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Job 13:20 - 14:7-17
When suffering comes you will ask one of 2 questions - What is wrong with me? What is wrong with God?
Have I forsaken God? Has God forsaken me?
Eliphaz says - it is all your fault. Buck up. But God said Job was blameless.
Job was mature. He was open to the possibility that he may have sinned.
Brittany Spears- why is the public rejoicing in her meltdown? We compare ourselves favorably to her. We are not as bad as she.
Job asks - has God forsaken me? Why is God hiding his face?
Job's greatest nightmare is the thought of God dumping him. The absence of God is unbearable.
A tree will grow again. Can a man live again? Job dreamed.
We all are going to do hard time.
1. Wounds that will heal us. Pruning. If we prune the apple tree we get apples. Else Nothing.
Jesus learned obedience thru his suffering. 50 tummy crunches can be painful. Later easy.
If you get no pruning you will be shallow and self centered. Job ended up praying for his shallow friends.
2. A hope that won't fail you. The ability to endure pain because of hope for the future. Bob Dylon said, everything is broken. Everything is falling apart. We came to New York because it is one of the most electrifying places in the world. But the stock market will crash. This world is broken. The resurrection is the appetizer. As a 6 year old I thought my parents had died. When they walked thru the door my pleasure knew no bounds.
Heaven once attained
3. God did not leave Job. Even though his innocence was relative -God did not slay him. Jesus took the punishment - death. God turned his face from Jesus so he could turn his face to us.
The one for whom ruin was completly unjust, took our ruin upon himself. Jesus is the true Job. He had wounds all over his body. He gave up all his riches for us. Why? We are God's artwork. His poem. Jesus came to reclaim his art. What is the buyer willing to pay? Jesus paid with his life.
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