WEEKLY BULLETIN

Have you ever felt like God wasn’t there?  Like no matter how much you
cried out, it was if He couldn’t hear you.  Perhaps you have felt that
way after a death of a family member, lost job, trouble with your child
or spouse, or some other conflict or crisis.  I think if we were all
honest about it, each of us would say yes.  Yes, there has been times in
my life when it felt like God didn’t hear us or He wasn’t around.
   

In the Old Testament we find a man named Job and I believe there was a
time when he felt that way and asked the question, God are you there?  
Who was this man named Job.  Well, he was known as an upright man.  In the first chapter it describes him as a man who feared God, who turned
away from evil.  We would also learn that Job would get up early and pray
for his children.  I feel it is safe to say the Job loved God and was a
true believer in word and deed.
   

We also discover that Job was married, had seven sons and three daughters and was a very wealthy man for he owned many heads of livestock.  One day things changed for Job.  Satan told God the only reason that Job loved Him and praised Him was because God was protecting Him.  God knew that Job truly loved Him and so God allowed satan to mess with Job, and mess with him he did.  Satan took all of Job’s possessions away.  His livestock was taken away by his enemies.  His children were killed because of a mighty wind, and his friends turned against him.  Not only his friends, but even his wife.
   

If that wasn’t enough, satan caused painful boils to cover his entire
body and then his wife told him to curse God and die!  Now, think about
that for a moment.  You have just went from being an extremely wealthy
man to having nothing.  Having a large family, but now all your children
are dead.  Your friends have now turned against you, blaming you for what had happen and even your wife, tells you to curse God and die.  You talk about having a bad week!
   

After a period of time we come to our text. "But if I go to the east, he
is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. (NIV Job 23:8-10) It’s as if Job is crying out, God are You there?
   

There are times when we may think God isn’t there, but is He?  There are
times when we may think that God doesn’t hear us, but does He?  I want to say that just because we may feel that way does not make it true.  When we think God is being silent, it is because we are not listening.  When we think God isn’t there, it is because we are not looking!  He is
waiting for the right time to speak and deliver us from our pain and
suffering.

What about those times . . .

I. When God is silent and we can’t find Him?
   
Job said, "But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the
west, I do not find him.  When he is at work in the north, I do not see
him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.”  What is
going on in his life?  Physical pain, confusion, humiliation.  He has
received no support from his wife or his friends.
   

He can’t find any comfort, sympathy, relief from the pain, or even
someone to believe his is innocent.  Not only that, he can’t find God!
He’s crying out and searching, yet he can’t find Him and it appears God
isn’t listening.
   

One of the biggest speed bumps to understanding God can be our encounters with pain and suffering. The hurts we experience may stem from abandonment or abuse, sorrow and loss, fears and failures, setbacks and confrontations, chronic illness and pain - the list is long. We all hurt for a variety of reasons. Sometimes God’s hand of comfort and His compassion toward us in our pain and sorrow is so wonderful we can’t describe it. He appears on the scene of our calamity with assistance and provision and we stand in awe of His presence. At other times, however, He seems distant and disinterested, like He’s moved and hasn’t left a forwarding address. He has all the power and provision necessary to alleviate our misery but He doesn’t seem to be lifting a finger to come to our rescue.
   

It’s at times like that when our faith is tested. Our cries for help seem
to go unanswered; our thirst for answers unquenched. If we’re not careful
we can become fearful and disillusioned with God when we’re hurting.
 

II. What Can We Learn About The Whereabouts Of God.
   

David writes in Psalm 34:17-18 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (NIV)
   

David says God hear our cries.  We need to understand that no matter what we are going through, God hears the cry of His children.  However, there is something else we need to know and that is He delivers us when He sees fit!  Too many times we don’t like the situation we are in and we don’t want to stay there to learn what God wants us to learn.
   

James writes, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith
develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (NIV James 1:2-4)
   

Recently I went to a seminar about dealing with conflict.  The speaker
said many times we don’t stay in a conflict to see what God would have us to see.  To learn what God would have us to learn and to become what God would have us to become!
   

So, the whereabouts of God is He is right with us.  In the book of
Hebrews chapter 13, God said, “Never will I leave you; never will I
forsake you.”  At the end of what we call the ‘Great Commission’ Jesus
said, that He would be with us even to the end of the age.  God said He
would be with us always and that means even when we don’t feel he is
there, He’s there!
   

When we find ourselves wondering, God are You there. . .
 

III. We Can Have Consolation In Two Things
   

We need to understand that God hears us and He knows what we are
experiencing even though we may not understand what He is doing.  Job
accepted the fact that God could find him.  In verse 10 we read, “But he
knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as
gold.”  God hears us when we cry out to Him!  He may choose to help us
through our suffering or He may choose to deliver us completely from our
suffering.  Either way, He hears and He will help us through.  It is so
important that we understand that God will do whatever He pleases.
   

Job came to that conclusion and he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."  (NASU Job 1:21)
   

Like it or not, God will act on His own time because there is a purpose
behind His timing that we may not understand while we are in this world.
Throughout Scripture, time and time again we read about waiting on the
Lord.  Looking to His perfect timing even when we don’t understand it.
In the book of Isaiah we read, Do you not know? Have you not heard? The
LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He
will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He
gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even
youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those
who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings
like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be
faint. (NIV Isa 40:28-31)
   

In Rom 8, Paul writes “I consider that our present sufferings are not
worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation
waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the
creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the
will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will
be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious
freedom of the children of God.  We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of
our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no
hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what
we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.  In the same way, the
Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray
for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words
cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the
Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with
God's will.  And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For
those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” (NIV Rom 8:18-29)
   

God allows us to go through the things we go through to purify us, to
make us stronger.  This groaning process in which we go through is to
strengthen our faith, to make us stronger and to help us to understand
how much we need God in our lives. Paul says it is to help us to be more
conformed to the likeness of Christ.  Did Jesus suffer?  Yes!  Can we say
that Jesus always enjoyed what He went through?  No!  As a matter of
fact, what did Jesus say in the garden before His crucifixion?  "My
Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." (Matt 26:39
NIV) Yet, it is also in that passage Jesus said, Yet not as I will, but
as you will.”  You see God’s will must be done and by His will being done
He may be glorified!
 

Conclusion; Our life should consist of this simple process.
1) Understand our need for God.
2) We should call upon Him–pray
3 We should accept deliverance–forgiveness and salvation.
4) We should always and consistently praise Him.
5) Accept the God will act in His own time.

We should always acknowledge that we are totally dependant on God. 
He will speak to us in so many good ways if we just honor Him--call
upon Him daily–praise Him–and always admit we have total dependence on Him.  We should never believe that He is not there or not speaking.
   

If we would listen when we cry out, God are you there, then we could here
Him in a still small voice, Yes my child, I am here!

Amen