The Learning Curve of Life, Part 2

When you're struggling or facing a particularly difficult time, what's the one truth above all others that you need to hear? God is still enthroned. Maybe that's all you needed to hear today.

That's enough. His is the kingdom forever and even now. He is seated. He is seated upon the pinnacle of his universe, which he created, where he reigns absolutely supreme. And we, we are, we are frail children of dust. As the son or daughter of God, the truth that he reigns supreme should bring you tremendous comfort. You can have certainty that whatever comes your way, it's under the sovereign hand of your loving God.

Now, that's easy to believe when things are going really well. But it's also true even during times of great trial, such as what Job experienced. Stephen Davey has been teaching through a series on Job's life called, The Hush of Heaven.

What you're about to hear is the conclusion to that series. Stephen's called today's message, The Learning Curve of Life. God is speaking, Job, not like you want, not through channels you might have expected, but he's, he's speaking. He says here in verse 13 of chapter 33. Why do you complain against God that he does not give an account of all his doings? Indeed, God speaks once or twice.

No one notices it. And then he says the first way is in a dream, a vision of the night when sound sleep falls on men when they slumber in their beds. Then he opens the ears of men and seals their instruction. Now, in Job's era, before the Bible was completed or perhaps even begun, if Job's book is indeed, as I believe, the first book ever compiled and edited by Moses, as many Bible scholars believe, God spoke through dreams. I fear that today our evangelical world is so uninterested with the word of God. They're now attempting to organize and and sell ways for you to interpret your dreams and visions and all sorts of confusion and chaos is the result. You can go to the Christian bookstore even today and buy a manual on how to interpret your dreams. Listen, finding some hidden spiritual truth in a dream opens the door to subjective departure from the truth of God's word. And so when you read a text like this, remember, Job lived at the outset of the revelation of God and God would speak to him in this way. That's why even the prophet Isaiah challenged his people to stick with the law and the testimony. To the law, he said, to the testimony, what God has written through his servants.

If men speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isaiah 8, verse 20. If they distract us from the truth of God's revealed word, they are to be discarded. I caution you to to try to find some kind of deep meaning or truth.

Go to the word of God. In fact, if a dream merely reinforces what God's word has already said, you're not following the dream. You're following God's word, right? The troubling thing to me, and that's why I wanted to spend a few moments on this, is that people are going outside the word of God. They're delving into their dreams to find answers, direction, decision for their lives.

And they're getting they're getting involved in all sorts of strange diversions from the truth. We have been told that the content of the word of God is sufficient to equip us for every aspect of life. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17.

Every good work. But for Job, in this era, God could and evidently was revealing himself through dreams. And he and others were ignoring them. Secondly, Elihu reminded Job that God was speaking through suffering. In verse 19 of chapter 33, Job is told that mankind is chastened, he's disciplined, he's instructed with pain on his bed.

Have you ever been there? As a believer growing in Christ, undoubtedly you have. When physical affliction occurs and suffering and pain, those times cause you to reflect upon where you stand with God. Lord, what are you teaching me?

Why do I have to be here in bed rather than at work or at school? The only only direction you can look is up. C.S. Lewis wrote, God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our consciences, but he shouts to us in our pain. Pain, Lewis wrote, is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world. God has been speaking to Job through dreams and pain. Finally, he speaks through others. Verse 32, through an angel.

I could broadly translate that word messenger, which I believe he refers to here. He says in verse 23 to remind a man what is right for him. And he assumes that everybody has the opportunity, which would lead me to then believe that he's speaking to messengers of truth. Job, even when your life has been most confusing, God has indeed been communicating. You aren't listening.

Secondly, even when life seems unfair, God is never unjust. Go to Chapter 34 and he quotes Job back to himself. You ever had somebody challenge you and they quote you with your own words? It's irritating, isn't it?

