“The Fellowship of Young Christian Professionals” – Young Adults in Today’s World!

THE FAMILY!

Thanks for coming back today. I hope you will join us in our journey to invest in the lives of those who will impact our future, our young adults! Let me tell you about our young adults…plus!

My wife and I have 8 children, 4 grandchildren and a fifth grandchild on the way. Our children range in age from 29 to 13. Five of our 8 children are in their 20’s and facing the challenge of being young adults. On top of all this, we are a blended family. My wife and I both have been married previously and so also face the challenge of blending a family from two different backgrounds and experiences. We’ve been blessed by the fact that all 8 of our children are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, in good health and doing fairly well compared to many today. We have 4 boys and 4 girls. A balanced challenge to say the least. We love family activities and our favorite people to do things with are family! Holidays and especially Christmas are exciting times at the Crockett house! I’ll have to tell those stories at another time.

We have been blessed with a wonderful daughter-in-law and two son-in-laws (well I guess the son-in-laws are ok too)! Just kidding guys! We’ve even had a daughter and son-in-law on the TV show, “I Didn’t Know I was Pregnant!”That is really a story for another time!

To say the least, our life is never boring and we are blessed! Tomorrow I’ll share some of the experiences God has used to mold us!

See you then!

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“The Fellowship of Young Christian Professionals” – Young Adults in Today’s World!

WHO ARE WE?

My name is Bill Crockett. My wife, Denise, and I are believers in Jesus Christ. I graduated from college with a master’s degree in Bible Exposition. I love to teach the Bible. I’ve been an evangelist and a pastor. I’ve also remodeled homes, worked in a university computer store, been a corporate sales person for a fortune 100 company and managed a multimillion dollar territory sales organization for the same company.  I have experienced divorce, the loss of a career, deep depression, forgiveness, victory, a second chance, the start of a new career, success, redirection, the challenge of starting a ministry and a business from scratch and most of all the joy of being loved deeply.

God is amazing in so many ways. Especially when we watch how He masterfully crafts our lives through the decisions and experiences He allows us to go through. He also fixes, blesses, and makes valuable our mistakes in spite of us! He has blessed my life beyond words.

Tomorrow I would like to introduce you to the family God has given me! See you then!

“The Fellowship of Young Christian Professionals” – Young Adults in Today’s World!

WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?

When I was in my 20’s and 30’s things were much different than they are today for my children who are in that same time period of their lives. Oh we still have the same basic challenges of life such as drugs, alcohol, sexual promiscuity, political differences, world peace etc. Then there are the more normal challenges of life as a young adult such as where do I work after college, job, career, marriage, friends, relationships, material possessions, insurance, health, parenthood, etc. All of these things are just a part of life. But what is different about being a young adult today? What are our young adult children facing today that makes life a little more difficult? Let me begin to answer this question by telling you a little about myself.

Over the next several days I would like to introduce myself, my family and my burden to you. I hope you will follow us and pray for God to direct and use all of us to help support and guide our young adults in today’s difficult world.

“When Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty!” (part 8)

Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty

Part Eight

Job

Job 32:1-5, 38:1

We have walked with Job through some deep waters. We have listened as three of his friends did their best to help him understand the cause for his problems, although misguided. We have watched as Job courageously held on to his trust and faith in God, until we come to Job 31:35 when Job, in frustration, accuses God of not listening to him (Job 33:13).

In Job’s defense, I don’t know that I would’ve even come close to the character and strength Job has shown. After all, nobody but God and Satan really knew what was going on. After being “hammered” by his friends for several chapters with the idea that his problems are punishment for his sin, he finally caves in, though just a little. He in frustration cries out to God to answer him and show him what he has done wrong!

It is at this point that we meet another friend. His name is Elihu. He is the youngest of all the 5 men present during these conversations (Job 32:4, 6-9). He finally speaks up because he sees Job as having justified himself rather than God (Job 32:1-2) and because of the three friends who have condemned Job but have no proof of what he has done (Job 32:3, 12).

Elihu’s message is simple, “God is greater than man” (Job 33:12). Though Job knew of nothing he had done in disobedience to God, its still God’s sovereign right to allow whatever He chooses to come into our lives in order to accomplish His purpose, not ours. This is the ultimate test for a believer relative to trusting God.

