Transformative Encounters: Seeing God in Suffering

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Though God's ways are not always our way, and though his thoughts are not always rarely our thoughts, nevertheless they are always wise and always merciful. What happens when we begin to see God for who he is in the midst of our suffering? [00:00:06]

When Elihu was finished speaking the truth to Job, Job didn't say anything. Only when God finished did Job say something, and what he said was, "I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, and now my eye has seen you." Theology was a little helpful, but until God Almighty came and addressed himself to the heart of Job, it was all a rumor. [00:01:41]

Job tasted God when he saw God. He's a changed man now. He's a broken man. It has taken him months to get him there, and we will see what a glorious thing God has done in his strange way. He is a broken and a changed man. [00:02:25]

I generally pray, "Open the eyes of their hearts that they might see you in the majestic holiness of your throne." Everything else takes care of itself, and sin that is seen apart from the holiness of God is probably not seen for what it is anyway. [00:04:15]

Every time you see God for who he is, you see yourself in a very dark light. You see, before Job saw God, how did he feel? He esteemed himself quite highly. He did not hesitate to proclaim his righteousness, no qualifications. He was holding forth about his virtue, and then God spoke and revealed himself, and Job went face down. [00:05:06]

Jonathan Edwards was changed. He had a wrestling in his early days about the sovereignty of God that was not unlike Job's. I want to read you from Edwards' personal narrative. He wrote about his early childhood. He said, "From my childhood up, my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God's sovereignty." [00:06:10]

When God gives you the taste of the majesty of his holiness, that won't sound pathological. It'll sound healthy, true, right, yours. What kind of life comes from a confession like that? What happens to a person when they've seen God like that and themselves? [00:09:06]

God is after brokenhearted, childlike joy of faith, whatever it takes. It's the most valuable thing he could give you. Whatever it costs is worth it, and that's where he's got Job, and now he's going to restore the blessings of Job in these last verses of the chapter. [00:10:20]

The reason I think God did this for Job is to make clear to his contemporaries who didn't know that much about heaven or the afterlife, to make clear to his contemporaries that God always vindicates his servants. Now, I want to warn you that he doesn't always do it in this life like he did for Job. [00:10:54]

The test of will he love his enemies and pray for those who persecute him? Will he do good to those who hate him? Will he return good for evil instead of evil for evil? Remember, he's a very sick man still. He's got boils all over his body. His children are dead. His possessions are gone. [00:17:03]

If you forgive those who sin against you, your Father in heaven will forgive you, but if you will not forgive those who trespass against you, neither will your Father in Heaven forgive you your trespasses. If you insist on becoming a cul-de-sac for the forgiveness of God instead of a conduit that lets it flow out to your enemies, bank on it, you are deceived and not forgiven. [00:17:39]

The purpose of the Lord in your suffering as a child of God is compassionate and merciful. It is for your good. It achieves things that are infinitely valuable, and we should rejoice in it as we draw to a conclusion our stammering efforts to understand and unfold this great Book of Job. [00:21:14]

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