But effective. So he does the same thing here. He said, Job, you said it profits me nothing when when when a person is pleased with God. In other words, life is unfair. God is rewarding the wrong man. I have been walking with God and God is evidently unjust. Elihu will simply repeat the truth that God always does what is right, even when we don't see it. Look at verse 10 of Chapter 34.

Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do wickedness and from the Almighty to do wrong. For he pays a man according to his work and makes him find it according to his way. Surely God will not act wickedly and the Almighty will not pervert justice. Throughout this chapter, ladies and gentlemen, Elihu will defend the character and nature of God.

When you're discouraged and life seems unfair, the best thing a counselor can do is what Elihu did. Defend the character of God and remind you that God is always right, even when he chooses not to explain his ways. Elihu describes the facts about God in verse 11. He is a just rewarder. Verse 13, he is a sovereign authority. Verse 14 to 15, he is a sustainer, independent sustainer of life. Verses 16 to 20, he is the impartial ruler. He just goes down the list rehearsing the great attributes of God. And I don't know about you, but I have found in times of suffering the greatest thing to have rehearsed to me is the attributes of God.

So that God becomes great and I become small. Notice verse 19 of chapter 34, who, that is God, he shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich above the poor, for they are all the work of his hands. In other words, we play favorites, God doesn't. We show partiality, God never has.

We skewer the scales of justice with high paid lawyers. God judges one and all with the same scales of perfect justice and perfect holiness and perfect judgment. He just hasn't unrolled those scales now like he will when the books will be open and all the world will stand before him. Job, even if life seems unfair, God is never unjust.

Oh, yeah? Well, it's possible for somebody to be just and unkind. It's as if Elihu anticipated that kind of response from Job's heart. And so he moves to his third major point. Here it is, even when life seems hard, God is not heartless. God is not distant when we suffer. In fact, one of those precious texts that you've probably heard before arises from the ash heap of Job's suffering here. This time, not from Job's lips, but from the lips of Elihu as he describes God as the one in verse 10 of chapter 35 who gives us songs in the night.

You ought to underline that and circle it and put a star by it. Elihu says further in verse 11, God makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens. He teaches us more than he ever teaches an animal in the field. Above all, Job, don't forget, God gives songs in the night. Listen, there's quite a difference between whistling in the dark and singing in the dark, isn't there? You know, I come over here sometimes late at night to get a book, pick up something. The place is dark, this place is big, this place is spooky. When you're not here, it's spooky.

And I'll whistle all the way up through the elevator. It's not courage, it's not bravery, it's not trust in the sovereignty of God, I am afraid. But to be in a dark place and all alone, suffering whatever suffering brings and begin to sing praise to God, that is the courage of faith. That's Paul and Silas singing in Acts 16 in the jail cell.

That's Jesus Christ in the upper room moments away from Gethsemane. The text says, and after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. How do you sing before Gethsemane and the cross? It's one thing to sing in the sunshine, it's another thing to sing in the nighttime. Perhaps for you today, one of the wonderful reasons and motives behind the gathering of the assembly to sing is that we declare our faith and maybe for you to sing those lyrics, to recommit your trust in the shepherd is demonstration of courageous faith.

You are singing songs in the night. Johnny Erickson Tada and John MacArthur collaborated together in a series of books I have in my library on hymn histories and the theology behind the texts of these great hymns of the church. For those of you who don't know, maybe you're newer to the faith, Johnny broke her neck in a diving accident and has now for several decades served Christ through a variety of ministries, although paralyzed from the neck down. Her pastor, John MacArthur, worked with her on a series of books that I've enjoyed reading from time to time. In one particular chapter, the story wasn't, however, about Johnny's suffering, but it was about singing a song in the night and it was about the homegoing of the mother of James Dobson.

Let me read a paragraph or two. In a few minutes, we were sitting on the edge of Myrtle Dobson's bed. After suffering from Parkinson's disease, which rendered her confused, she was unable to speak more than a word or two at a time. Dr. Dobson spoke kindly to his mother, reminding her who we all were, even though we had known her very well, she just nodded and smiled.

