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The Bible Breakdown
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The Bible Breakdown
Job 36: Are We Really Gonna Instruct God?
Have you ever questioned the path you're on, only to realize later that there was a higher wisdom guiding you? Join us for a deep conversation on the Bible Breakdown Podcast, where we uncover the profound wisdom of trusting God's plan, especially during times of suffering. Reflecting on Job, chapter 36, we draw parallels to our own lives by sharing a personal story about my daughter's doubt in my navigation skills, mirroring our own doubts in God's guidance. We delve into Elihu's impassioned defense of God's righteousness, exploring his message that suffering serves as a divine tool to steer us away from evil and closer to our true path.
In this episode, we also discuss the infinite patience and mercy of God, emphasizing His unending care for us, even when we falter. Through personal anecdotes of gratitude for unanswered prayers, we highlight how God's superior wisdom often surpasses our own desires. Inspired by Job 1:21, where Job praises God despite immense losses, we encourage a profound trust in God's wisdom, regardless of our circumstances. Join us as we pray, reflect, and express thankfulness for God's unending patience and goodness, reinforcing the importance of casting all our cares on Him.
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The More You Dig. The More You Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, job, chapter 36, and today really gives us a question, and that is are we really going to instruct God? Are we really going to instruct God? Now, I would dare say most of us would immediately say no, of course I'm not going to instruct God. But if I'm going to be honest and go first here, I try to do this all the time. I try to constantly tell God where he would really benefit from doing things my way. So we're going to get into all that in just a moment. But, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast, make sure you're also going to the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook, because there are some great devotions being written and put out every single day and go to our website at thebiblebreakdowncom.
Speaker 1:We are slowly but surely trying to create an ongoing resource where we're digging into God's Word one chapter at a time. If you have your Bibles, want to open up with me to Job, chapter 36. I love this idea that is going to come out in this chapter. Now, remember, the overall theme of Job is trusting God's wisdom in suffering. And I'm going to tell you something Suffering is all of us having to listen to Elihu because he is still talking. He has got so much more to say. This man has been holding on to it for a minute and he's going to say some things, and he's going to talk about how, you know, some people can try to instruct God, but it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1:It reminds me of and I've told this story before that I have one of my daughters. I have two daughters, and when one of my daughters is really little, she would sit, and she was so little she's still been a car seat and she loved looking out the window, but for some reason she always thought she knew where she was going. Now we're talking two, three years old, right, maybe four and she thought she knew where she was and she would be certain that her dad, who was driving, was not taking her home Like we were supposed to go home, but in her mind we took a wrong turn. She said, dad, you took a wrong turn. No, ma'am, no, I didn't, we're headed home. No, dad, we're not headed home. You took a wrong turn. Baby girl, we're going home. I promise you you're not being abducted. I'm Daddy, we're going home, no, dad.
Speaker 1:And she just started crying. For some reason, she had in her head that Daddy was wrong, he was taking the wrong turn and we were never going to get home. And so you know what I would do. I would console her. Hey, baby, it's going to be okay, I promise. You just need to trust me. Just trust daddy, trust daddy.
Speaker 1:And I would say that while I'm driving home and you know what would happen so many times we'd pull in the driveway and she would say oh, here we are, all of that. And then it was like well, I knew the whole time no problem, no problem, can you get me out now? And I wonder how many times God, in his loving mercy, does that for us. God, you're doing it wrong, god, if you just do it this way, the whole time God is saying no, no, I'm taking you right where you need to be. All of that. No, god, no God, listen, I'm going to get you there anyway. And then, when it all works out, we're like well, of course, of course. And we're going to kind of see a little bit of this today and see what God's word has to say to us. You ready?
Speaker 1:Job, chapter 36, verse 1. Oh, elihu still got a lot to say. Let's do it. Verse 1 says Elihu continues speaking.
Speaker 1:Let me go on and go on. He shall, and I will show you the truth, for I have not finished defending God. No, he hasn't. I will present profound arguments. He's so proud of himself. For the righteousness of my creator, I am telling you nothing but the truth, for I am a man of great knowledge. God is mighty, but he does not despise anyone. He is mighty in both power and understanding. He does not let the wicked live, but gives justice to the afflicted. He never takes his eyes off the innocent, but he sets them on thrones with kings. He exalts them forever, and they are bound in chains and caught up in a web of trouble. He shows them the reason and shows them their sins of pride, and he gets their attention and commands what they turn, that they turn from evil. If they listen and obey God, they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives. All their years will be pleasant. For they refuse to listen to him, they will cross over the river of death, dying from lack of understanding, for the godless are full of resentment. Even when he punishes them, they refuse to cry out to him for help. They die when they are young after wasting their lives in immoral living, but by means of their suffering he rescues those who suffer, for he gets their attention through adversity.
