Can God Be Trusted in Your Troubles? | Part 2

Adrian Rogers: Are Christians immune to suffering? Listen to Adrian Rogers. Now don't think that faith is the way to get out of suffering. Faith may be a way to endure suffering. Some have faith to escape, some have faith to endure. The question again is this. Can you trust God when you are submerged in suffering? Can you say with Job today, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him?" Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring the profound yet practical lessons of Adrian Rogers. We've all faced devastation at some point in our lives. It's in those difficult seasons that we often ask, "If God is enough, can God be trusted in our troubles?" This is what Job learned in his suffering. In part one of today's message, Adrian Rogers began to share how the Book of Job shows us that God Himself is not only necessary, but He is enough. If you have your Bible, turn now to Job, chapter 13, and look at verse 15. As Adrian Rogers shares part two of "Can God be Trusted in Your Troubles?"
Adrian Rogers: The title of the message is, "Can God be Trusted in Your Troubles?" All of us know that God is necessary. We know we could not exist without Him. I hope you know that. But that's not really the greatest question. Not only is God necessary, the great question is, "Is God enough?" And we all know that God brings blessings. But we have to admit also that God allows troubles. Now, can God be trusted with our troubles? You know what the devil thinks? The devil thinks that anybody who serves God without some ulterior motive is a fool. And the world is that way. You know what the world will say? "Well, that man just goes to church for business reasons." Or that man is in the ministry just for what he can get out of it or whatever. You see, the devil, he's full of that kind of a lie, that no one can simply love God because he loves God. And so the book of Job is going to show that God in Himself not only is necessary, but God Himself is enough that we can love God and trust God even in the midst of our problems. Here are three questions that I want to ask you. If you can answer yes to those questions, you have the same kind of faith that old Job had. Question number one, "Can God be trusted when you are submerged in suffering?" Now, remember what Job said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Job suffered incredible loss. First of all, Job had lost his finances. Job became bankrupt overnight. There was the loss of finances. That's chapter one verses 13 through 17. And then right on the heel of that, not only the loss of finances, he lost his family. But the devil is not finished with him yet. He's going to also lose his fitness. He's going to lose his health. And now Job is covered from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet with great, huge ulcers and boils. His body is consumed with infection. Now, Job has lost it, folks. I mean, he is submerged in suffering, bankrupt. His kids die in a tornado. His body is infected with a horrible disease. And then on top of that, everybody's saying, "I wonder what he did wrong." "I wonder what he did wrong." Now, in the midst of all of that, Job praises God and gives God the glory. Can you do that? Can you trust God? Can you trust God when you are submerged in suffering? Now, don't think that faith is the way to get out of suffering. Faith may be a way to endure suffering. Some have faith to escape. Some have faith to endure. Faith is not receiving from God what you want. Faith is accepting from God what He gives. The question again is this. Can you trust God when you are submerged in suffering? Perhaps you're so sick and shut in that you can't even get out of the house. And the only way that you can worship is through television. Can you say with Job today, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him?" If you can, if you can, you will shut the devil's mouth. You see, the devil just thinks, "Let those Christians have a little trouble. Let them have some persecution. Let them have some bankruptcy. Let one of the children die. Let them have some greedy malady that that consumes their body. Let them have those kind of troubles. And then let people blame them for doing wrong when they haven't done anything in the world wrong." They'll curse God. But old Job said, "I'm not going to curse Him. I'm going to praise Him." Job said, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Now, here's the second question. Can God be trusted when you are forsaken by friends, when you're forsaken by friends? It's one thing to be submerged in suffering. But what about when we suffer and there's nobody there with us to suffer with us? There's nobody there who really cares. Job had three friends, three comforters, but what kind of comforters were they? Ultimately, we're going to see all they did was to come and and give platitudes and to critique him and to criticize him. They weren't really friends at all. Turn to Job, chapter 19. And look what poor Job had to say in verse 14. Job said, "My kinsfolk have failed and my familiar friends have forgotten me." Can you trust God when you're forsaken of friends? And then look in Job 19 verse 19. "All my inward friends abhorred me." "And they whom I loved are turned against me." Am I talking to somebody who's going through that right now? Has your husband forsaken you? Have your children abandoned you? Has a friend that you've trusted turned on you, perhaps a business associate? The devil says, "Yes, let that happen to him. God, he'll curse you to your face." But that wasn't true for Job. I thank God for friends. Friends are wonderful. But what happens when your friends don't understand? When you're in trouble and nobody seems to understand, and by the way, they cannot understand, because they didn't know any more about what was happening than old Job did. Job was completely in the dark, and so were they in the dark. Perhaps even worse than suffering physically is to have friends to forsake you. There's probably not a deeper hurt than this. Put these verses in the margin. Psalm 41 verse 9. "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me." That was a prophecy of what Judas would do to the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the psalmist says in Psalm 55 verses 12 through 14, "For it was not an enemy that reproached me. Then I could have borne it. Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me when I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together and walked into the house of God in company." Think about it. Here's Job's best friends. Here's Job in his deepest need and his friends have just turned their back on him. It's like old Paul was in the Philippian jail. And Paul needing some comfort had to say, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world." That can happen to you. Perhaps I'm talking to some preacher right now. And your church has turned on you. Perhaps the pulpit committee that called you to the church now want you to leave. And the reason is, you're just preaching the gospel. Don't think that if you preach the gospel, the world's going to love you. The same world that hated Jesus is going to hate you. You can get in trouble for preaching the gospel. Sometimes your closest associates, the people that you take counsel with in the house of God will turn against you. Listen, you'd better trust God when friends forsake you. Now, the question is, can you trust God when you're forsaken by friends? Did you know that even Job's wife turned against him? In Job chapter two verses 9 and 10. "Then said his wife unto him, 'Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and die.'" But he said unto her, "Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil?" "In all this Job did not sin with his lips." His wife comes in there. I can, old Job is is suffering. He's sitting on the ash heap. She comes in, she says, "Just look at you." "Look what God has done to you." "Job, why don't you just curse God and die?" Now, this is his wife. You know what he says to her? He said, "Woman, are you crazy?" That's really all he's saying. He says, "You speak as one of the foolish women." "Woman, are you crazy? I don't understand this. But I'll tell you one thing, I am trusting God and I will not deny." When she said, "Curse God and die," do you know what she was doing? She was doing the work of the devil. That's exactly what the devil said that Job would do. Now, the question is this. When everybody else turns their back on you, when nobody understands, when friends forsake you, not only are you suffering, but you may be suffering alone, can you trust God? If you can, you'll shut the devil's mouth. If you can, you'll shut the devil's mouth. If you will say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Now, here's the third question. First question, "Can you trust God when you're submerged in suffering?" Second question, "Can you trust God when you're forsaken by friends?" Third question is perhaps even harder. "Can you trust God when you are dismayed by darkness?" When you are dismayed by darkness. Now, remember, you understand why all of this was happening. I mean, you've read the first chapter of the Book of Job and you understand there's a contest here and Satan has slandered the character of God and Satan has slandered the character of Job. And you understand that God is allowing Job to be tested, not to show that Job would fall, but to show that Job would not. You understand that. But Job didn't understand that. Job had not read the Book of Job. He did not understand all of this. He is in absolute darkness. He hasn't got a clue as to what is happening to him. "What on earth is going on?" He is in darkness. Look if you will in chapter 23 of Job, verses one through five. "Then Job answered and said, 'Even today is my complaint bitter. My stroke is heavier than my groaning.'" He said, "I'm not even groaning compared to the way I feel. Oh, that I knew where I might find Him. That I might come even to His seat." And the word 'seat' means 'throne' here. "I would order my cause before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me and understand what He would say to me." What Job is saying, "God, I'd like to talk to You. I've got some questions for You. They are welling up within me. God, You owe me some answers. What is going on?" Look in chapter 23, verses 8 and 9. Job says, "Behold, I go forward, but he's 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. I can't see Him." Here's old Job. I mean, in the darkest of suffering. Maybe God's over here. No, he's not over here. Maybe he's back here. No, he's not over here. Maybe he's over here. No, he's not there. Maybe he's over here. God, where are You? Where are You, God? I don't understand. God, what is going on? I sure would like to talk to you, God. I want to know. Tell me why. As a pastor, I've been asked that question so many times. "Why, pastor, why, why?" And I can't answer the question why, because why is God's question. How is our question, how are we going to react? God doesn't tell us the whys. You're going to find that many of God's saints have gone into darkness. I mean, deep darkness. And they've not known why. Turn to Isaiah 50. Turn to it. If you're in darkness right now, if you're saying, "God, You owe me some answers." Turn to Isaiah chapter 50. Isaiah asked a great question here in Isaiah chapter 50 verses 10 and 11. "Who is among you that feareth the Lord?" Well, that's good, isn't it, to fear God? Yes. "And obeyeth the voice of His servant." That's good, isn't it, to obey God? But now, watch the next thing, "That walketh in darkness." Well, wait a minute, that doesn't seem to fit. A person who fears God and obeys God and yet he's walking in darkness and hath no light, not even a little? Well, what does God say to do? "Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God." You know what it means to lean upon God? A stay is a staff. "His rod and his staff." He's talking about leaning upon God. What do you do when you're in darkness? Look in verse 11, "Behold, ye that kindle a fire that compass yourselves about with sparks. Walk in the light of the fire and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow." What's he saying? When you're in darkness, don't light your own fire. Don't light your own fire. You can be serving God, fearing God, obeying God, and darkness can come. Now, what is darkness? Darkness is merely the absence of light. The only way there can be darkness is for the light to be withdrawn. Who is the light? God. God is the light. And so sometimes God may just back off and leave His servant in darkness. If you will read biographies of great Christians, almost all of them will talk about something they call the dark night of the soul. I mean, they're serving God, they're loving God. And then things come, perplexities. They can't understand. Habakkuk is one of these. Read the book of Habakkuk. Habakkuk saw things that he just couldn't understand. He said, "God, how can you do this? Why are you doing this, God? I just don't understand." John the Baptist. He's the one who said, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." He's the one of whom Jesus said, "Not a greater was born of woman than John the Baptist." He was a prophet and more than a prophet. But John the Baptist got into such darkness, he sent his servants and said, "You go ask that man Jesus, is he really the Messiah or should we look for somebody else?" That's John. I mean, in darkness. The Apostle Paul, the great Apostle Paul said on one occasion, "We are perplexed." But thank God he said, "But not in despair." But not in despair. There's going to come a time when all your theology will go upside down. There's going to come a time when you won't understand where God is. You're going to be in such darkness, you won't see your hand in front of your face. Do you know what you do then? Isaiah says, "Just stay upon your God." Trust Him. Trust Him. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Can you trust God when you're submerged in sorrow? Can you trust God when you're forsaken by friends? Can you trust God when you are dismayed by darkness? And you don't even know what's happening. Well, if you can, you'll shut the devil's mouth. Let me just draw this to a conclusion. God finally does answer Job. At least he speaks to Job, but he doesn't answer one of Job's questions. Go to chapter 38 and look at it. He's going to teach Job three things. First of all, he's going to teach Job about his own sovereignty. Chapter 38 verses 1 through 7. "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 'Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?'" Job, you're just talking. You don't even know what you're saying. "Gird up now thy loins like a man. For I will demand of thee and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof if thou knowest? And who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner stone thereof, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job said, "Son, I want to ask you some questions, son." Job, were you here when I made everything? Job, when I created this universe, when I flung this world out into space, when I fashioned it all, were you there? Do you understand, Job? Well, friend, the scientists today with their Hubble telescope are still trying to figure out the same thing and they've not figured it out. And Job has not figured it out and you won't figure it out. And there's some things that God knows when nobody else knows. Isn't that true? And what God is saying to Job, "Job, when I did all this, did I ask your advice? Were you my, were you my instructor?" He's saying to Job, "Look, Job, I have a right to do as I wish. And in your trouble, you better learn the sovereignty of God." Something else he learned, he learned the sufficiency of God. Finally, when he sees God in a new light, Job chapter 42 verses 5 and 6, he says this, a great statement in the book of Job, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee." What does it mean by that? He said, "Listen, I've gone from mere theology to personal relationship through this trouble." The time when God will be the nearest and the dearest and the most precious to you is when you're submerged in suffering, forsaken by friends and dismayed by darkness. God alone is not only necessary, but at that time God will be enough. And then finally, he learned the sympathy of God. The book ends this way, Job 42, verses 10 through 13. "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends." And God will turn your captivity too, friend. "And the Lord gave to Job twice as much as he had before. Then came unto him all his brethren and all his sisters and all that had been his acquaintance before and did eat bread with him in his house. And they bemoaned him and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. Every man also gave him a piece of money and every one an earring of gold." "So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. For he had 14,000 sheep." That's twice as many. "6,000 camels." That's twice as many. "And 1,000 yoke of oxen." That's twice as many. "1,000 she asses." That's twice as many. But watch this. "He had also seven sons and three daughters." Now, wait a minute. How come he didn't give him 14 sons and six daughters? He's got twice as much of everything else. I'll tell you why. He never lost his sons and daughters. They just went to Heaven. I've got a little boy in Heaven. I haven't lost him. I know where he is. Somebody talked to the late great Vance Havner and said, "I'm sorry that you lost your wife." He said, "I haven't lost. I know where she is." Death can hide, but it cannot divide. They are but on Christ's other side. They with Him and He with us. That's what it's all about, folks. Friend, listen to me. Man that is born of woman is full of trouble. Thank God for his blessings. He blessed Job. God takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. But you'd better get the faith of old Job and say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Okay? There's a song. I love the song, "When answers aren't enough, there's Jesus. There's Jesus." Sooner or later, you're going to have to have the faith of Job. You're going to say, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." We're the ones who have the answer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Father God, I pray that You'll give us the faith of old Job and You'll teach us, Lord, to trust You in our troubles.
Adrian Rogers: Amen. And today if you have questions about how to place your faith in Jesus, we'd love to offer an insightful resource, it's our "Find Answers" page. If you go to the website lwf.org/radio, you'll find resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about beginning a relationship with God through Christ. We also would like to invite you to check out our "Grow Your Faith" page. You can get grounded and dig deeper in the scriptures. Again, go to lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says, "Grow Your Faith," or "Find Answers." Let us hear from you today.
Adrian Rogers: Hi, this is Cary Vaughn and this program is brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a non-profit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you. To give a gift today, call 1-877-LOVE-GOD. That's 1-877-LOVE-GOD. Or write to us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38-600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You can also connect with us online by going to lwf.org/radio. There, we offer helpful resources inspired by the timeless teachings of Pastor Adrian Rogers. Additionally, you can sign up for daily emails, donate to the ministry, and learn more about how to become an Ambassador of the Word. Thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to join us next time for more profound truth simply stated right here on Love Worth Finding.
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