I notice several important truths from the conversation of Elihu that we can benefit from:

1. His age was not a factor in his ability to understand what is right and wise – Job 32:6-9

2. It is the Spirit of God inside us that ultimately gives us wisdom – Job 32:8, 18

3. Honesty and sincerity are still the best policy – Job 33:3

4. He exalts God regardless of the circumstances – Job 33:12, 34:21-22, 31-33, 35:4-8

5. God follows up his discourse and does not include him in the punishment of the misguided friends – Job 38:1, 42:7-9

What does this teach us? God is always right even when the circumstances are adverse and hard to understand. God is still in control and has His glory and our good at the top of His priority list in everything that He allows. Job realized this in the beginning of his difficulty and trusted God (Job 1:22, 2:10, and 13:15). However, following the pressure from his friends to admit sin and the silence from Heaven, he finally gave in to his anguish. After all, he is human. We too may have come to the place where we have asked God to give us an answer and show us what to do and there appears to be silence and no answer. God is still there. He answers, reveals His plan and purpose, opens doors, provides and gives success only when He is ready. His timing is always perfect and His plan is always best.

Job realized this when God’s timing finally came to be. In Job 42:10 we’re told that God made Job prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before!

Here’s the conclusion to Job’s story:

Trust, follow, obey, and depend on God for everything in your life, knowing that He loves you and wants to bless you and give you a full life (John 10:10). He knows best what path I need to take and He will guide me down that path if I will only trust Him and follow!

I hope this series of lessons has helped all of us realize that life is NEVER “UNLIVABLE.” With God life is full of blessing and when the circumstances of our lives appear to say we can’t make it, that’s when God is doing His greatest work in us to make life even better!

May God give you peace and life to the fullest as you win victory after victory over the false accusations of the devil!

LIFE IS LIVABLE IN CHRIST!

“When Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty!” (part 7)

Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty

Part Seven

Job

Job 11:1-12

Zophar the Naamathite –His main “bone of contention” was:

“Job, you’re being disrespectful to God!”

Zophar’s evaluation of Job was based on a misunderstanding and a lack of knowledge. Even Job was not sure why this was happening but he knew he had done nothing wrong, at least not deliberately. Job’s response to his previous friend, Bildad, was not from personal defense or presumption but from his heart and the truth. He was as confused about why all this was happening as his friends.

So far he has been accused of responding incorrectly by being discouraged and of not being right with God because of sin. Now he’s confronted with the accusation of being disrespectful to God simply because he was being honest (Job speaks-Job 10:2, Zophar responds – Job 11:4).

Influence from other people by what they say about us and to us can be a very powerful thing, especially if we already doubt ourselves. When we’re experiencing difficulty it may become easier for us to question ourselves when others are offering reasons why we may be having these problems. So what can we do to avoid “beating ourselves up” over the comments and misguided advice of others?

1. Understand where confidence comes from – (Hebrews 4:16; 1 John 5:14) The Miriam Webster Dictionary defines confidence as:

¹con·fi·dence

noun \ˈkän-fə-dən(t)s, -ˌden(t)s\

Definition of CONFIDENCE

1

a: a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or of reliance on one’s circumstances

b: faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way

2 The quality or state of being certain

3

a: a relation of trust or intimacy

b: reliance on another’s discretion

c: support especially in a legislative body

4 A communication made in confidence

Words that stand out in this definition are consciousness, reliance, faith, belief, certain, trust, intimacy, support, and communication. All of these should be characteristics of our relationship with God.

For a believer confidence could be defined like this:

“THE CONSCIOUS CONCLUSION FROM KNOWING THE HEART OF GOD (what He thinks about me) AND THE PRINCIPLES OF GOD (how the Bible tells me to live) COMBINED WITH THE HONEST EVALUATION OF MY OWN HEART &  ACTIONS.”

So how does this translate into everyday life for us? This simply means that when I know God loves me, I’m doing what God wants me to do and I’m honest with myself, then I can trust God to do what’s right. It also means I’ll not be discouraged from the accusations of others.

2. Remember God loves us no matter what we’ve done or will do – Romans 8:38-39

I heard on our Christian radio station this morning these words, “Nothing we have done can make God love us less and nothing we will do can make God love us more!” How true! God loves us more than we love ourselves (1 John 4:19)!

3. God is in control of everything – Philippians 3:21

God is sovereign. This means He really is God and thus in control of everything. After all, He is the creator and the one who made everything (Acts 17:24-28).

