Ann Collings

Before I begin I want to tell you that I have left some cards with helpful quotes for you to put on your fridge to remind you that God’s help is there for you always.

Opposites.

Give me some opposites.

God’s view is often the opposite of the world’s view. The world hates – God loves. The world follows the loud, the clever, the one who puts themselves in the spotlight.   God looks to the humble, the quiet, the one in the background. The world wants revenge, God forgives. Our sins make us black but Jesus makes us white as snow with his forgiveness.

And the best opposite of all, Jesus died so we could live.

So we come to Paul’s story. Don’t you just love Paul stories. I do. We learn so much from him, after all he was the first of God’s teachers and ambassadors to the Gentiles and all his teachings are just as relevant to us today.

Paul was under attack by “super apostles”. They claimed to be better than Paul in speaking, receiving visions and sharing the gospel. But they were false apostles and giving a false picture of Jesus that was different to the gospel Paul had taught. We need to look back to the previous chapter of 2 Corinthians.

Paul responded by saying, “If you think I am a fool then I’ll play the fool. And what does a fool do? He boasts, so I will boast as they do. They say they are servants of Christ. So am I. I have suffered much in Christ’s service.” Then he goes on to list some of the sufferings he has endured.

“They say they have visions. So have I.” And then he tells them of an extraordinary vision. Most commentators agree that that was Paul’s vision rather than a man he met. Note, though, that Paul’s boasts were all the truth even though he says he was being foolish.

Then Paul goes on to say I’ll show you how much of a fool I am. I’ll boast of my weaknesses not my strengths. Only a fool would do this.

This turned the false ones criticism against themselves because the Hallmark of a true apostle is found not in his strength but in his weakness.

After Paul mentioned the vision he moved quickly to the main point he wants to make. In order to stop him from boasting about himself and becoming conceited, prideful and arrogant, God allows a “thorn in the flesh” to be given to him. He says it was a messenger from Satan. God does allow Satan to deal with his followers at times but God is at work in the trials. Remember the story of Job’s trials and the testing of Jesus in the wilderness.

Now, what was this thorn? Was it physical or spiritual? He certainly had spiritual disappointments as his plans were always being thwarted and he sometimes anguished over the way some followers had behaved, such as these false apostles among the Corinthians.

But most commentators believe this thorn was a physical affliction such as headaches, epilepsy, malaria, or eye problems and whatever it was; it put him in a state of perpetual weakness. As with the vision, the nature of the thorn was not as important as what Paul learned from it. He pleaded with God three times to take this thorn away. I am a bit of a slow learner when it comes to lessons from God and I would have asked many more times. Twice God was silent and but the third time He gave Paul the message which is vital for us to learn also.

The message was this, “My Grace is sufficient for you.”

My – as from God.

Grace – the undeserved mercy and riches of God.

Is – We don’t have to ask God to make it sufficient for us because it already is and always will be for every circumstance.

Sufficient – enough, plenty, all we need.

You – Paul and anyone who asks for it.

So why do we hide our weaknesses? A theology College professor was asked, “What is the thing you are most afraid of?” His answer, “Being found out.” We fear that our weaknesses will be exposed. The world says ‘Strength is good! Weakness is bad!’, so we do all we can to conceal our weaknesses. We feel vulnerable, afraid we will be hurt or lose control or be betrayed or embarrassed and we worry what others will think of us. But God tells us to take the opposite approach. It is OK to be found out. It is OK for our weaknesses to be seen. It is then that we can bear witness to the sufficiency of God’s grace. Our task in this frantic, fearful world is to bear witness to the power of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Many have attested that their deepest spiritual insights came through the vulnerability, their suffering and pain and they found peace, joy and strength through their weakness. The trial must endure, but the grace will also endure and never fail. Our strength is often God’s rival. Our weakness is his servant. God’s way is not to take his children out of trial but to give them strength to bear up against it.

Jesus was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. (2 Cor 13:4)

The second part of the message to Paul was “My power is made perfect in your weakness”.                                                                            Likewise, we are weak, yet God demonstrates His power through us. Jesus was weak with the burden of sin. It was then that God’s power could strengthen Him to endure death on the cross. The central symbol of Christian faith is a cross- a symbol of weakness and defeat, but God turns the cross into a symbol of love- strength in weakness. It is interesting to note that Jesus, as Paul, also prayed three times for release from the suffering, which was to follow.

