Trusting the Pilot: God's Purpose in Our Storms

So what does this mean for us today? It means if you are in a storm right now or there's a storm coming, you're probably never gonna get the explanation you want. You may ask why this illness? Why this loss? Why this grief? Why this struggle? Why this loneliness? Why this pain? And sometimes you get an answer. But in the midst of getting an answer to the question why God always gives us gives us something better than answers to that question. He shows us who he is. The God who laid the foundations of the earth, the God who opens the eyes of the blind, the God who enters into the storm of humanity through Jesus Christ is the one who died and rose for you, and that means you're never alone in the storm. [00:42:55] (62 seconds)  #NeverAloneInTheStorm

And one day, we'll see how all the storms we feared, the prayers we didn't understand, the tears we cried, are all woven in the hands of a loving God. So that when we only see the tangled threads, we trust the one who's weaving the tapestry. The storms will hit, grief will come, illness will attack, loneliness will be deep, guilt overwhelming, even storms that only we know about. But the message of Job is this, you're not the pilot. You're not the pilot. And that's good news, because the one who's flying the plane laid the foundations of the earth. The one who is guiding your life commands the stars. The one who governs the universe is the same one who went to the cross for you, and his promise is sure. [00:45:47] (59 seconds)  #TrustTheWeaver

That image on the screen, it looks rather chaotic. It looks like a mess. And if you can see it closely enough, you would notice that they're actually they're actually real threads. You'll see some knots in there, some loose ends. You see some colors that don't seem to match. Nothing makes sense. Chaotic, looks unfinished, looks like someone made a mistake. But what you're seeing there is the backside of the image. On the front side of this mosaic, you'll see the bigger picture of the tapestry as it was intended to be seen by others. Then everything changes. Now you see a pattern, colors that come together, knots that have a purpose. [00:43:57] (48 seconds)  #HiddenDesign

But yet we know Jesus didn't deserve that cross. We deserved that cross. But at that moment, God was doing the greatest work in history. Saint Paul writes in second Corinthians five, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. Reconciling the world to himself, not us reconciling ourselves to God. We couldn't do it. God had to do it in our place, and on the cross, which looks like defeat, was actually salvation. What looks like abandonment was actually redemption. The greatest storm in history becomes a place where God reveals his love. [00:42:15] (40 seconds)  #RedemptionAtTheCross

Remember Jesus said, so that the works of, plural, god could be revealed in his life. And, yes, it was revealed in his restoration or seeing for the first time, but also the gift of faith. That by the end of the chapter, the man says, Lord, I I believe. The suffering that looked meaningless becomes the very place where God's work is revealed and saving faith is confessed. That helps us understand Job a little bit Because the book of Job shows us something even deeper. God never explains to Job the heavenly scene of chapters one and two that that we got to hear about and read about. [00:40:36] (49 seconds)  #FaithFromSuffering

And if you read that, and I encourage you to read it sometimes, when God speaks to Job, he doesn't respond with an explanation. He responds instead with questions. And if you look through it, depending on how you count it, he asks Job 70 questions. Seven zero questions. Wowzers. Lonnie read some of them. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Who determined its measurements? Who shut the sea with doors? 70 questions asked of Job. Because Job has been trying to sit into the cockpit. He's been trying to fly the plane, but Job can't see what God sees. [00:38:48] (49 seconds)  #GodAsksQuestions

We get to see that the storm itself is under God's authority. He is the captain flying all along. Yes. Satan was given a limit, but there was still a limit that God had placed on him because even suffering even suffering is not outside his control. Therefore, the storm doesn't get the final word. God does. And there's no place clearer than the cross for that truth. Because there at the cross is another moment where people looked at suffering, and they assumed they understood it. Because only those who would be crucified would be the worst of the criminals, the terrorists, the the others who would who would be hung up there by the Roman government in order so that others would say, don't do what they did, or you're gonna wind up like they did too on your own cross. [00:41:26] (50 seconds)  #GodIsCaptain

In a moment, he's gonna come and meet you here at his table with his very body and blood as his words and promises declare, and he will feed you and assure you, you are forgiven. The chaos feels real. The storm is overwhelming, but I'm here with you, in you. Taste and see the Lord is good, and he is for you. He'll get you through the storm, and one day he'll bring you safely home. So what do we do in the middle of the storm? We don't need to panic. We don't need to get desperate. Don't try to grab the controls. Instead, sit down, buckle up, and trust the pilot, especially when he gets on the intercom and speaks to you. [00:46:53] (51 seconds)  #BuckleUpAndTrust

The threads have formed a picture. What looks random was actually intentional. What looked like chaos was actually design. Friends, most of us live our lives on the backside of the tapestry. It's where Job was living. It's where the man who was born blind was living. Tangled threads, loss, blindness, suffering, questions. But God sees the front side, the whole design. And one day when Christ returns, we will too. But until that day, we join Job in saying, after God asked him 70 questions, he'll say this, I know. I know that you can do all things, and no plan of yours can be thwarted. I know. I don't understand, but I know. [00:44:45] (62 seconds)  #KnowingNotUnderstanding