Speaker 1:God is leading you away from danger, job, to a place free from distress. He is setting your table with the best food, but you're obsessed with whether the godless will be judged. Don't worry, judgment and justice will be upheld. But watch out, or you may be seduced by wealth. Don't let yourself be bribed into sin. Could all your wealth or all your mighty efforts keep you from distress? Do not long for the cover of night, for that is when people will be destroyed. Be on guard. Turn back from evil, for God sent this suffering to keep you from a life of evil. Now pause. Literally, elihu says God sent this suffering to keep you from evil. Okay, all right, fine, okay, sure. Verse 22.
Speaker 1:Look, god is all powerful. Who is a teacher like him? No one can tell him what to do or say you have done wrong. Instead, glorify his mighty works, singing songs of praise. Everyone has seen these things, though only from a distance. Look, god is greater than we can understand. His years cannot be counted. He draws up the water vapor and then distills it into rain. The rain pours down from the clouds and everyone benefits. Who can understand the spreading of the clouds and the thunder that rolls forth from heaven? See how he spreads the lightning around him and how it lights up the depths of the sea? By these mighty acts, he nourishes the people, giving them food in abundance. He fills his hands with lightning bolts and hurls each at its target. The thunder announces his presence and the storm announces his indignant anger. So what Elihu is saying is he's not literally saying God is like Zeus up there throwing whatever he's saying. God is in charge of all this. God is the one that's making lightning happen. God is the one who is making the thunder sound. He's the one that's making the process of photosynthesis occur. He is in charge of all of that.
Speaker 1:How dare we tell God what he's doing? But don't we do that all the time? So, even though Elihu is just all over the map and he got a lot more words to say, there's some honest truth here. That, I think, is important, and we also need to understand the fact that, even though he's telling Job, you should be telling us what God's all about. He's kind of also trying to tell Job what God's all about, right, but that's beside the point. What I love about this is are we really going to try to instruct God? The answer is yeah, yeah, we do. We tell God exactly what he ought to do, exactly how he ought to do it, when and where, and if he could hurry it up, it'd be great. But you know what I love about God he doesn't get upset, he is not going to get impatient with you, he's not going to say that's enough, he's not going to lose his temper.
Speaker 1:Can I tell you the story I told you earlier about how my daughter would get frustrated with me, and she would do this over and over again. And I got to be honest with you. There'd be a few times when I would just say baby girl, I have never abducted you, I have never not got you home. Even I have never abducted you. I have never not got you home. Even if I took a turn that you thought was the wrong turn, it's just simply because you didn't know how to get home. So I'm going to need you to just trust me. Okay, I'm just going to need you to trust me. I would get frustrated.
Speaker 1:You know what I love about God he doesn't get frustrated. The Bible says we can cast all of our cares on him because he cares for us. That's hard for us to understand because, if we're honest, all of us have a limit to our mercy. We have a limit to our patience. We have a certain limit that we go. Okay, this far and no further. I've had enough. God doesn't have that. His very nature is goodness. Therefore, you're not going to wear him out. The other thing is is God sits outside of time and space, and so he's not moving along the timeline the way we are and collecting wounds along the way. That's not how it works with God. He sits outside of time and so, therefore, when you talk to him, he is not getting more and more frustrated with you along the way. Therefore, you can trust him, and you can also trust that he's not going to listen when we complain.
Speaker 1:Can I tell you, some of the most thankful things I have is when God did not answer my prayers, because in the moment when I was trying to tell God what I thought he ought to do, I thought I knew exactly what he needed to do, and if God would just do it my way, we'd get out of this so much quicker. Everything would be all right. I mean, it would be amazing how quickly I could get us out of this mess if God would just do it my way. You know what I mean, and I am so thankful that God didn't listen, because he had something so much better. And so I want to encourage you it's okay if, in your prayer, you tell God how he should do it. Just don't forget that God has a plan that's better than all of ours, and so when he does it a different way, trust that it's a better way.
Speaker 1:Let's pray together, god, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you are with us more than we can imagine. Thank you, god, that even when we get frustrated, even when we want to coach you, you don't get frustrated with us. Be it, you are long-suffering and you are gentle and you are good. I'm thankful for you today. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. Well, god's word says in Job, chapter 1, verse 21,. After Job lost everything, it says I came naked from my mother's womb. I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had and the Lord has taken it away. But praise the name of the Lord. Oh, to have that kind of trust in God. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Job, chapter 37.
