Embracing Wisdom from Unexpected Sources in Suffering

Truth is extremely important no matter where it comes from. If there is a sock commercial that has a profound truth that impacts you for years, praise the Lord. Who cares that it was a sock commercial? It was truth. We sometimes get truth from crazy places. [00:31:47]

How comfortable are you when you hear something that is extremely truthful and wise, but it comes from the mouth of someone that you disagree with? We just got out of a political season. What if the opposition party of how you vote said something that is profoundly true? [00:32:18]

What if you are missing some very godly wisdom and truth coming from an unexpected person that you may not agree with? Today, we're going to look at the next act in the book of Job. And it involves a young man named Elihu. [00:32:51]

Elihu, who is now going to tell me his opinion and how much he knows. And that's why wisdom can sometimes come from unexpected sources. And that's my point today is that what we need to hear may come from someone unlikely. [00:55:51]

We need to accept all truth as God's truth. All truth is ultimately God's truth and this is the first of the conflicts I want us to work through today because some of us that makes us really uncomfortable makes me uncomfortable if it's truthful if it is rooted in biblical things then all truth is genuinely God's truth. [00:58:28]

Ultimately all truth is going to go back to God. I have a ball of yarn here and I have like an end here and some of you may have had this frustration before with a ball of twine or something like oh well there's the end so this this must be oh wait that wasn't it it didn't lead back to the rest of the yarn okay well I got another one here so we're going to just follow this one and okay that was a dead end or it didn't end where I thought it was going to now we come across you know the third one and oh wait there it is there's the rest of this this leads back to the rest of the ball of yarn when we are evaluating what is true and what is not ultimately if we hear a statement that somebody says this is true we should be able to follow the logic we should be able to follow the truth all the way back to God's word if we can't then it's no different than those if all of a sudden it's rooted in humanistic thinking or something that is totally opposed to scripture then it is no longer true but the beauty is is when I hear a true statement even from an unlikely source it's amazing how I can find things rooted in scripture more than the person that said them even knew at times all truth is God's truth those of you that are in high school and school middle school intermediate school learn the difference between truth and a lie now God's word is ultimately the root of it all if you can't find it in there then it isn't true when it comes to things such as some of the things I know you're being taught in the school systems today always ask is this true according to God's word now just so you know if you find out it's not that doesn't give you permission to not do your homework okay that's not gonna fly parents I'm doing that one for you you can pay me later but you need to do your best to see is this God's truth okay second thing that is gonna be a wrestle for some of us is we need outside perspectives to gain a wider perspective all of us have blind spots we have our opinions but our opinions may not be well -rounded they may not be perfect and this is why yes from time to time we need to hear some uncomfortable words from people who see things differently or see a bigger picture because they may give us a better perspective on ourselves and our beliefs than we knew it's uncomfortable for me to hear criticisms of the church from people that have nothing to do with the church but from time to time some of those criticisms I've heard have been true I just am uncomfortable with them and it gives me a bigger perspective of what do we as the church need to work on and I can't say well they aren't Christian they don't just understand if it is true then I should listen and the Holy Spirit will guide I know some people are uncomfortable with this the Holy Spirit will give you a wrestle if it isn't true God's word will absolutely give you a wrestle if it is not true we need outside perspective to get a bigger picture on things the last thing that I just want to add in today because as I read through Elihu one thing that came to my mind is what are we going to gain out of our suffering what will you gain out of your suffering we oftentimes think about what we lose in our suffering and what we no longer have in our suffering but a perspective change for us is what are we going to gain out of this Elihu spoke some truth into the life of Job whether he wanted to listen to him or not it didn't matter Job heard it and Job had the opportunity to gain something greater out of his suffering than he even imagined from the get -go and Elihu spoke into his life and gave him something that he could gain from and for you and I it's this what am I going to come on the other side of this time and period of trial and tribulation with that I did not have before is it a closer relationship with the Lord possible is a greater understanding of suffering possible is it how I can help other people going through