Suffering has to make sense. You must have done something wrong. But as we're going to see, today and in the coming weeks, God's going to reject this way of thinking. So Jesus does in Joe on chapter nine. He replies to their question. He says to them, neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened. The reason this happened is so that the works, plural, of God might be displayed in him. You're asking the wrong question, not who's to blame or what caused this, but what is God going to do through this? It's what God teaches Job. [00:35:04] (42 seconds)  #PurposeInPain

Now you might have experienced it sometimes is that even though you know the pilot knows how to fly people safely through the storm, that being a passenger can be quite difficult because you can look out the side of the window, but you can't see ahead. And so in the midst of the turbulence, the only thing you can do is is feel the turbulence. You can hear the engine strain. You can watch the wings start to shake, and and if it goes on very long, you begin to wonder, why are we going this way? If the captain knew the storm was coming, couldn't we have just gone around it? Does the pilot does he really know what he's doing? [00:32:29] (41 seconds)  #FaithInTurbulence

God's not gonna speak, so his friends fill the gap. They start speaking on behalf of God. They start explaining why this is happening to him and dare explain and speak for God, but Job keeps insisting that he's done nothing wrong. And he keeps praying, and he keeps asking, and he keeps arguing, and for 37 chapters, God is silent. But then the captain speaks. Job chapter 38, 39, and 40. And if you read that, and I encourage you to read it sometimes, when God speaks to Job, he doesn't respond with an explanation. He responds instead with questions. [00:38:20] (40 seconds)  #SilenceThenQuestions

I don't know how many of you have had the experience flying commercially on an airline like Southwest or United or American or all the other commercial airlines, but one of the things you notice that when it comes to flying in an airplane, the the people that you interact with most often once you get up on the plane are the are the flight attendants. The flight attendants are there to to greet you as you get on the plane, help you find your seat, stow your stow your luggage in the overhead bin, remind you of the safety features of this Boeing seven forty seven and all of the emergency exits located over the wings, in the back, and in the front. [00:30:12] (40 seconds)  #FlightCrewCare

Because the blind man story isn't really about blindness, it's about revealing who Jesus is. As Jesus spits on the ground, as he makes that mud and puts it on his eyes and sends him to wash, and suddenly, this man who only knew darkness can now see light because Jesus is revealing something about himself. In John eight verse 12, he declares himself to be the light of the world. He reiterates that we heard in John chapter nine as well, and now he doesn't just say I'm the light of the world. He says, look at the proof. It's in the pudding. [00:39:54] (35 seconds)  #JesusLightOfTheWorld

And they're doing exactly what Job's friends have been doing in the book of Job, trying to explain suffering, trying to to speak where God has not spoken. And according to their way of thinking, there must be a clear explanation. Somebody is at fault for this man being born blind. Job's friends had this same view. Suffering has a simple explanation, Job. And for 37 chapters, they've been trying to probe Job's life. God can't be at fault here, Job, so it must be your fault. It must be your own fault. It must be your own most grievous fault, Job. So pour the beans. What'd you do? [00:34:02] (45 seconds)  #NotEveryStormIsSin

But first, back to that plane analogy. As you've experienced, sometimes a captain of the plane knows that there's going to be turbulence and weather ahead, and they share that information ahead of time with you. But there's other times where the pilot, the captain is silent, even though there's something wrong. I experienced that a number of years ago. I was coming in for a landing, not here in Harlingen, another airport, but I was coming in for a landing on the plane as a passenger, and all of a sudden, as we were coming in a landing near to the ground, [00:35:46] (36 seconds)  #SilentCaptain

Everybody would be panicking. Right? They'd be saying their prayers. They'd be saying the Lord's prayer. People would be crossing themselves doing whatever they could because all of a sudden, things were out of their control, and they didn't know if they could trust the captain to land the plane safely. He did the right thing probably, not inciting panic when there was nothing any of us could have done to make sure the landing gear was down. Job has been demanding from his pilot, God, why all this turbulence is going on in his life. And for 37 chapters, Job hears nothing. [00:37:37] (40 seconds)  #PrayDontPanic

And he doesn't have to do it this way. He's already done it this way. His very word, spoken, written for your sake, so that in the midst of the journey, you can trust the captain, the one who opens the blind's eyes, the one who goes to the cross, the one who promises to bring you through every storm, and to finally bring you home. So listen to your captive speaking, when you can't find your way. Let me pray for us. Jesus, thank you for being the captain who doesn't just show us the way, but who is the way, the truth, the life. Guide us through this life, through the midst of the trials and the temptation, through the toil, and through the shame to our home with you. [00:47:44] (56 seconds)  #JesusIsTheWay

Help us, Lord, in the things that we cannot understand to continue to come before you in prayer, bringing them to you with the promise that you hear and you answer us even if that answer is confusing and we don't understand. Teach us to trust you, that you know what you're doing, and teach us to walk with those who you've put into our path, who you've perfectly positioned us to do life together with so that together and through your word and in the body of Christ that is your church, we can be confident that you know the way home. Until that day, we see you face to face. Keep us in this truth and guard us in this faith. For it's in your name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. [00:48:40] (42 seconds)  #TogetherInFaith