4. God has a purpose for my life, which is good (Romans 12:1-2), and He’s working that purpose in me daily – Philippians 2:13

We can see this in the response of Job.

• Job was confident and thus was not swayed by the remarks of his friends – Job 12:3-5, 13:1-4
• Job knew God loved him and he trusted Him – Job 13:15
• Job knew God was in control – Job 12:9-16 (Job’s personal experience with God had taught him this – Job 12:12).
• Job knew there had to be a purpose from God and that’s why he wanted to speak to God and not his friends – Job 12:4, 13:2-3, 13-16

Nothing in all of life can replace the personal relationship we can have with God Himself. When our relationship with God is distant then we begin to second guess ourselves, our purpose and even our reason for living. This is why Satan tries so hard to keep us away from God who loves us.

If you have drifted away from God in your life or you’ve never taken the time to begin a relationship with Him, in love, I encourage you today to stop what you’re doing and invite Him into your life by putting your faith in His son Jesus (John 3:16, Romans 10:13). Then start walking every day in the reality that God loves you, has a purpose for you and is working in your life to accomplish that good purpose!

For more information contact us at info@billcrockett.com or visit our website at www.billcrockett.com.

Tomorrow we will look at the last conversation Job had and the final outcome of the story! It’s a great one.

“When Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty!” (part 6)

Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty

Part Six

Job

Job 8:1-7

Bildad the Shuhite – Job 8:1-7. His main “bone of contention” was:

“Job, you are not right with God!”

Evaluation and judgment by other people is a fact of life. Even well meaning people, such as Job’s friends, will tend to evaluate our lives and pass their own determined judgment in an attempt to help us. There is a proper place for this. In Galatians 6:1 we are admonished to help our brothers who have fallen into sin by gently restoring them. However, we are also told to take a good look at ourselves and be on the watch because we too could fall into the same sin. This form of accountability and concern among Christians is important and needed when done properly. But sometimes this important task is misused and even abused. In such cases it can do more harm than good.

Job ended his response to Eliphaz with a passionate request of God. He asked two things from God:

1. If I have sinned, please show me what I have done! – Job 7:20

2. Why will you not pardon and forgive my sins? – Job 7:21

I see Job’s request before God as a refreshing reminder that we can go to God and make our request known and pour out our hearts to Him in honesty. We can do this because we walk in a relationship with Him and are assured that He loves us (Philippians 4:6; Psalm 62:8). However, his friend Bildad didn’t see it that way. He responded to Job by saying, “How long will you say such things?” (Job 8:2). He viewed Job’s conversation with God as presumptuous and wrong!

Sometimes we’ll have well meaning friends who will do the same thing in our time of difficulty. Why does this happen? Here are a few things about Bildad that will give us some insight into why he responded the way he did.

1. He assumed Job had sinned – Job 8:4-7, 20

2. He assumed that Job’s prayer was not respectful toward God – Job 8:1-2

3. He assumed Job was accusing God of not doing the right thing – Job 8:3

4. He assumed that God was allowing Job to suffer punishment because of his sin – Job 8:4

5. He assumed Job had not genuinely repented and humbled himself to God – Job 8:5-6

All of these things are important to consider if, in fact, we have sinned. But in the case of Job, as we all know, Job had done nothing wrong so Bildad’s assumptions were wrong. Job was not guilty of any of these 5 assumptions. These were all the result of Bildad’s perception of the situation, but Bildad did not know the heart of Job or what God was doing in Job’s life.

So how did Job respond to this? As we examine a few things about Job’s response, let’s take note of the way we should respond to people when we are falsely accused of something.

Job’s response when falsely accused:

1. He was humble – Job 9:2 – Job realized that no human being will ever be righteous before God. Jesus gives us His righteousness and that is the only way we can stand before God clean (2 Corinthians 5:21).

2. He acknowledged God was in control & sovereign – Job 9:3-10 – In our times of difficulty we can be assured that God is in control and He will do what is best.

3. He acknowledged that he had no right to question God – Job 9:12-14 – Though we can speak to God with confidence there should always be the ever present attitude that we are at the mercy of our God who loves us. We should never come to God with an attitude of entitlement thinking that we are owed anything by God. All we have is from Him and we only enjoy goodness because of Him!

