[ANNOUNCER] The following
program is brought to you
by the friends and
partners of Time of Grace.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JESKE] One
of the new features at
Time of Grace that we're
really pretty excited
about is a digital series
of devotions that we call
"Your Time of Grace."
There are half a dozen or
so younger pastors -
younger than me, at least
- who have been preparing
online and digital and
Facebook-type devotions.
They come in a set of
five, one for each day of
the work week, and each
one's only about three
minutes long and they're a
great way to start your
day.
And they have found great
success and enjoyment for
the people who have
subscribed to that
service.
We are absolutely thrilled
to have with us here at
Time of Grace today, one
of those young speakers
who's a pastor in Florida.
His name's Pastor Jon
Enter and we're delighted
to have him here with us
today.
Welcome, Jon.
[PASTOR ENTER] Thank you.
It's incredible to be
here.
[PASTOR JESKE] We're glad
you're here.
[PASTOR ENTER] Thank you.
I'm a little curious -
today, we're going to be
seeing in a few minutes,
your series that you did
on the book of Job.
Yes.
And the book of Job is
kind of a dark story and
it seems like a little bit
of a downer, so I've got
to know - why did you pick
Job?
I picked Job because Job's
real.
He's going through pain,
emotion, like we all do.
Life doesn't always turn
out the way that we want
it to, and yet, Job is
crying out to God - not
always against God; most
of the time it's not
against God.
He's just saying, "God, I
need you, but this doesn't
make sense."
And so often, when life
doesn't make sense,
there's only one place to
turn.
And even in that pain and
that darkness, Job found
light and hope in God.
Hmm.
Do you think that has
relevance for people
today?
Absolutely.
Because in the world we
live in, sin is growing,
pain is immense, and so,
everyone needs a place to
turn to.
And they can relate to Job
because Job just lays it
out there and we need to
lay out our sins and our
needs before God and Job's
a great example of that.
And God gives peace to Job
at the end of the book and
that's what we all desire
and what we all need.
Yeah.
This story of Job is kind
of personal for you and
your wife, isn't it?
Absolutely.
Job lost 10 children; my
wife and I lost a child.
And it was a - man, a time
of just deep darkness for
us.
And for about 34 days
straight, I couldn't make
it through the day without
crying.
My wife said it took her a
year and a half to kind of
come out of the darkness.
And so, we felt like Job
felt.
Hmm.
As we watch this first
episode, you're going to
notice some dramatizations
where we actually brought
in some people to kind of
illustrate the things that
Job and his suffering wife
were going through.
Now, if you don't know
Job, Job had it made.
I mean, life was good!
He was rich beyond rich.
The Bible says he had
7,000 sheep, 3,000 camel,
a thousand oxen, 500
donkeys.
On top of that, he was
married.
He had 10 children and the
love and respect of
everyone that was around
him.
Then, in the course of one
afternoon, it was all
gone; taken away from him.
Servant after servant
after servant came running
over to Job and said,
"Remember those sheep?
They're gone.
The camels?
Gone.
Oxen?
Gone.
Donkeys?
Gone.
The servants either killed
or hauled away; they're
gone."
And then one more servant
came with the worst news
of all: His 10 children
died in an accident.
We read that and it just
begs the question: Why
does God allow bad things
to happen to good people?
And you see, that question
right there is the reason
so many people aren't
believers in Christ
because they say, "How can
your God, who you say is
so loving and so full of
mercy, allow bad things to
happen to good people?"
Well, the answer to that
question is actually
two-fold.
First of all, the evil
that is in this world is
not from God.
When God created this
world, it was absolutely
perfect.
Adam and Eve, in their
will, chose to disobey
God.
They ate that fruit, the
forbidden fruit that God
said, "Don't you dare eat
of it," and yet, they did.
And they broke this world;
the perfection was gone
and sin was upon us.
That's not from God;
that's actually from the
human race.
But yet, God in love, he
holds back that evil and
if he didn't, it would be
only evil all the time.
