I Can’t See Him, But I Know He Is There
SCRIPTURE: "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Job 23: 8-10
Introduction
Have you ever had an unexplained event to happen in your life that blessed you? I’m talking about one of those occasions where a blessing came your way without any effort on your part.
It just came right when you needed it, and all you could say was, “Thank You Jesus.” There are some who have had unexplained reversals of medical conditions. The doctors said one thing, but later the condition was reversed, leaving doctors scratching their heads. You were not in line to receive the opportunity that you did, but somehow an opportunity you never thought would happen, suddenly appeared- out of nowhere! You were involved in a accident that should have been fatal, but you survived with only scratches and bruises or no scratches at all; how did these things happen?
You had an experience with the God of the Turnaround
When you touch the supernatural realm, it changes the way you see things, the way you speak and how you go about life. A supernatural turnaround is a divine encounter where God reverses my circumstances, turns the negative around into a positive and shifts my thoughts and life toward a new direction. The footprint of God is so big that when He steps in, everything else has to move.
WHEN GOD MOVES INTO OUR WORLD:
God steps between me and the situation. God will fight the battle. Otherwise, if we’re not in the realm of the supernatural, we tend to fight our own battles. I'm here this morning to tell you that God’s got your battles. He’s coming in between that situation and you. And not only that, but He’s coming in the midst of it suddenly. Somebody shout SUDDENLY!
The thing about “suddenly” is that you can’t get ready for it. There’s nothing you can do to make it happen. It just happens. This is why there are times when God puts together something that you could never have put together on your own. God has the ability to interrupt circumstances. Divine interruption prepares us for divine provision. What we need to understand is that the thing we hold onto is not as good as what we’re gonna get. God interrupts our lives for a reason. So turn to your neighbor and say, "Let it go."
God is working in the background of our lives to ensure that we accomplish our life’s purpose.
Those of you who have told God that you will follow his will to establish His kingdom have been given His assurance that He is working to open doors that are shut and to create doorways that don’t even exist to help us achieve our divinely inspired purposes.
Oftentimes we don’t see God operating, but yet He is there; behind us, in front of us and on our left hand and right. God’s unseen hand guides and controls, tears down and builds up.
That unseen hand is called Gods Divine providence, the will of God working itself out among men. It is God’s seeing to everything. Absolutely everything that needs to be done to bring about his purposes, God sees to it that it happens.
Isaiah 46:10: “[I declare] the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’” In other words, “I will see to it.” See to it — pro-vide. “I will provide. I will see to it that everything works together for the goals that I have for the world.”
God's knowledge of the future includes not only everything that actually happens but also everything that could potentially happen.
Listen, we know the power of God is working everyday, even though we cannot see His hand directly, His presence is felt.
Even in our sickness and times of trial, those of us who are faithful to God know that He is still operating behind the scenes. That’s why believers never lose hope even when di?culties come because, we know that God is working the unfortunate circumstance in a way that will accomplish his purpose for our lives. That’s a good thing. That’s also why the faithful are rarely among those who commit suicide, su?er long periods of depression or resort to alcohol or drug abuse when things go wrong. We endure the moment, knowing that God is working in the situation, and we will come forth as pure gold.
Romans 8:28 says, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. As Believers, we are assured that God will be there for us in any situation. He will tell us what to do and what not to do; he will open doors and shut them; he will make things happen or stop them from happening, but always to our advantage. We won’t see him when it's done, but we will know after it is done that God made it happen.
.
Exposition
As we look at our text it focuses on Job’s response to the unfortunate circumstances in his life, Job is expressing his faith that his situation would be reversed, and he would come through as pure gold.
Job is going through something he is admitting here that he could not get through to God, yet he clung to the confidence that God was still over this crisis in his life. Job seemed at this fleeting instant to understand what he could and should do in his present crisis.
You see, Job was a righteous man who faithfully subscribed to the Mosaic law and lived by its principles every day. The Bible describes Job as a righteous man who never once broke God’s law, but fell on hard times because of his obedience and faithfulness. His faithfulness was tested by God to show Satan that regardless to what difficulty came his way, he would not forsake his faith and remain obedient to God.
So satan caused numerous difficulties in Job’s life including the loss of his health, wealth and near destruction of his entire family. Despite this growing number of frustrating and crippling circumstances, Job hung on to his faith and maintained his integrity he would not abandon his faith or drop to the level of cursing God as his wife suggested nor question his goodness.