4. He admitted he was at the mercy of God and asked for that mercy to be applied to him – Job 9:15, 20, 29, 32 – The wonderful fact is that God wants to show us mercy and admonishes us to come to Him and ask for it (Hebrews 4:16).

5. Confidence – Job 9:2 – Job already knew all the things Bildad was telling him about God. He was also aware that the things Bildad was accusing him of were not true and that he was not guilty of any of these things. Only we know our hearts and lives completely. Be confident in your position with God and know that He loves you. If we know there are things in our lives that need to be corrected, we should simply be obedient and correct them realizing we all make mistakes. God is willing every time to forgive us if we simply ask (1 John 1:9). However, if when we are accused of wrong, we know that we have done nothing wrong, stand in the confidence that you’re doing the right thing and God will reveal why He ultimately has allowed this difficulty in your life. Don’t allow false criticism to discourage you or cause you to doubt yourself.

Tomorrow we’ll meet friend number three, Zophar. His opinion was that Job had forgotten who God was and had a wrong attitude toward God.

Have a wonderful week!

“When Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty!” (part 5)

Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty

Part Five

Job

Job 4:1-2

If life incurs difficulty then it must be punishment for something I’ve done wrong. Bad karma, as some might say! Unfortunately this is the sentiment of many people. To think that “punishment” is the only explanation for difficulty in life is to be ignorant of mankind in general. We’re all born sinful and selfish (Romans 3:9-18; Isaiah 53:6). The natural result of this kind of lifestyle is difficulty (Proverbs 13:15). However, sometimes difficulty in life is the result of a positive action by God to strengthen us or help us learn and grow spiritually. Sometimes it’s to allow us to see how much our God loves us and how powerful He is as He works to carry us through our difficulty. In our series on Job, part 1, we looked at many of the reasons for difficulty in life.

In the case of Job it was obvious he had done nothing wrong. God even pointed this out to Satan twice (Job 1:8, 2:3). Job’s difficulty was a direct challenge by Satan to God. God allowed Satan to do those things to Job to show that he was a faithful follower of God. Job summed up his loyalty to God in Job 13:15 when he proclaimed that even if God allowed him to die he would still hope (trust) in Him.

So what was the position of Job’s friends? After surveying the situation, what conclusion did the friends come to? Their assumption was obvious, they assumed Job had done something wrong and disobeyed God and all his trouble was the result of God punishing him!

In the next few articles we’ll take a look at Job’s three friends (a fourth speaks in chapters 32-37 who we will look at later). We will put together a synopsis of the attitude and advice of the friends to Job and briefly look at Job’s response.

Let’s begin with Eliphaz the Temanite – Job 4:1-2 – his main argument was,

“Why the discouragement if you have done nothing wrong?”

• He respected the “manliness” of Job – Job 4:2 – He hesitated to speak and asked Job if he would be patient with him. Evidently Job was an intimidating man of character, strength and stature. A forceful man who conducted his affairs with confidence and resolve. A man one would respect before speaking to.
• He accused Job of not practicing what he had taught to others – Job 4:3-6 – He points out that Job had encouraged and admonished others in times of trouble to be strong (Job 4:3-4) but now that trouble has come to him, he’s discouraged and weak (Job 4:5).
• He assumes the trouble had come because Job “stumbled” in his walk with God. Job must had done something wrong – Job 4:4, 6 (“Your words have supported those who stumbled…”). He points out to Job that his “piety” and “blameless ways” should be his confidence. In other words, if Job has done nothing wrong then why be discouraged? His discouragement appears to be a sign of guilt over something he has done wrong, according to Eliphaz (Job 5:17).

These are common assumptions by others when one goes through difficult times. The human determination that outward, physical and material success is a sign of God’s blessing and trouble, difficulty and apparent physical and material decline a sign of God’s punishment is faulty at best! God himself points out the following about success and what determines it:

• True success is achieved by living our lives in obedience to the principles of God’s Word – Joshua 1:8
• True fulfillment is found in doing the will of God – Romans 12:1-2
• The wicked will prosper outwardly, but it’s not a sign of God’s blessing  – Psalm 73:1-17
• True success only comes from God – Psalm 73:21-28; 75:6-7 (Uzziah – 2 Chronicles 26:1-5)