And every once in a while,
he lets a little bit of it
through - just for a short
time - to remind us that
this life is not really
the good life.
The good life, the best
life, is the eternal life
waiting for us in heaven.
We hear this in 1
Corinthians 10: "God is
faithful.
He will not let you
tempted beyond what you
can bear.
But when you're tempted,
he will also provide a way
out so that you can stand
up under it."
Whenever that pain hits
you in your life, God
says, "I am going to be
there.
I know you'll need my
strength."
He gives you a way out and
that way is - well, it's
Jesus.
I mean, look at Job.
His life was absolutely
amazing; blessed beyond
comprehension from God
with all those animals and
all those servants that
were there.
And yet, he lost it all
and it was horrible.
But that was just for a
season and just for a
time.
You see, the Bible, at the
end of Job, says that
after that point, whatever
he had before, God doubled
it.
When God allows the evil
of this world to hit you,
it's just for a time.
It's just for a season.
So if you're feeling pain
right now, you're in your
season.
Cry out to God and know
that he is right there
with you.
May this message from Job,
this lesson, give you
comfort in your life, no
matter what it is that
you're going through right
now.
You suspect that there was
some anger with Job and,
especially, his wife?
How couldn't you be
tempted to fall into that?
When you lose absolutely
everything and there's no
reason, rationale, behind
it?
Well, God could have
stopped those things,
couldn't he?
Absolutely.
In his power and his
might?
In a second; in an
instant.
And that's what makes it
so difficult saying, "Why,
God?"
"Why did you let this
happen?"
It makes you suspect
either he's not as
powerful as he claims to
be or he's not as smart as
we like to think he is or
he doesn't love us
anywhere near as much as
we had been led to
believe.
One of those three things
- or maybe all three - have
had to fail.
Yes.
So I can imagine if Job's
went off on him, I find it
hard to kind of judge the
woman.
Yeah, we need to remember
that truth; that she went
through everything he went
through.
And for some reason, we
push that aside but yes,
she was struggling in the
midst of all the loss she
was in.
Okay, I kind of get a
little personal now.
Okay.
As you and your wife went
through your season of
loss, were you ever
tempted to be angry with
God?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
There was no explanation.
And then when all of a
sudden we got that word
that we lost him -
Hmm-hmm.
We instantly felt that.
That is a problem that I
think all of us fall into;
a temptation we all fall
into.
When life doesn't go the
way we want it to, we
think we're bigger than
God and we've got a bigger
plan than God.
And when our plans don't
match his plans, that's
one of the first places we
can slip into is anger
with God: Why didn't you
do this for me?
Very me-centric.
In our message from
yesterday, we saw how God
allows some peril and
problems to come into our
lives.
But God is always there to
give us the strength that
we need.
Today, we're going to look
at Job's wife and the
reaction that she had to
the pain that came into
both of their lives.
Now, before we see her
words, I need to remind
you of something.
The same thing that
happened to Job, happened
to his wife.
They lost absolutely
everything in the course
of one afternoon.
Thousands and thousands of
animals that they had were
wiped away and gone.
And worse than that, their
10 children died in an
accident.
Now, it doesn't make it
right what she's about to
say but it sure makes it
real.
Job though, Job reacted in
amazing faith and trust in
God.
When they lost all that,
Job looked heavenward and
he looked through eyes of
faith to the Lord and
said, "The Lord gives and
the Lord takes away.
May the name of the Lord
be praised."
Job's wife didn't react
the same way.
Instead, she looked at her
husband who was trusting
the Lord and looked at him
and said, "Curse God and
die."
Could you imagine hearing
something so hurtful from
your spouse; the one that
you love so much that you
married?
And actually, maybe you
don't need to imagine
that; maybe you are stuck
in a marriage where
someone is just mean,
vile, hurtful, and you're
struggling to show that
love back.
And maybe for you it's not
just in your marriage;
maybe for you it's at
work.
You've got that
unrelenting boss who just
won't stop beating down on
you or the co-worker, for
some reason, has it out
for you and just goes
after you and after you
and just can't get him to
stop.