After a few minutes of small talk, Bobby, one of the guests, spoke up. Why don't we sing? Myrtle loves to sing, and so we did. Worship the king, all glorious above. O gratefully sing his power and his love.

Our shield and defender, the ancient of days, pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise. For the first few lines of the hymn, she silently smiled back at us. Could she understand? Was she listening?

We really couldn't tell. But as we sang the final verse, her mouth began to form the words, and then she joined in with each unforgettable phrase. What was even more amazing than Myrtle's remembering the lyrics was the fact that she sang a perfect alto line.

The music may not have landed a recording contract, but it was good enough to fill our hearts with enough gratitude and praise to last a lifetime. Fraile children of dust, and feeble as frail, in thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail. Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end, our maker, defender, redeemer, and friend.

Dr. Dobson wept almost uncontrollably at the familiar sound of his mother singing this great melody of faith with her alto voice. This hymn included some of the most powerful four-worded summaries of the character of the sovereign God ever recorded. Maker, defender, redeemer, friend.

Think of it. Maker, he created us. Defender, the forces of evil melt at the sound of his voice. Redeemer, the death of his own son was not too high a ransom to pay.

Friend, friend, a woman too weak to sit without help had someone reassuring her at that moment of his everlasting presence. This was their song in the night. Perhaps what silences our singing in the nighttime is that we refuse to travel up the learning curve. It's too fast. It's too much.

It's too hard. But this learning curve of suffering deepens the depth of our faith. James chapter 1 verse 3 tells us the testing of our faith produces endurance, greater faith. It teaches us about the character of God. The learning curve of suffering develops in us a longing for the things of God. It teaches us to desire the glorification of our bodies.

Paul wrote to the Romans, we long, we groan for the redemption of our bodies. It causes us to yearn, to long for the coming kingdom of Christ when all is made right. It makes us long for heaven. It elevates our thinking from the trivialities of this temporary world to the glory of our maker, defender, redeemer, friend. What seems heartless of God is actually God's heart helping us onward and upward.

No wonder Martin Luther, the reformer, would say, I have found affliction to be one of my best schoolmasters. Listen, Job, he counsels, even when life is confusing, God is still communicating. Even when life seems unfair, God is never unjust. Even when life seems hard, God is not heartless. Finally, this major point where most who study the speech of Elihu believe that he ended incredibly well.

Even when life becomes unsettled, God has not been unseated. In the last section of his speech, Elihu will declare two things, the power of God over sinners and the power of God over seasons. Earlier in chapter 36, the terrible end of sinners, those who refuse to follow after God. Verse 12, those who do not listen to God.

They die without knowledge. Verse 17, Elihu says, Listen, Job, judgment and justice will take hold of you. If you like them, scoff at the wrath of God. Verse 18, those sinners who let riches keep them from considering their end. Verse 19, God will be exalted in his power over all who challenge his authority.

Verses 22 and 23, this is the power of God over sinners. They think they have autonomy. They are not autonomous. They believe they are unaccountable.

They are accountable. God rules over all the kingdoms of the earth. Number two, Elihu also reminds Job of God's power over seasons. I found Warren Wiersbe's outline in his commentary intriguing as he highlighted the weather conditions of the four seasons here in this remaining part of Elihu's speech as further proof of God's sovereign and creative control. In verse 27 of chapter 36, all the way down to verse 5, I have taken my pencil and I've marked in the margin just a line. Verse 27 of chapter 36 down through verse 5 of chapter 37, you have the weather conditions of autumn. Chapter 37 verse 6 through verse 10, you have the weather conditions of winter. Verse 11 down through verse 13 reveals the weather of spring with its rain showers. Then in verses 14 all the way down to verse 20, the weather conditions of the season of summer when the heat of the sun in verse 17, he says, heats up your clothing and the sky seems like a brass mirror.