In times of trouble, we’ll have well meaning friends and family who will assume that our troubles are the result of wrong doing. Job responded by admitting the trouble was difficult to handle but that his desire was to remain faithful to God in spite of it (Job 6:8-13). He also realized that the counsel from his friend was wrong (Job 6:14-15, 21). He knew there was nothing in his life out of place (Job 6:24-25). He brought up a good point in Job 12:5 when he argues that it’s easy for men who have no trouble to show contempt for those who do. The story tends to be a little different when the shoe is on the other foot. Those who have been through trouble make the best comforters for those who are in trouble (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

In conclusion, sin does bring trouble and confession to God will bring forgiveness and restoration (Proverbs 28:13). However, all trouble is not the result of wrong doing. So when trouble comes to our lives, ask God for wisdom to know how to approach it. If there is wrong doing, then confess and forsake it. If not, then ask God for strength to get through it and wisdom to learn what we need to learn from it.

Monday we will look at Bildad the Shuhite. His issue was “You are not right with God!”
Have a great weekend!

“When Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty!” (part 4)

Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty

Part Four

Job

Job 2:11-13

Life can definitely become difficult and seem unlivable when we’re all alone. Our family and friends play a vital part in the joy of our lives. God created us to have fellowship and live in community with other human beings. We need each other. However, there are those times when good, well meaning people can cause our difficulty to intensify. Sometimes they are the direct cause of the difficulty. This is common because we’re all human and prone to sin & selfishness.

In the case of Job, we find his friends coming to him in a time of difficulty (Job 2:11-13). Much can be said of these well meaning friends and so we will attempt to draw from their response to Job’s trials some lessons that may help us in our time of difficulty. Lessons to help us as friends who are attempting to comfort others and lessons to help us as those suffering when our well meaning friends make sincere but hurtful attempts to comfort us.

First, what can we learn from these men about helping our friends when they are hurting? Here are a few things to notice about these men that are commendable:

1. They came to his aid when they heard of his trouble when others forsook him – Job 2:11– I am sure these men led busy lives. But when they heard of the troubles their friend was going through they left their homes and traveled together to support and comfort their friend. This is a very commendable act. It shows love and devotion. It appears that many of Job’s family and friends had forsaken him, including his own wife (Job 2:9, 19:13-19). Oh that we would all have such friends that would sacrifice for us in times of trouble and that we would be found a faithful friend to others!

2. Their intention was to support and comfort Job, not criticize him – Job 2:11 – In verse 11 the Bible tells us that they set out to go sympathize & comfort their friend. Their motives were pure and right. Many times we set out with good intentions to help others only to find ourselves in a situation where we have no answers and don’t know what to do or say. In these times it can be comforting to our friends just to know we’re there. Sometimes saying nothing is the best course of action (Job 2:13).

3. They loved him and shared his pain in their hearts – Job 2:12 – It’s interesting to note that when they saw Job they wept and tore their clothes and put ashes on their heads (a sign of deep mourning) as a picture of bearing their friends pain with him! Paul admonishes us in Galatians 6:2 to carry one another’s burdens. Trials and difficulty are always easier to bear when someone else is helping us through it. So may we be a support to others and so become a true light of the love of Christ.

4. They stayed true to him until the pain was over and remained friends in spite of the feeble attempt to comfort him – Job 2:13, 42:7-10 – These men began their loyalty by remaining with Job for 7 days and nights before they ever had a chance to say a word to him. Many times we’re so concerned about our own lives and agendas that we seldom are patient enough to wait with our friends during a difficult time. The interest, prayers and support are great in the beginning but when an illness or difficulty carries beyond a few days, we have a tendency to go back to “life as usual” and forget our friend is still battling. This is not to say that we must stay with them physically, but we should continue to support them both spiritually through consistent prayer and physically by being available if needed. Also, true friendship is not dissolved by petty differences, especially when there’s an honest effort to help. We will notice at the end of the story, that these friends of Job repented for their misguided effort to comfort Job (Job 42:7-9) and Job actually prayed for them at God’s direction (Job 42:10) thus they all remained true friends. These kinds of friends are hard to find!

I think we can see that these friends were not so bad after all. They were just a little misguided in their assumptions of how to help Job. I pray God will help us to be the kind of friend that others will benefit from having.

Tomorrow we’ll look at what these friends assumed and how Job handled it. This will help us to learn what not to do when trying to comfort a friend and also how to deal with misguided friends so we do not lose friendships.

We are praying for you all.

