Do you feel like Job sometimes?
sermon by Manfred Schreyer

We have all heard the story of Job. We heard how the devil approached God and makes this weird deal with him. (Read the book of Job the beginning)

Job, the man who walks in the path of God, who God calls as blameless and upright.

Job is a wealthy man. He has everything one could imagine. He has children, a huge flock of animals. . . .not just a few hundred, but thousands, he had servants, his children gave parties, he was a man of high honor . . . you get the picture.

And yes . . . Job loved and honored God with everything he had.

Then the drama unfolds: God virtually makes a bet with Satan, that nothing but nothing will sway Job to the world of evil. Satan is allowed to do anything, but kill Job. And . . . Satan accepts.

As cruel as this part of the story is, it has a tremendous meaning for me. ----> The power of the human choice! Nobody, not even God makes me do things. Though He knows the path I will go . . . He is helpless in the making of my choices. We as humans have indeed eaten the fruit from the tree of Good and Evil. We know things we should have never known, we have tasted things in this life we should have never tasted.

Nevertheless . . . the image of a very powerful creation "we" remains until today. As I have preached so often: We are equipped with the most powerful tool of any living creature. All other creatures on earth know by instinct . . . We, as humans are able to know by choice.

We can choose for or against God.

Satan goes off and does everything there needs to be done. He inflicts sores on Job, he destroys Job’s estate, etc.

His wife still believes in his integrity to the Lord, but she now says: "Do you still persist in your integrity? Bless God and die" (Job 2:9)

She has human mercy with him and wants s to give him a way out of his misery, but Job denies.

And so his friends from Arabia visit him and they sit down and in their conversation they discuss with Job what the possible cause of his misfortune could be.

I recently sat down with someone and the person opened up to me and asked me for God’s will. The person had committed grieve sins in life and life had taken a turn for the worse. The person was now inflicted with terrible situations and circumstance.

But the person asked me: "How is it possible that I have to suffer so deeply (and I know this is the punishment of God for me, but I know other people’s sin . . . and they have not even repented and they live a wonderful life?" And the person reminded me by saying that I had always said in the past that every action we take has a reaction by God. So, Manfred where is the reaction to the other sinner I know of?

Before I give you the answer I gave to that person, we must understand that terrible things happen to us no matter if we are faithful or not.

God does not initiate the pain we sometimes experience in life, but God has allowed it.

Why? . . .Job asks that question multiple times. And I have preached so often about the "Why" question.

We cannot ask God the "Why" question, because we would not understand the secrets of God.

But Boy, Oh Boy these fellows from Arabia sure knew the answers. Listen to them: Job 22:21 "Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you. :22 Accept instruction from his mouth and lay up his words in your heart. :23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored: If you remove wickedness far from your tent :24 and assign your nuggets to the dust, your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines, :25 then the Almighty will be your gold, the choicest silver for you.

In the beginning of my ministry here I went to Woodland Altars to pick up my son from summer camp. It was hot . . . my boys were talking to their friends and a lady walked up to me. "Hi, are you the pastor of the Brethren Church in West Alexandria? "Yes, I answered." "Well," she replied, "we used to go there, but not anymore . . . "Why not?" I asked hesitantly, because her face shifted to a melancholic expression. She paused and then spoke very softly: "Years ago I was pregnant and I lost that child. I had nowhere to turn to, so I called my pastor. He came out and I cried and I was almost at the end of my rope. I sought comfort through the pastor. Just a few words of love. Words from God that would allow to help me to understand . . . , but the pastor did not say much. He just asked the question: "Can you think of any sin that you had committed, that would allow God to take the child away from you?" "I broke out crying . . . Yes, I had committed sins, but who has no? Why would God take my unborn child away? I felt so alone and the pastor gave me no love or the hope of God . . . and I b never returned.

I met with her after our meeting and I hope that I was able to restore faith in her and her family.

When God allowed Satan to manipulate Job’s life God knew in advance that Job would not fail Him. You see faith in God can overcome all things. Did you just hear me? Faith in God can overcome ALL things.

The story is NOT like the friends think a matter of disobedience of Job, but rather how Job deals with the circumstance he is in.

Is is not great to worship God when you have everything? Is it not great to please God when you need nothing in life?

However, how do possessions and feeling about this life change your relationship with God?

Make no mistake, God does bless His people as we can read at the end of the story in the book of Job, but blessings do not always come to those who deserve blessings.

Blessings do not always come to those who believe in our God. If that would be the case, everyone would flock to the faith in God.

Blessings come in pieces and we have the choice of putting them together. Some people cannot even see their blessing, some are not able to understand their blessing, some want more blessing . . . but in no way is blessing a reward for an obedient life to God.

Faith is often the most secure when we cry out in desperation and we doubt ourselves.

Even Hob asks the "Why" question . . . and the rebuttal of God is mighty (I am paraphrasing several verses in one sentence): "Who do you think you are to question me?"

Remember the first story I told you about? The person who could not understand God’s different action . . . who had sinned and asked why the other person who had also sinned was still living a pretty good life. I told the person exactly what God told Job: "Who do you think you are to question God?"

As far as the second story goes. I know that the baby that was lost is in heaven. I know that her story as all stories of human experience have a much deeper meaning. Our experiences touch others. Just as Job touches us.

He suffered. Yet he suffered for a purpose . . . so we can understand our God better.

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