God needs an opening, so He can work. While we are weak and vulnerable, God’s power can then give us the strength to go on, and the more vulnerable we realise we are, the more open we make ourselves to the presence of God and the deeper our faith and spirituality will become. We have to accept that God’s grace is truly sufficient and entrust ourselves into God’s hands, then we can discover the strength and power.

Paul realised that this handicap was really a blessing. He actually said he would take pleasure in his weaknesses and the insults, hardships, persecutions and troubles. Paul’s boasting of his weaknesses is like him saying ‘bring it on’. He was so sure and confident of the all sufficient grace of Christ. Are we able to accept all our difficulties as Paul did and allow God to use us for His purposes? Only a convinced Christian can take pleasure in sufferings, knowing that God will strengthen them with His power and lead them on a journey of learning new truths and of a closer and more intimate relationship with the one and only wise God and Saviour.

Let us pray.

Father God, we ask that you will help us to see our weaknesses and problems and allow you to use them to show your great power to strengthen us and witness to the people we come in contact with, so they may see you in all your glory and seek after you to be present in their lives also. AMEN.

The Book of Job. In Job we find the first and oldest statement of the never ending problem: Man’s destiny and God’s way with him here on this earth. There is sublime sorrow and sublime reconciliation. Only book of its kind in the Bible of poetic, long, dramatic dialogue.

• Written in Hebrew.
• Much neglected.
•  Very important part of the Bible.
•  Gives insight into the human condition.
• Author- probably Job himself
• Date. Prior to Abraham. Latter part of Genesis 11.

*Job was the priest of his own family.

*In the period 2100 to 1900 BC.

*Historically accurate as Paul quotes Job and Job is spoken of in Ezekiel and James.

*The Subject: The mystery of human suffering and the problem of pain. God allowed these sufferings to come into Job’s life. Why?

*To help Job to have a greater capacity for communion with God?

*To foreshadow the sufferings of the Jewish people?

*To point to Jesus as the suffering Messiah?

* to show that man can remain faithful to God in very difficult circumstances?

Many of today’s sayings have come from Job.

*Hair stood on edge

*Take my life into my hands

*There is no justice *The root of the matter *escaped by the skin of my teeth and we often hear ‘The patience of Job’                                                                                                   The Book of Job begins with the testing of Job. Alternates between the land of Uz (in Edom, south east of Palestine) and heaven. Satan asks permission to test the uprightness of Job by robbing him of his possessions. This didn’t work to Satan’s advantage. God then allowed Satan to touch his body. Then Job’s 3 so called friends came and we have 3 rounds of speeches with Job responding after each spoke. The main message of the three friends was that Job’s suffering was a punishment for his sins, while Job argues with them. Then Elihu addresses Job’s friends twice and Job twice. To Job’s friends Elihu says, ‘I thought you were wise because you are old, but you are frauds. You have proved nothing. So it’s my turn to speak.’ He tells Job that he is wrong. That no man is greater than God. That he has no right to complain about God. That God uses even suffering to get a person’s attention so that He can give them an important message or lesson. He then goes on to tell them what he believes God to be like. Good, mighty, powerful, fair, caring, compassionate, great, infinite, generous, loving, just and he tells Job he has been wrong in blaming God for his troubles. Finally God steps in and speaks to Job and points out that Job has no knowledge to say what he has been saying. What follows is a wonderful picture of creation and God’s hand in it, put as a series of questions to Job. It follows on well from what Elihu was saying about God. Job then realises his mistake in speaking and decides to be quiet and listen. God then poses some more questions for him. Now we come to the passage set for today. The last chapter of Job.                              So Job has finally got the message and realises that he has neither God’s power, or God’s wisdom. God has set him straight. He confessed that he spoke much when he knew so little. He was ashamed and humbled. He had accused God of creating a world of chaos but God showed him that the world is a place of order, freedom and beauty. Through that wonderful vision Job’s hope is fulfilled, and he has a desire to be in the presence of God. He has seen God through the pictures that God had painted and this has moved him out of despair and into life again. He acknowledges God’s supremacy and sovereignty, he confesses his ignorance and sin and repents of his behaviour and he is beginning with a clean slate. He had heard about God from others but when he saw the visions of creation he knew God as He truly is.