“When Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty!” (part 3)

Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty

Part Three

Job

Job 7:20-21

It’s common, when things go wrong in our lives, to look for a reason why. Quite often we will discover that there is a legitimate cause. But sometimes the difficulties of life cannot be explained. For example, when I was 8 years old, my younger brother was diagnosed with Leukemia. Five years later he died. I was just 13 when Bobby died and not a Christian so I blamed God. I just couldn’t understand why a loving God would allow my brother to die at the age of 11. It just didn’t seem fair. There was no explanation.

So what happens in our lives when we’re confronted with difficulty that has no apparent cause? Let’s look at the life of Job and see if we can gather some insight into what to expect and how to endure those times of unexplained difficulty and win!

In the life of Job, the severity of the difficulties he was experiencing and the unanswered question as to why they were happening caused him to plunge into a state of hopelessness (Job 7:6-7). He had lost everything except his physical life. As a result, he began to question God (Job 7:20).

This type of response in times of difficulty is very common. The assumption is: if God controls everything then why does He allow bad things to happen? Why doesn’t He just prevent it? The key to understanding the answer is found in one verse of scripture, 1 Corinthians 10:31. Each morning as my two youngest children and I get into our car to go to school we say this verse together. We do it as a reminder that everything about our lives is to accomplish one main goal, to glorify God! In order for this to happen, sometimes we must go through unexplainable difficulties.

This was the case in John 11:4 when Jesus reminded his friends concerning the impending death of Lazarus that the sickness was for the glory of God. That’s why Jesus waited two days after he heard Lazarus was sick before he went to where Lazarus was (John 11:6).  He actually intended for Lazarus to die. This gave Jesus the opportunity to raise him from the dead and give glory to God! It’s obvious the people didn’t understand why Jesus allowed Lazarus to die. Martha, the sister of Lazarus, complained to Jesus that if he had arrived earlier, then Lazarus wouldn’t have died (John 11:21). However, she didn’t understand God’s purpose. Sometimes we find ourselves in the same situation as Martha. We know what God is capable of doing but don’t understand why He doesn’t do it! This is when we simply trust God!

To “glorify God” simply carries the idea of giving the right opinion of God to others. There are many ways we do this but one way is through our response to difficulty. Job had an honest and proper response to his unexplained difficulties. Remember, all of this is happening to Job as part of Satan’s effort to cause Job to curse God and turn from Him (Job 1:8-12; 2:3-7). The question for all of us, as it was for Job, will Satan succeed? Let’s look at how Job responded.

Here are the characteristics of Job’s response:

1. He showed grief & deep sorrow – Job 1:20 – the tearing of the clothes and shaving of the head were common practices in showing deep grief. It’s actually good, right and necessary for us to grieve in times of difficulty and sorrow. This is a proper response.

2. He worshiped God – Job 1:20 – to worship simply means to give God the honor and worth due Him. It’s also important to notice that when tragedy hit Job’s life, he focused on God and not on the tragedy.

3. He acknowledged that all he had was from God – Job 1:21 – quite often we feel robbed of material or physical possessions when they’re taken away as if we’re the ones who earned them. This means we’re focusing on ourselves as the resource for all we have and not God. This is exactly what Satan wants.

4. He did not blame God – Job 1:22, 2:10 – The natural instinct in these situations is to blame God. Since God is in control, why did He allow this to happen? Just as in the case of Lazarus, we don’t know God’s ultimate purpose but we do know one thing, His purpose is always for our good (Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11). Satan wanted God to be blamed, just as he does today. We must trust God and not fall into Satan’s trap!

5. He did not lose his integrity – Job 2:3, 9-10 – The word “integrity” literally means “complete.” It carries with it the idea that one is honest, trustworthy, and mature & does what is right. Job was described as”… blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1). In the middle of difficulty it is easy to “lose it.” This means our integrity as well as our temper and composure! It is during these times of difficulty when our character is needed most in order to stay focused and not give up.