Nothing's moving, not even a whisper of a breeze. Now if you went through this on your own and you simply listed Elihu's declarations of God's control in chapters 36 and 37, not only over sinners but the seasons, the weather conditions of our planet, you find him referring to God's control over evaporation and rain and clouds and thunder and lightning and flooding. All these, and it kind of takes you back to chapter 1, you remember? All these elements of nature are not haphazard. They are secondary effects that bring about God's primary purpose in life, which is the ultimate and only true comfort to Job. And this must have been very reassuring to hear him say it, for Job to hear these words.

Why? His children died in a tornado. God had a purpose that he controls even the conditions of the fallen planet to bring about his primary purpose in life, even though we don't understand.

And God's purpose and his purposes are never trumped, not even by the devil himself who might stir things up. Listen, we have a family in our church, had their beautiful home in Cary, struck by lightning while they were away. The lightning bolt fried the alarm system, which then meant that no fire alarm sounded or signal sent out. Their home and everything in it burned to the ground. I went over there and stood in the front yard the next day as a couple of firemen were sitting there in the side yard really to do nothing than guard the property, even though it was the next day little flickers of flame were eroding away at what was left of the structure. It was an eerie sight to see the columns of the front porch standing and fireplaces at both ends of the house and everything in the middle, a pile of ash.

Listen, there's more to this. The lightning had struck their home while they were in the hospital with their teenage daughter who was in critical condition with an infection. In fact, she had just come out of ICU when they got the news that their home was on fire and there was nothing they could do. A few days later I told them of all things our book was being delivered that same week in the first section on Job and I had entitled the book When Lightning Strikes.

The picture is a bolt of lightning coming down from the sky. I told them, I said, if I'd only known I'd have dedicated the book to you. They laughed. I was writing about it and they were living it. They told me, interestingly enough, they said, Stephen, we want you to understand we're not Job. We still have our daughter and we have our health. They expressed to me how they were trusting God and his purpose for their lives in spite of everything that was happening around them.

Talk about a learning curve. When life is unsettled, God has not been unseated. So Job, Elihu intimates, stay the course. And so should you, my friend.

So should I. Is God silent? No, the question is where is he communicating right now that you might be ignoring or overlooking or resisting or missing? Is life unfair? Will you remind yourself that God is never unjust and he will make everything right? Not always settling the score on this planet, but he shall one day. Is life hard?

God is not heartless when it is. In fact, there's a song for you in the night. The question is not, Lord, do you have a song for me? The question is, Lord, I'm willing to sing.

What song do you have for me to begin singing? Is life unsettled? He is still enthroned. Like the widow that I used to greet every Sunday morning with, and how are you doing today? She would always respond, he is still on the throne.

He is still on the throne. Maybe that's all you needed to hear today. That's enough. You didn't need the whole load.

You just needed that. God is still enthroned. His is the kingdom forever and even now. He is seated.

He is seated upon the pinnacle of his universe, which he created, where he reigns absolutely supreme. And we, we are frail children of dust and feeble as frail. How but in thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail. Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end.

Arm maker, defender, redeemer, and friend. What a great thought to reflect upon as we close out not only this message, but this series from the life of Job. Stephen's been teaching you a biblical response to trial and difficulty. Now, if you missed any of the lessons along the way, we've posted them to our website. Go to wisdomonline.org. Under the section of free resources, you'll find a link that says full length sermons.

Visit that section. The series you're looking for is called The Hush of Heaven from the Book of Job. We've also taken the messages in this series and put them together as a set of compact discs. If you'd like a set for your resource library, give us a call at 866-48-BIBLE and we can give you information. Finally, I want you to know that Stephen has a book that contains his teaching through the Book of Job.

It's part of his wisdom commentary series. You'll find that in our online store. That book is a wonderfully practical resource that will help you understand the Book of Job and apply it to your life. If you need help with the online library of this series, the CD set, or Stephen's book, give us a call. We'll be happy to help you with any of those. Our number is 866-48-BIBLE. That's 866-48-BIBLE. Thanks for listening today. Join us again next time for more wisdom for the hearts. Thank you.