How do you show kindness
back to them when they're
so mean?
Job gives us an amazing
example.
Him living out his faith
when his wife said
something so hurtful,
you'd think he had reacted
in anger.
But he didn't; his faith
shined through.
He said this to his wife
in Job 2: "Shall we accept
good from God and not
trouble?"
What amazing words!
Words of faith to say even
in pain, should I not
accept the good and the
bad?
And see, the way Job
reacted to his wife is the
same way that God reacts
to you.
He forgives you; changes
your life so that you do
not have to react that way
again because you don't
have the pressure of sin
on you, the pressure of
the stress of that wrong
reaction.
You have Christ in your
heart and it's Christ
that's in your heart as he
is.
He changes how you can
react to others, as Job
reacted to his wife.
May that give you peace in
your heart if you've got
guilt right now over how
you've reacted in anger to
someone else and then give
you the strength to react
as Job did; to accept
their good and their bad
and to pray for those who
are hurting you.
As we are overhearing the
bitter words coming out of
the wife of Job, this can
have an impact on our
family relationships, too,
can't it?
In our own home, there was
a lot of strife and a lot
of stress that was there
because - and my wife
dealt with it like a mom
would and I was dealing
with it like a husband
would; trying to lead the
family through it.
And we didn't always match
up perfectly and that
created some difficulties
in our house.
Yeah.
I imagine you want to try
to be a role; like the guy
is supposed to be the
rock, right?
Did you feel like a rock
all the time?
No, no.[Laughter] I tried
to be Mr. Macho and I
would hide my tears.
At night, I would go in
the bedroom and have my
kind of alone time and I
was, you know, doing work
for church, but I would
just breakdown.
And my wife wasn't seeing
that side of me because I
was trying to be the rock
for her and I kind of
think she was feeling
like, "Where's Jon's
emotions?
Where's his brokenness on
this?"
And finally, I just let it
out before her one day and
it was amazing how much
that brought us that much
closer together.
Hmm.
She saw my strength in my
weakness, which, as a man,
doesn't make sense.
Makes no sense.
No, it doesn't.
I think just simply asking
the question: "Are you
okay?
What can I do?"
as opposed to suffering in
silence, in our own
corners, or other sides of
the bedroom or crying on
the side and wanting to
not be weak in front of
the other person and just
being real with one
another and just saying,
"Honey, what can I do to
help you?"
is a question that anyone
- man, female, man, woman
- you know, wants to be
able to hear.
Hmm-hmm.
Today, we're looking at
Job's friends.
They hear that Job's in a
lot of pain.
A friend comes in when
everyone else goes out and
Job's friends, at first,
come in; they look like
they're going to give him
the peace that he needs.
But they say nothing!
For seven days, they just
look at Job rolling around
on the ground in pain and
agony of losing all of his
children, losing all of
his animals, his
livelihood, and now boils
have set in on his flesh;
he's scraping his arms of
broken pottery to try and
get relief.
And his friends just stare
at him!
Then, when his friends
finally do speak, what
they say is something not
helpful, at all.
They basically say, "Job,
you must be so awful, have
done something so horrible
in your past, that God is
now coming after you and
he's punishing you for the
wrong that you've done."
That's something that we
say to ourselves a lot.
When we're in pain and
we're in anguish, we tend
to look to our past and
go, "What have I done so
horrible in my past that
now, now God is coming
after me?
You know, it's probably
cause I got drunk in high
school, got drunk in
college.
That's why this is
happening to me now."
Or, "Because I was
intimate with someone who
was not my wife, now
that's the reason I don't
have intimacy with my wife
or maybe that's why I
can't have children with
my wife."
That's not how God works.
God does not hold back sin
or to punish you later.
No perfect parent or any
parent would do that.
Would that make any sense
for me?
I have four daughters and
let's say one of my
daughters does something
just mean to her sister;
makes her cry and break
down in tears.
And then when I'm talking
to that same daughter, she
disrespects me as I'm
trying to teach her, she
back talks me and then
grabs one of mommy's china
plates and just smashes it
onto the ground.
