 Think about the story of Job in the fact that the scripture begins, the scripture begins, the story of Job by saying, there was a man who dwelt in the land of us and he was perfect and upright. The scripture goes out of its way to make that declaration about him being perfect and upright. Why? Because the scripture wanted to bring a certain perspective on the story. So Job is a servant of God. He loves the Lord. He's perfect and upright. He's doing all the right things. He's giving God worship. He's giving God praise. He's not cheating the poor. He's not oppressing the poor. He's not withholding justice from those who need it. He's not committing adultery. He's not taking his brother's wives. He's not doing anything that displeases God. And he comes to the Lord throughout the story wanting an audience with God. Why does he want an audience with God? Because things began to take a turn for Job. You see, there was a time when the sons of God went and presented themselves to the heavenly Father. And among these was Satan. Satan comes to the Lord. The Lord asked him where he's been. He says he's been going to the earth. He's been doing things that were destructive of course. And then the Lord says to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? Now I have trouble with this. I'll be honest with you. Theologically, this will turn your head upside down. God says to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? Now wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Frustrating for a couple of reasons. Number one, it would seem like God is being so callous toward him. It would seem like God doesn't care. And if you and I were in Job's position, we would be asking what he was asking. Lord, I serve you. Lord, I love you. What are you doing? And I think that sometimes we do ask God questions like that. Lord, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? I have friends who've dealt with severe sicknesses. I myself have lost loved ones and asked myself and asked the Lord, Lord, why, why, why? I have experienced tragedy and heartache, betrayal and pain. And in those moments I say, Lord, where are you on this? What's going on here? Why did you allow that to happen? Why are you allowing this thing to occur as it's occurring? And if you're being honest, you've come to that place too. So Job, as the scripture said, was perfect and upright. And yet God says to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? It was because of Job's righteousness. Here's what blows my mind. It was because of Job's righteousness that God said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? It was because of his righteousness that the trials came. Now we don't wanna hear that. We only wanna hear that because of our righteousness that God will bless us. I think about in the book of Kings how the Lord says, how am I going to entice the king to go out to battle so that I may kill him? And an evil spirit approaches God and says, God, I'll go and I'll lie to the prophets for you so that I'll entice the king and send him out to battle. I'll say through the prophets, God is with you, go to the battle. And that's exactly what happened. And it's astonishing to see that. But really what the scripture shows us is that God is sovereign even over the power of the enemy. God is sovereign even over trials and tragedy. Now, Job comes before God. And if you read the book of Job, it's really interesting. It's probably in my opinion, the book of Job is the most philosophical book in the entire Bible. Job comes to God and he only wants one thing. He wants to have a conversation with God. And he just wants to ask God one question. God, why did you let me suffer? Because as the story goes, Job lost his children. That's horrible in itself. Even if he just lost one child, he would be asking God, why? But he lost all his children. He lost all his wealth. He lost all his servants. He lost his status. He even lost his health. His friends turned against him and his wife turned against him and said, why don't you curse God and die? All of this happening in a very short period of time. And so Job goes and he's having this battle within himself and he's saying, God, why did you do this? And he says, I just want one moment with you. And here he starts getting pulled. His God, show me my wrongdoing. If you'll do it, open the record books. So he says, open the record books. Show me, where have I cheated anyone? Where have I lied? Where have I taken my neighbor's wife? Where have I oppressed the poor? Where have I denied justice to those who were victims? Where have I done this, Lord? Show me. He gets really, really, really, really bold. And the whole time he's having this debate, right? And his friends are chiming in and they're saying, Job, don't talk like that to God. Don't say that to God, Job. Job, you're gonna get in trouble. And his friends are accusing him, saying, Job, obviously you sinned somewhere. Obviously there's some secret sin in your life. Otherwise this would not have been happening. And then the Lord shows up. This is where it gets really interesting. Then the Lord shows up and who does he rebuke? Does he rebuke Job's friends for saying, God is righteous and surely you have sinned? So stop complaining. Or did God rebuke Job who said, God, I've done nothing wrong. Just show me my wrongdoing. Why are you doing this to me? You know who God rebuked? All of them. Because here is a group of men, mere mortals, debating so confidently about who God is and why he does what he does. He begins to ask Job a series of questions that he can't answer. My favorite being, where were you? Job, tell me, where were you when the foundations of the earth were laid? Where were you when the morning stars sang for joy at the creation of the world? Where were you? And he starts to list all these things that Job cannot answer. Questions that only God would know the answer to. Job, where were you? Where were you? Where were you? Tell me if you know so much. Have you seen the storehouses with snow in them? Can you tell me where the winds come from? What's the weather pattern? What is it like, Job? Tell me. And Job, when God appears, this was probably the most astonishing thing to me. Keep in mind, Job lost his children. Job lost his children, all of them. Even just that, just take out all the other tragedies and let's just focus on that one. Job lost all his children in a day. Think about just that one trial. And Job catches a glimpse of God and do you know what happens when he catches that glimpse of God? He looks at God and he puts his hand over his mouth like I've said too much. He puts his hand over his mouth and he says, I've seen you? He says, I get it now. I'm sorry I even questioned you. He put his head down. He didn't want to even look at God. He was so filled with fear and terror, the fear of the Lord gripped his heart and he says, I don't even want to see you right now. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I've already spoken too much. I've been blabbing here and I'm sorry. One look at God and he immediately understood the tragedies that he was facing. Don't forget to subscribe and click the notification bell. Also, help us spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Make a one-time donation or become a monthly supporter by clicking on the donate link now.