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TRUSTING GOD WHEN IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE Job 1-2 Introduction What do you do when God doesnt show up the way you thought he would? You have prayed and waited but there is no answer. You have fasted and called upon God and all you get is silence. You have read and claimed the promises of God but they dont seem to work for you. You have prayed for your healing and break-through but this doesnt work either. You asked God to heal a loved one but instead you watched them suffer and die. You know great men of God who truly walked with God but they suffered, they lost jobs, they lost loved ones, they became invalids through a road accident. They loved God yet they were raped or attacked by gangs. Your life is disillusioned and you are asking: what sense does it make to trust in this God? I: WE SHOULD HAVE A FIRM FOUNDATION OF FAITH The Bible talks about a man called Job. God himself attests that Job was real, holding him in high reputation with Noah and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14). In the New Testament, James refers to Job as a paragon of Patience (James 5:11). Job was wealthy. Job was a priest as well as father to his family (1:5) Job, the Bible says, was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1). Yet with all these, an avalanche of woes thundered on job in all its fury. Without intermission, there was recital of worsened catastrophes. First it was a raid that took away all his oxen and donkeys, the sheep and servants are killed by lightning. In rapid sequence, the camels are captured and servants killed. Job may have turned to his wife and said, we have lost all our possessions, but at least we still have our children. Just then a messenger came with the worst news: Your children are all dead, killed when a whirlwind collapsed the house where they were feasting.

Rev Mutinda Musyimi

Daystar Sunday Chapel

26/2/12

Not long after this job is struck with ugly itching sores. Bankruptcy, ten fresh graves, and a skin full of sores is all that is left. His wife sees the suffering and asks Job: are you still holding on to your integrity? (2:9). How many times does Job say I KNOW? II: WE SHOULD LEARN TOTAL SURRENDER TO GOD Job asks, Must we receive only good from the Lord? We should notice that we live in an evil world. God does not have a special secluded place for the believers. We use the same roads, same classrooms, same hotels, and same hospitals. We are served by the same civil servants, under the same earthly government. If we fail to totally surrender to God then we will feel neglected, we will feel rejected, we will feel betrayed. Let me remind you something we forget many times: The God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is still the God of Jeremiah. The God of Daniel is still the God of Stephen. He delivered some from their troubles and delivered others through their troubles. The death of Stephen looked like defeat to some, but to God it was victory. Jesus did not say we will not suffer. In fact he says we will have trouble (John 16:33). Let me remind you something else that is so crucial: Christianity is not a hideout, but a combat! Let me also remind you that what we may consider defeat may be victory to God. Falling sick is not defeat to God. Suffering rejection is not defeat to God. Even the death of a saint is not defeat to God, in fact the Bible say such is pleasing in the eyes of God! Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.

When we abandon ourselves to God then we know no matter what happens He loves us. God did not promise a journey without hardship, but He has promised to walk with us in that journey. Our victory is not in a life without trouble; rather, it is in having God with us in our trouble.

Rev Mutinda Musyimi

Daystar Sunday Chapel

26/2/12

III: WE SHOULD PUT OUR TRUST FULLY IN GOD Faith: confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, an idea, or a thing. Hope: Waiting in expectation for God to fulfil His promises Trust: Certainty TRUST=Faith + Hope Many times when we are faced with suffering and seeming rejection by God we react negatively: anger, bitterness, disillusionment, apathy, etc. Sometimes our very own friends fail to understand and pour hot water on our sores. At such times we walk a very lonely path. The Obstacles to trusting God are many: Anger Health and wealth gospel the name it and claim it gospel Bitterness Fear Pain & suffering Our own insecurity Jobs wife asks him: are you still holding on to your integrity? (2:9). Job 19:25-26 says: 25 I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed,yet in my flesh I will see God; The ultimate question for him is not Why but WHO. His trust is in the Lordfor life or for death. Advice for times of crisis

Lean toward God. Dont run from your situation. Give God room to work. Dont pretend you have total control. Be ready and waiting for Gods signal. Dont hesitate when God provides opportunities. Base your faith on Gods identity. Dont base it on His activity. Align your desires to Gods. Dont be selfish. Don't pIay the blame game. Remember what God has done in the past Accept what God is doing in the present Stay in close community. Dont allow yourself to become isolated.
Rev Mutinda Musyimi Daystar Sunday Chapel 26/2/12

Habakkuk 3:17-18 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. Revelation 21:4 says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away. "

Rev Mutinda Musyimi

Daystar Sunday Chapel

26/2/12