Would it make any sense if
I waited two or three
months, my daughter's
upstairs sleeping, and I
burst into the room and
wake her up and start
scolding her about how
naughty she had been and
then put her in timeout
and say, "Now you think
about what you've done!"
Would that make any sense?
No.
No parent would do that.
Neither does your Father
in heaven.
He doesn't stockpile sin.
In fact, what he does is
the exact opposite.
As you and I confess that
sin and wrong, whatever
the wickedness is that
we've done in our life, he
forgives it and he forgets
it.
It's exactly what he says
to you here in Hebrews 8:
No matter how bad you've
done wrong, no matter what
wicked or wretched thing
you've done in your life,
you think, "God could
never love me."
He says, "I will forgive
their wickedness and will
remember their sins no
more."
God does not stockpile
your sins.
Jesus is not out to get
back at you.
Jesus is out to get you
back to him.
Please share today's
message with someone you
know who's blaming
themselves of their past;
of something Jesus has
already forgiven them of.
Job's friends came to try
to help him out but I
don't think he got a lot
of help out of his
friends, did he?
No, his friends were there
to help him and they see
him rolling around on the
ground and they don't show
him any love or care.
Instead, they start
accusing him.
"Clearly, Job, you must
have done something wrong.
Clearly, you are a
wretched, awful person.
You hid it from us but God
knows and that's why this
is on you."
That was the message they
were grilling him with.
Yeah.
Why don't you like that
advice?
[Laughter] I don't think
Job liked it, either.
No, who would want that?
But we do it even
ourselves.
Seriously? [Yeah.]
So tell me the truth - did
you start beating yourself
up looking for causes in
your own life for your
personal disaster?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Instantly.
From the immediate - did
something just happen?
What could we have done
differently this last
week?
You know, is God mad at
me?
Is God after me?
Or maybe it was something
I did even decades earlier
and it's an endless rat
race and it puts you down
a hole and it's never a
good pathway to go and
that's not how our God
works.
No.
But yet, as a pastor,
human being as I am, I
went that way.
Today, we're looking at
the fact that even when we
lose control in our life,
God is still in control
and that can give us
comfort and we need that
because we're creatures of
habit.
We go and do the same
things over and over
again.
Even if you don't have
assigned seats at the
office or at your school,
you typically have the
same seat that you want to
sit in and when you sit
there, you feel nice and
comfortable.
We order the same food at
restaurants constantly
because we know, "Well, I
like that!"
See, the devil knew that
about us and so he wanted
to use it against us and
he did that with Job.
The devil went to God and
said, "The reason why Job
loves you so much, Lord,
is cause he's so
comfortable.
He's got the good life,
the cush life.
He's rich, he's wealthy,
he's well-loved, he has a
big family.
You take that away from
him, God, and he is going
to falter.
He's going to fall apart.
He likes to be in
control."
So, sure enough, the devil
took everything away from
Job and Job fell hard
though, too.
Later on in the book, he's
struggling.
He says he feels like he's
in shackles, chained up,
because he's no longer in
control in his life.
You and I can have peace
and comfort in our life as
Job eventually found out,
as well; that even when we
lose control, God is still
in control.
And when things don't go
the way we want to, God's
got a purpose and he has a
reason behind it.
I learned that in a very
unique way with my wife.
I'm a very punctual
person; I like to be on
time wherever we go to.
And my wife and I were
finally going to go out on
a date; we had to be at
the restaurant at an exact
time.
And my wife is a beautiful
woman who doesn't take a
long time getting ready
but for some reason, this
day she was mad at her
hair; having this big
fight with her hair in the
bathroom getting ready.
And I'm like this caged
animal out in the living
room saying, "Let's go!
Let's go!"
and I was losing control
and I didn't like the
feeling.
Finally, we leave about 10
minutes late and we're
driving down the road as
fast as we can to try to
make it to our reservation
and we came across this
horrible, horrible car
accident; maybe five or 10
minutes old.
