you until now. He said, my ears 0:38:11.360 --> 0:38:16.360 had heard of you, But now my eyes I have 0:38:16.600 --> 0:38:30.080 seen you. I see it now. I was complaining about 0:38:30.120 --> 0:38:36.440 the mess, but missing the miracle that I was alive 0:38:36.480 --> 0:38:47.840 to complain. I wouldn't even be able to complain about 0:38:47.840 --> 0:38:52.080 the mess if it wasn't for the miracle of my survival. 0:38:54.360 --> 0:38:57.880 You surviving that all your assets gone, You're surviving that, 0:38:58.560 --> 0:39:01.000 all your children gone in an accident. You're surviving that, 0:39:01.520 --> 0:39:03.640 your own wife telling you curse God and die. You're 0:39:03.640 --> 0:39:07.000 surviving that, your friends turning that back on you, telling 0:39:07.040 --> 0:39:13.839 you you need to repent. You're surviving that. And in 0:39:13.880 --> 0:39:17.239 the midst of this, Job did something I think we 0:39:17.320 --> 0:39:20.239 need to do in your home and your well, not 0:39:20.320 --> 0:39:22.200 in your car if you're driving, do it in your 0:39:22.200 --> 0:39:26.759 heart if you're driving. As a part of Job's story, 0:39:26.800 --> 0:39:33.720 weere it says, and Job fell to his knees. Indie worshiped. 0:39:37.080 --> 0:39:39.600 And this is what I've learned, y'all. Worship is not therapy, 0:39:40.600 --> 0:39:51.320 but it is therapeutic. I think it says in Psalms 0:39:51.320 --> 0:39:55.000 eight to two, you have established You've established through the 0:39:55.000 --> 0:39:58.640 praise of children and infants, you've established a stronghold against 0:39:58.680 --> 0:40:03.960 your enemies. Did you catch that through the praise, the 0:40:04.000 --> 0:40:09.680 praise created a stronghold, a fortress offense in my thought realm, 0:40:10.560 --> 0:40:15.319 because praise requires mindfulness on the goodness of God, and 0:40:15.360 --> 0:40:18.359 those good thoughts about the goodness of God serve as 0:40:18.400 --> 0:40:23.600 a guard and a garrison that blocks some of that 0:40:24.040 --> 0:40:32.359 negativity from getting there. Worship is a defense weapon. It's 0:40:32.360 --> 0:40:41.000 not just spiritual antics. It's a spiritual weapon because it 0:40:41.080 --> 0:40:43.759 reminds me of the real thing I need to know. 0:40:44.480 --> 0:40:49.520 In caesars of uncertainty, God is good. God is for me, 0:40:50.560 --> 0:40:54.600 and God is faithful. And I'm talking to you wherever 0:40:54.680 --> 0:41:00.839 you are all over the world. God is good for you, 0:41:01.480 --> 0:41:04.719 and God is faithful. I don't have any more answers, 0:41:05.800 --> 0:41:10.800 but God is good. God is for you, and God 0:41:11.719 --> 0:41:24.400 is faithful. And may His favor go before you and 0:41:24.600 --> 0:41:31.120 behind you and besides you, all around you, in your weeping, 0:41:31.960 --> 0:41:44.160 in your rejoicing, He is for you. He is for you. 0:41:44.239 --> 0:41:52.080 Yes you, thank you for joining us. Special thanks to 0:41:52.120 --> 0:41:55.000 those of you who give generously to this ministry. Is 0:41:55.040 --> 0:41:58.040 because of you that this ministry is possible. You can 0:41:58.080 --> 0:42:00.920 click the link in the description to give now or 0:42:01.040 --> 0:42:05.319 visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information, and 0:42:05.400 --> 0:42:08.560 if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You can 0:42:08.600 --> 0:42:11.040 share it with your friends. You can click the share button, 0:42:11.120 --> 0:42:13.520 take a screenshot and share it on your social stories 0:42:13.560 --> 0:42:16.320 and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. 0:42:16.360 --> 0:42:16.960 God bless you.