In this text, Job told three friends who sat with him that he has looked left and right, high and low and cannot see God’s hand in his situation, but he knew he was aware of his situation and probably involved in it in some way. He said, “He knows the way that I take” or “He knows I am a good person, but when he finishes testing me, he’ll find that I will come through as pure gold."
Job’s assurance that God is aware of his faith, lifestyle and commitment to the service of the Lord, underscored the reason he felt assured that God would turn his situation around.
In the end, God did just that. He turned his situation around and blessed him with double for his trouble and he came through as pure gold.
The thing I love about this story is that God knew where Job was at—in the furnace! But it was a furnace of God’s appointment, not because of Job’s sin,.....God would use Job’s affliction to purify him and make him a better man.
The Bible often uses the image of a furnace to describe God’s purifying ministry through suffering. When God puts His own people into the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat. He knows how long and how much. We may question why He does it to begin with or why He doesn’t turn down the heat or even turn it off; but our questions are only evidences of unbelief. The answer is in this verse: Gold does not fear the fire. The furnace can only make the gold purer and brighter. It’s important to note that Job’s life was pleasing to God before he went into the furnace he said in Job 23:11-12 My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
He did it, but we didn’t see him
There are many ways that God has moved on our behalf in the past and He will do it again.
HE PROVIDED FOR US:
We did not see him do it, but we know it was God that provided for our necessities in the past year. Though we may have complained about some things most of us would have to agree that God has been good .....real good to us. Even while God held back things that were seeking to destroy us, He kept providing for our necessities and making away out of no way. Even in our low moments, it turned out that God was working, putting people and resources in our lives to help us respond to our problems. We don’t know how we stumbled upon the person who helped us, but we know it was God. It wasn't by chance that you met somebody that responded to your need? It wasn't by chance that the opportunity you needed to keep from drowning in your troubles happened just as you needed it? He threw out the lifeline that kept you afloat it was His unseen hand at the other end that did it. If you look to the left or the right you may not see him, but no matter what the circumstance you know He was there working it out to your advantage.
We looked to the left and the right, we did not see him, but we know it was God who opened doors that had once been shut in our faces. Not only has God opened doors for us He has held them open long enough for us to get through and then closed them to keep our enemies from following.
This is what he did for Israel crossing the Red Sea, he held back the waters long enough for them to get through and then closed it on those who were trying to destroy them. God has faithfully opened doors for us and given us opportunities for the abundant life. When you look back over the last few years and I'm a witness. Some of us have done more than just survived; we have grown spiritually, God has blessed us financially and He has blessed our family relations. Some expanded their boundaries last year by taking advantage of every opportunity God made available to them. We looked to the left and the right. We did not see Him do it, but we know that God was in this thing, making it happen for us.
When our spiritual strength was at its lowest level, God lifted us. We did not see Him, but we know He was in there somewhere working things and talking to us directly in prayer and through His word. We heard his voice in the sermons that were preached, the scriptures we chose to read, and the songs that we heard. We didn’t see God in the months after the death of a loved one, but we know he was there lifting us out of our depression and giving us new purpose and strength. We didn’t see God, when we su?ered a setback and lost ground on our journey, but we know He was there, because he kept sending us so many messages to get up and try again.
Just the other day I heard Isaiah say, “They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up on wings as eagles, they shall run and not get weary, they shall walk and not faint."
Just the other day I heard David say, “I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help, my help cometh from the Lord who made the heaven and the earth."
He'll be there in the days ahead Why believers undergo prolonged and difficult suffering has no one, simple explanation. But the Bible offers several reasons.
First, testing strengthens our character. James says, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.(James 1:2–3).
I have found out that painful situations produce character the same way regular exercise builds muscle tone.
Peter adds that testing proves our faith is genuine (1 Peter 1:6-8). Which is why we should rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, we are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of our faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, we love; in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
When the heat is on, who we actually are, and what we truly believe are revealed. Remaining faithful despite prolonged agony testifies to others how much we value and honor God.
Job notes that testing can get rid of unrefined qualities in our lives when we go through the fire. (23:10). Much the way a blast furnace brings out impurities in metals, testing removes sinful attitudes in us, and we come forth as gold.