And it hit me: Maybe
that's the reason why my
wife struggled with her
hair that day, which is
out of character for her.
Maybe God was in control
when I was out of control
in order to keep us
completely safe.
And it changed my
perspective.
God used that moment to
change my outlook.
I still am a very punctual
person; I don't like it
when we're late.
But for some reason, when
I happens that way, when
we're late, I can say,
"Well, God had his
purpose.
He had his plan.
He's always in control."
So when things go out of
control in your life,
don't sweat it.
Don't get stressed out.
God is still in control;
always watching out over
you.
Always working for you.
And that purpose is to
always bless you.
So today, as you go about
your life and things go
out of control, have that
trust in Christ that he is
still watching out over
you.
You know, I'm a little bit
of a control freak.
I don't like to admit it
but I don't like feeling
weak and, especially, over
an extended period of
time.
I've got to imagine Job,
especially as a guy trying
to be the "guy," trying to
be the leader - Yes.
Especially, because, you
know, he had a lot of
employees, he was like a
business, he was the
business boss, he had a
large family, he was the
patriarch.
What do you think it did
to his head to sit there
scratching himself and be
basically helpless for a
while?
He lost it.
I would think we all
would; we all have our
sense of control.
We sit in the same places
at church, we go to the
same restaurants, we order
the same food at the same
restaurants.
We like to have control,
as big as that is or as
small as that is.
And Job completely lost
it.
Hmm.
Can I get personal again?
Yeah.
What did it do to your
head to realize that as
you had lost a child, here
was a problem you couldn't
fix?
I'm a fixer.
I've always been a fixer
and I'm a fast fixer and
there was no fast fix to
this.
And so, that was so
frustrating to me and
that's what brought me, I
think - I can't say "more"
because the loss of our
son was the worst - but
that's what also really
brought me deep on my
knees because I wasn't in
control and I liked being
in control.
I think we all like to be
in control.
Hmm-hmm.
In other words, it's
possible that God had a
kind agenda in allowing
you to be weak for your -
for a long season.
Hmm.
What did that do for you
and for your wife?
I'm a much better husband
now because I'm a better
listener now.
I'm a better dad now
because I cut time off of
work to get home to my
kids because I was a
control freak, you know,
at church and do, do, do
and find my worth in my
work.
And all of a sudden, that
changed.
Hmm-hmm.
Completely changed.
And so, I'm carving out
more time for my family,
as a lot of young
professionals don't and I
wasn't doing, because we
want to be in control.
Job's been in a lot of
pain; unimaginable pain.
To lose absolutely
everything he has in his
household, to lose all 10
of his children in an
accident, to lose the
respect of his wife and
his friends, and then to
have his health be lost,
as well.
He cried out to God:
"Enough!
I just can't do it
anymore, God.
I don't see your power.
I don't see your love.
Show yourself to me!"
I've had my breaking point
in my life; I'm sure you
have, too.
You've cried out to God:
"This doesn't make sense!
This isn't you.
This isn't the God that I
love and that I know loves
me.
Show me, God!"
And see, when Job cried
out to God that way, God
answered him but probably
in a way you wouldn't
expect.
God asked Job, "Job, where
were you?
Where were you when I made
the world?
When I laid out its
foundations?
When I made the mountains
to go this high and the
rivers and streams to go
here?
Set the stars in their
place?
Where were you when I did
that?
I am powerful and I am
mighty."
And you would agree and
go, "Yeah.
Yeah, God, that shows your
power but how?
How does that show your
love?
Why would you answer Job
that way?"
Well see, we look at 1
Peter and 1 Peter connects
the creation to God's love
for us.
"He," it says, and that's
Jesus, our Savior, "He was
chosen before the creation
of the world."
Let that sink in.
Before God made the world,
he knew that we would
break it.
He knew that we would sin.
He knew that he had to
choose to send his Son to
die on the cross to be our
Savior before the creation
of the world and yet, he
still made the planet,
made us to be here.
That shows his love.
Why would he make us even
though he knew that we
would sin and we would
disappoint him?
