It's Not Fair
Worst Year Ever • Sermon • Submitted
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Jab 1
Jab 1
Has anyone heard of the name Horatio Gates Spafford? Probably not
Horatio and his wife were a happy family in the mid 1800’s. Horatio was a Christian Businessman in Chicago Illinois. If Minivans had existed in the mid 1800’s Horatio and his wife would have driven one to carry around their 3 children 1 boy and 2 girls.
Losing his son to sickness and then losing all of his financial assets in the Chicago Fire of 1871, he thought he’d been through a lot. But like Job, his suffering was not over.
In 1873, he planned a trip to Europe for his family, hoping for some respite. Some unexpected business came up, and he decided to stay behind and follow his wife and daughters after a couple of days. On the way, his family’s boat was struck by an English ship and sank.
His wife cabled him, “Saved alone,” once she arrived in Europe. Upon receiving the news, Spafford immediately sailed overseas to meet his wife and wrote the hymn in the place where he presumed his daughters had perished.
While feeling the overwhelm of grief and allowing his sadness to wash over him, he turned to worship and trust God in the midst of his sorrow. It wasn’t easy, but Spafford chose to see this immense suffering as a gift, a refining in the fire, and an opportunity for growth.
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.
This is a tough pill to swallow.....it feels wrong. Couldn’t Horatio learned this same concept without the sacrifice of his family? Did this have to happen?
IT’S NOT FAIR!
You said, ‘I am pure; I am without sin;
I am innocent; I have no guilt.
God is picking a quarrel with me,
and he considers me his enemy.
He puts my feet in the stocks
and watches my every move.’
“But you are wrong, and I will show you why.
For God is greater than any human being.
He does not let the wicked live
but gives justice to the afflicted.
He never takes his eyes off the innocent,
but he sets them on thrones with kings
and exalts them forever.
If they are bound in chains
and caught up in a web of trouble,
he shows them the reason.
He shows them their sins of pride.
He gets their attention
and commands that they turn from evil.
“If they listen and obey God,
they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives.
All their years will be pleasant.
But if they refuse to listen to him,
they will cross over the river of death,
dying from lack of understanding.
For the godless are full of resentment.
Even when he punishes them,
they refuse to cry out to him for help.
They die when they are young,
after wasting their lives in immoral living.
But by means of their suffering, he rescues those who suffer.
For he gets their attention through adversity.
Elihu was putting these two concepts side by side in hie discussion with Job because he wanted to show him a couple characteristics of God
Pain tells us there is something wrong......within us
Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
Isaiah was in the presence of God and saw the glory of God ......God didn’t tell him there was anything wrong with him
-Isaiah saw the magnificence of God and automatically knew and saw how much he lacked and how truly wicked he was in comparison to God’s great presence
Standing in the shadow of some of the largest mountains, biggest oceans, tallest trees can show the magnitude of the Glory of God......imagine seeing God who would dwarf all of the greatness we have anywhere in our world.
-Isaiah was not comparing himself to anything on earth...
-sometimes we might look at another person in our lives or a mentor and say…well Im doing better than that.
-At least I don’t struggle with that issue
-Im more patient than I was....
All these things do show progress, but what do we desire to chase after?
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Searching is a process that can feel invasive even if the only person who is being shown is ourselves
Testing is another piece that we don’t always tie to pain to this idea, unless you are in school currently than you know how much pain a test could include
Physical tests push you to your limit so you can know what you can physically endure.....test week at our gym is the culmination of the previous cycle we have done and by the end of the test week you are exhausted, sore, needing rest.
testing products to prepare them for the market is to put the product under the amount of pressure and strain it will experience everyday and if it fails it is not ready for retail
Point out
-we also dont like to be shown deficiencies or something we are doing wrong.....it’s uncomfortable in the least and possibly painful
-this also brings us to the place where whatever is found that shouldn’t be there will be removed
Lead me.....
Showing us a new path that is different from what we were walking and doing
-learning is new and can involve pain because it is being in situations we have not been in before
Pain tells us there is something wrong…Around us
“Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces;
now he will heal us.
He has injured us;
now he will bandage our wounds.
In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
Oh, that we might know the Lord!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
or the coming of rains in early spring.”
All our Pain…Draws us Deeper into the presence of God
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
Pain in our lives is.......
-Opportunity for us to repent and grow
-Pray for the brokenness we see around us
All of this
Bring us into a deeper relationship with God
Helps us to be transformed into the Character of Jesus