The writer of Hebrews (12:6–8) says that testing proves believers are God’s children. Every wise parent disciplines a child, in love, to help the child develop. When God brings testing, it reminds us that we are his children.
Why did testing come to Job? Job never realized that God allowed it because he was pleased with him: God said , Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him (1:8). There may be no reason behind our testing other than the fact that God is pleased with us. He may want to reveal himself to us in a different way, in a better way.
In my conclusion we must remember that just as we did not see God move on our behalf, we felt his actions. Whatever we might expect to face in the future, we should be encouraged to know that God is already in front us, looking out our future.
Jeremiah 29:11 say's For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I know what God has done in the past. I know what God is doing right now! I also know that he’s already ahead of me, making a way for me.
That's why I'm so glad that Jesus is the Breaker who goes before us. In Isaiah 45:2 the Lord says I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight. I don't know who I'm talking to but you need to know that God has the ability to break through any spiritual hindrance either individually or corporately, that would hinder His Kingdom and His purposes for the Church in this age.
It doesn’t matter what the future brings as long as we are on the Lord’s side! There will never be a:
—CROSS that we won’t be able to bear; MOUNTAIN that we won’t be able to climb!
—ENEMY that we won’t be able to defeat; BATTLE we won’t be able to win!
—DARKNESS so dark that we won’t be able to see the light!
—TRIAL that we can’t make it through; TEST that we won’t be able to pass!
Conclusion
The story is told of a sculptor whose statue of a horse fascinated and caught the attention of everyone. One day he was asked, “How did you take such an ugly, unpretentious piece of stone and make such a beautiful horse?” His answer was simple, “I simply chipped away everything that didn’t look like a horse.”
That is what God is doing in your life and in my life. Through the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, the abandonment of a spouse, the betrayal of a friend, or a life-changing addiction; through it all, God is at work in your life to chip away anything, and everything that doesn’t look like Jesus.
I have learned this, if God was powerful enough to bring you to something; He is also powerful enough to bring you THROUGH something. God was powerful enough to help you descend into the valley; He is also powerful enough to help you ascend onto the mountain.
I think about a painter who saw a beggar whose clothes were tattered, hair unkept, and face dirty. The artist decided to paint the man as he might have looked as a successful businessman with a wonderful family.
When it was finished, the painter invited the beggar to come see the painting. The beggar didn’t recognize himself. He asked, “Is that me?” The painter said, “That’s what I see in you.”For the first time in years the beggar was given hope, and he said, “By God’s grace, I’m going to be the kind of man you see me to be.”
At the moment we trust Christ for salvation, God takes the raw material and begins to shape it into the life that He sees today and what we will be one day. When the final whistle blows, the game of life will be over, and believe it or not, we will be just like the Lord Jesus Christ.
Think about it. The same God who stepped out from behind the curtain of nowhere onto the platform of nothing and spoke a world into existence is at work in your life. The same God who caused formidable waters to “congeal” like Jell-O to clear a path to cross is the same God who at work in your life.
The same God who sustained 4 million Israelites on manna and water for 40 years so that none died of starvation is the same God who is at work in your life.
The same God who delivered 3 teenagers from their own personal barbecue with a fire so hot that that it destroyed the ones who threw them it, but delivered them that not even a hair on their head was singed, is the same God who is at work in your life.
The same God who opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped the ears of the deaf, loosened the silence of the dumb, cleansed the disease of the unclean, crashed the funerals of the dead, and resurrected the dead body of Christ, He is the same God who is at work in your life.
That same God is the “same yesterday, today and forever.” Is the same God who is the Alpha, the Omega, the ?rst and the last, the beginning and the end; the same God who was dead, yet liveth and is alive forevermore and holds the keys of hell and death is the same God who is at work in your life.
Thanks be to God, I’m not what I used to be, and although I know that I’m not what I should be; I also know, that I’m not what I’M GOING TO BE!
I am confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in me will perform until the day that I live with Jesus and look like Jesus.
Lord don’t give up on me yet. I may be just an old chunk of coal, but I’m gonna be a diamond someday. Hallelujah!
I heard Andrea Crouch say:
I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
there's been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consolation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.
I've been to lots of places,
I've seen a lot of faces,
there's been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours,
yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.
Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.
I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know God could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do.
Even So Come Lord Jesus
Dr. Charles C Jones D.D.
1/19/2020