6. He wanted relief and wished he had never been born – Job 3:1-3, 16, 20-26, 10:19-20 – This feeling of despair is common. Job was just being honest. Remember, he was a man of integrity which included honesty. However, the one thing I notice about Job is he would rather die than blame God. After all, he knew God and to die meant relief from the pain of this life and eternity in the presence of God. This was not a “cop out” but rather a course of relief. However, it wasn’t God’s plan. God still had blessing in store for Job. Paul felt the same way according to Philippians 1:20-24. He told the people of Philippi he would rather to go to heaven and be with Christ, which was far better, than to stay on this earth. However, he still had a ministry to fulfill and so he would gladly wait until his time came. Sometimes this life seems to deal us more than we think we can bear and in those times, as a believer, Heaven looks really good. However, we still have a job to do for God and when our purpose has been completed then we can go home and enjoy our eternal rest (2 Timothy 4:5-8). Let’s hang in there and finish the job!

7. He became discouraged, defended his integrity and asked God for an answer – Job 31:35-40 – The assumption of Job, largely due to the incorrect advice of his friends (we will look at those friends tomorrow), was that he had done something wrong and the tragedies in his life were punishment for his actions. We all have a tendency to assume that the bad things in our lives are punishment for something we have done. If we were punished for all the wrong we did, none of us would survive. It’s because of God’s love that we’re still alive (Lamentations 3:21-26, 32-33). It’s God’s love for us that gives us hope in difficulty (Lamentations 3:21).

When difficulty enters our lives, remember God first. Remind yourself of Job’s honest response and ask God to help you respond accordingly. Go to Lamentations 3:21-33 and focus on God’s love for you and not your difficulty. God is in control and He does have a plan. His plan is for our good!

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at Job’s well meaning but incorrect friends! We all have them. What did they do and how did Job respond?

Have a great week. See you tomorrow.

“When Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty!” (part two)

Life Seems Unlivable Because of Difficulty

Part Two

Job

Job 7:20-21

What have I done? This was the question Job asked God in Job 7:20. Why did Job ask this question? What was going on in Job’s life? Let’s examine several aspects of what was happening in Job’s life that caused him to question God:

FIRST – He was a godly and very successful man – Job 1:1-3

Job was blessed by God. He was a man that feared God and obeyed him. He did what was right in life. He was honest, ethical, sensitive to the spiritual well being of his family (Job 1:4-5), and spotless in his behavior. He recognized that all he had was a blessing from God and he did not deserve any of it (Job 1:20-21). He was human so I’m sure there were things in his life where he struggled with doing right but the general testimony of the Lord about Job was that he was a godly man.

SECOND – He stood out to God & Satan – Job 1:8-10

Job’s life was complimented by God but also noticed by the enemy, Satan. It’s the ultimate goal of the Devil to destroy our lives so we can’t give glory to God (John 10:10; Luke 22:31; 1 Peter 5:8). He’ll do all in his power to accomplish that. His efforts will usually intensify the more affective our lives become in glorifying God. Unfortunately this is part of the battle we face as believers (Ephesians 6:10-13; 2 Timothy 2:3). However, we must keep in mind that as believers we win (1 Corinthians 15:56-58; 1 John 4:4; Revelation 20:10). God is still the master. He controls all including Satan. Satan was only allowed to do what God gave him permission to do (Job 1:12, 2:6). Satan accused Job of only fearing God and doing right because of the material & physical success he received because of it. God was going to show the true loyalty and commitment of Job and thus would bring glory to Himself through the life of Job! He longs to do the same in our lives if we truly love and trust Him! The benefits are worth it, as we will see in the life of  Job.

THIRD – He lost everything – The following is a list of what he lost:

1. His Possessions – Job 1:1-3, 13-17

2. His Success – Job 6:13

3. His Children – Job 1:1-5, 18-19

4. His Friends – Job 6:14-15, 21, 19:19

5. His Health – Job 2:6-8

6. The support of his Wife – Job 2:9

7. His Dignity – Job 2:11-13, 10:15, 19:17

8. His Plans and Desires for life – Job 17:11

It’s easy to see why Job questioned God.  I’m not sure I could survive a list of losses like this. There was no apparent reason for all this tragedy. Job was a good man, successful, honest, God fearing, and blessed, so why the sudden disaster? Remember, Job was not privy to the conversations God and Satan were involved in. Job had to trust that God loved him and was in control because that’s all he knew. This is easier said than done.

So how did Job respond? What did this period in Job’s life do to him? As we will see next time, it brought him to a place of hopelessness and despair, as it would any of us. But the end of Job’s story is really, really good and will give us hope in those times of unexplainable trouble & difficulty.

Have a great weekend and we look forward to sharing with you again on Monday!