Some commentators say that Job sat in dust and ashes to show his sorrow. One commentator I read suggested that Job was not sitting in dust and ashes, but that he realised his place as lowly, a mortal human being like dust and ashes, and that he was not the centre of the universe.

So Job is truly changed and this came not from his friends harping at him but after God speaks to him personally. This is found in the psalms also. We see complaint, accusation and doubt, which are acceptable expressions when spoken in relationship with God. But complaint is never allowed to go unanswered and trust comes out on top.

Job’s knowledge of God was greatly expanded and he gained a new appreciation of the extent, complexity and marvellous wonder of God’s creation. Job had found a new conception of God, God as a Person, who is concerned with human affairs, a Person who would even speak to Job, the most wonderful and incredible thing in the whole book.

Verses 7-9. Have been missed in the reading for today, but I feel that it is part of the whole story and must be looked at. Here we find the three friends being reprimanded by God for their misrepresentation of God. He lets them know he is angry with them. Here he says that Job has spoken honestly. Remember that the friends were trying to convince Job that his suffering was sent from God because of Job’s sin and Job would not have it. They were talking about God. Never once did they speak to God, or pray for their suffering friend, whereas Job went from speaking about God to speaking more and more directly to God. The friends theologize –Job prays. The friends try to defend God (who doesn’t need defending) Job laments. He shakes his fist with one hand while he holds on tightly to God with the other. He stays in a relationship with God, addressing him directly, even from the depths of despair, and is commended by God in the end.

Next we see Job the sufferer becoming Job the mediator. A profound humiliation for the friends but an honour for Job. The three friends are told to offer sacrifices for their wrongdoing. They were told to take a large offering, one which was much more than was normally offered for individuals. In fact it was the same as Ezekiel sacrificed for the whole nation of Israel. By their obeying they showed that they had learned their lesson. Then they went to Job. Here, Job also was obedient to God. Job prayed for them, even though he was probably still covered with boils he offered prayers on their behalf and God accepted Job’s prayers. James 5:16 says, ‘The prayer of a righteous man has great power and produces wonderful results.’

The last part of the chapter, and of course, the book, deal with the blessings Job received from God in the rest of his life. This is where some preachers have problems. Quote Karl Jacobson.

There are some positive things to come out of this ending.

The three daughters are given an inheritance along with their brothers which was unheard of in the ancient near east. Job seems to have learned to govern his world as God does. Job had become a parent after God’s own heart. He gave his children the same freedom that God gives His creation. The question arises from here, Can you love what you do not control? A question worth pondering. It must have cost Job a great deal to live again and become a father again. Anyone who loses a baby or young child must agonise over trying to have another child. Job knew the pain of loss but he chooses to love and live again. Living again after unspeakable pain is a kind of resurrection. The translators of the Septuagint added this verse to the end of Job. And it is written that he will rise again with those whom the Lord raises up.

Perhaps this is where we should leave this story; with Job waiting with God’s other servants for the day of Jesus’s coming again and the promise of a new life lived out for eternity in relationship with the God of all faithfulness.

What can we learn from today? Are these statements lessons we should take away with us?                

We need to be accepting of all that comes our way and trust in God always.

Our quarrels with God always begin on our part but the making of peace begins with Him.

Don’t worry about Job’s suffering, because God gives him even more at the end.

Our obedience to God is paramount.

Prosperity is a true mark of the church.

Suffering is a part of this life on earth, but it can lead to a closer relationship to God.

Affliction is a certain proof of God’s wrath.

Patience is a fruit of the Spirit to be grasped and nurtured.

We have no right to judge God’s providence.

Everyone gets exactly what they deserve in this life.

The cure for questioning of God’s providence is to experience His nearness.

A man who has learned his own sinfulness will find no occasions for complaint of God.

True grace will lead us to confess our sins without self-justifying.

We must bow with submission and silence to a sovereign God.

Why not me?

‘God’s manifesting such concern for Job, his unworthy creature, is a pledge of God’s love for all men.’

The mystery of pain and suffering is still a mystery.

‘God is not so much concerned with strengthening man’s faith by giving him answers to his questions, as he is with encouraging the kind of faith that does not demand answers.’

 How do we be a friend of a sufferer? Be there for them and listen. Pray with and for them. Show love and care. Keep confidences. Choose words carefully.

Prayer.