difficulty that's possible what am I going to gain from this and focus on that more so than what you are losing and it will change a perspective within you let's have a word of prayer father I thank you for the words of Elihu this young man who chose to he'd had enough and he had to speak up and so he did and father even as we wrestle with this thing of truth we know your word is truth it is your word we know that you give us the Holy Spirit as someone who counsels us and directs us and guide us guides us and Lord if we haven't listened to the Holy Spirit enough I ask that you would awaken him within us that we would listen awaken our hearing to hear him when we are hearing things that are not of you and we would be okay with walking away but Lord also help us to be open to what you are saying through unlikely circumstances and unlikely voices I think of the truth that was spoken to Balaam through an animal if you can speak through an animal you can speak through other humans and so father give us the courage give us the discernment give us the wisdom to gain from other voices around us Lord and I ask that you would always ultimately steer us back to your word and a love of your word that we can put full confidence in it and Lord I ask for anyone that is continuing to try to see you in their suffering right now I ask that you would help them to switch their view from not what they have lost or are losing but Lord what they are going to gain out of this experience that will be used by you in their life and the lives of others do not let them be defeated let them be grounded in you and God that they would rejoice in what they have gained even while it is still difficult that they would see your hand in it all just as Job would at the end of his life we ask all of this in the name of Jesus amen I don't know if the Lord has stirred something in you this morning but if you would like someone to pray with maybe it's something going on before you got here today I don't know but we are going to have a member of our prayer team up here we want you to come up and they you tell them as little as much as you want and they will pray with you for your needs it's a great encouragement to have people praying over us and we want to be a church of prayer speaking of that one of the best ways to let us know prayer requests in your life is on your connect card your connect card we ask and encourage you to drop it in the offering boxes either in the back by the sound booth or right up here please put those down so we can be praying for one another also with that is giving and giving is always a great way to support the ministry here thank you so much for your faithful giving I say it every week but I mean it it was cool for us to be able to send off the DR team early early my word Saturday morning good night I didn't know 2 a .m. existed so we got them there I got text messages last night when they land it was a balmy 95 degrees for those of you that love 95 which is better than the last time we went that was 130 so I'm envious of them but they are going to be they're actually in church this morning a Spanish speaking church so they're going to see what it's like to be somebody who doesn't speak the native language and they're going to be visiting some of the Haitian battees over the next few days and ministering there with another church from Nashville North Carolina be a prayer for them it's a long week we had some health issues there at the very end so please be praying for their health their energy and more importantly that God uses them and changes them for the rest of their life when they come back so this impacts them for the rest of their days so be a prayer for them giving though that is part of that it goes towards supporting the ministry here and everything that we do as a church so apart from that that's all we have I appreciate you all being here if you're a guest hey come up say hi if I'm talking to someone just pull me by the arm and yank just don't dislocate anything so I would love to say hi to you and just get to know and see what brought you here so Easter season is coming last encouragement who are you inviting this Easter season who are you inviting this Easter season God gives us this opportunity to introduce people to his son Jesus and what he did for us what are we going to do with that think about that you're dismissed have a great week [01:00:58]

Elihu reminds us that God often speaks through our suffering and dreams. While it may seem that God is silent, He is teaching us valuable lessons through our trials, shaping our character and deepening our faith. [00:42:56]

Elihu points out that God's justice does not always align with human logic. We may not understand why God allows certain things to happen, but we are called to trust in His ultimate justice and righteousness. [00:46:38]

Elihu suggests that pride can hinder our ability to hear God's voice. When we become self-righteous, we may miss the lessons God is trying to teach us, emphasizing the need for humility in our spiritual journey. [00:50:16]

Instead of focusing on what we lose during difficult times, we should consider what we can gain. Our trials can lead to a deeper relationship with God, greater empathy for others, and a more profound understanding of life's complexities. [00:56:01]