JOB 23\u201324<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cLook, I go forward, but He is not there \u2026\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
(Job 23:8).<\/i><\/p>\n
Job\u2019s friends counseled him to do something that he could not do. They advised him to seek God and get acquainted with His divine purposes, but Job found that he could not understand what God was doing in his life (23:8\u20139).<\/p>\n
He could not \u201cfind\u201d God because of three things. First, his mind was so overwhelmed with his troubles, he could not fix his thoughts on God. \u201cIt is the common complaint of those who are sick or melancholy that, when they would think of that which is good, they can make nothing of it,\u201d Henry wrote. When we are overcome with sickness and grief, we often find it more difficult to understand God. That is why it is so important to build a strong spiritual and theological foundation while we are healthy and in our right minds.<\/p>\n
Second, Job had examined himself and could not discover which sin had brought about his suffering. He rejected the counselors\u2019 accusations that he was a hypocrite, yet he remained perplexed as to why God was afflicting him. He could not discern any other purpose behind his trials. Still, he knew that no matter what he had to endure, he would be purified and sustained in his trial. His conscience was clear because he knew that he had sought to keep God\u2019s commandments and had been obedient to His revealed will. Sometimes, when we do not understand God\u2019s purposes in the trials we undergo, all we can do is trust Him that He will vindicate us, and find comfort that our consciences are clear and that we have sought to serve Him faithfully.<\/p>\n
Finally, Job could not peer into the mind of his Creator. As a finite creature, he could not discern God\u2019s ultimate plan for his life, Job did not know God\u2019s purposes, but he took great comfort that God knew everything about him. \u201cHe knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.\u201d God\u2019s ways are infinitely higher than our ways. If we try to traverse the labyrinth of His hidden purposes, especially when we are suffering, we will become perplexed and frustrated. All we can do is find comfort in the fact that God knows us, even if we do not understand Him, stand firm against Satan\u2019s accusations by the testimony of a clear conscience, and continue to obey and serve God in faith.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Ezekiel 27\u201328<\/p>\n
James 4<\/p>\n
Do you become easily discouraged because God\u2019s ways seem a mystery to you? If so, learn to distinguish between what you can know about God and what you cannot know. Stop trying to discover God\u2019s hidden purposes. Leave those to Him and obey His commandments and trust in Him.<\/p>\n
For further study: Pss. 25; 139 \u2022 Isa. 42:16\u201317<\/i><\/p>\n
thursday<\/p>\n
november<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JOB 23\u201324 \u201cLook, I go forward, but He is not there \u2026\u201d (Job 23:8). Job\u2019s friends counseled him to do something that he could not do. They advised him to seek God and get acquainted with His divine purposes, but Job found that he could not understand what God was doing in his life (23:8\u20139). … Continue reading “SEEKING GOD”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12639\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}