Well, before my wife and I
had children, we had our
cool cards.
Oh, we could do whatever
we want, whenever we
wanted.
We'd be sitting there at
home at night just kind of
bored on the couch and I'm
like, "You want to go
out?"
"Sure!"
And then we had children
and that is all changed.
I've been pooped on, I've
been peed on, I've been
thrown up on.
But if you're a parent,
you know what I'm about to
say next: I wouldn't
change it for the world.
Because when I get home
and that key hits the
door, I can already hear
my children on the inside
screaming, "Daddy's home!"
and they run and they
throw their tiny little
arms around my neck and
give that big, beautiful
hug and suddenly, it's all
worth it.
God the Father thinks the
exact same thing of you.
That you are worth it;
worth all of the
parenting, all of the work
with you.
When you make decisions
and disappoint him, he
still loves you.
Still cares for you.
And still has you as his
top priority in his life.
May that give you peace,
not just today, but
throughout your entire
life.
That your Father in heaven
cares for you.
Please share this message.
Share it with anyone whose
hearts are hurting to give
them encouragement; to
lift them into Jesus.
You know, I'd like to
think I'm a patient person
but I think if I had been
in Job's sandals, I think
my patience would have
gone to school.
And you see Job lose his
patience with God and cry
out towards the end of the
book against God, saying,
"God, I don't get it.
I don't get you.
Why?"
God, at the end, he had a
little conversation with
his suffering servant and
before he brought all of
the healing and all of the
wealth and gave him all
his stuff and his family
back, before he did that,
he had a few things he
wanted Job to know.
Yeah, he said, "Job, look
at the world I made.
This world is breaking
down but I will restore
you, Job.
I will take your broken
body and I'll make certain
that you know that in me,
you will live.
Live forever."
He wasn't going to be
resurrected in the sad,
diseased [Of course]
state as he was scratching
himself.
When God puts us back
together, we're going to
be our ideal selves again.
Absolutely; bodies of
perfection with the
perfect One in glory.
Yeah, you know, not only
are our grandmothers who
died, you know, frail and
with tired and elderly
bodies, they're not going
to come back as - No.
Ninety-three year olds
again.
But also, little ones who
passed away [Yes]
are not going to be babies
in eternity.
They're going to come back
according to the beautiful
blueprints that God had
drafted for them.
And what a beautiful
thing: To hug my son, hug
my grandpa, hug all my
loved ones in heaven and
be hugged by Christ, the
Almighty.
Yeah, and he'll be big
like you.
[Laughter] Won't that be
insane?
[Laughter] It will be
amazing, yeah.
Absolutely.
Don't go away.
I'll be back in just a
moment to pray with you.
[PASTOR JESKE] I'm so glad
to have a chance
personally to say thank
you to all of you whose
ongoing, steady financial
support makes Time of
Grace possible.
You are the only reason
why we are still on the
air and able to distribute
good news of Jesus Christ
- not only here in America
- but literally,
throughout the world
through different types of
mass media and I want to
say thank you.
I also want to say thank
you to you, Pastor Jon,
for being able to join us
here in the studio.
It's been a pleasure to
have you with me today.
[PASTOR ENTER] It's an
incredible joy to be here
at Time of Grace and add
my voice into the ministry
that is here and just
share the passion I have
in serving Christ.
[PASTOR JESKE] Hmm.
Would you like to pray
with me today?
Let's pray for Pastor Jon
and for all people who are
going through a Job-time
right now.
Dear Lord, our Heavenly
Father, Please look with
blessing and kindness upon
Pastor Jon, upon his
ministry in West Palm
Beach, but all the work
that he does in mass media
to bless and anoint his
words so they bring
comfort and encouragement
to people who are
suffering like Job.
We pray today, also, for
all of the people who've
been hammered in their
lives with some kinds of
suffering and disaster;
who personally are
experiencing terrible
health, who've lost family
members, or who are
suffering terrible health
or financial stress.
Lord, be with them as you
were with Job and give
them your words of comfort
in their season of waiting
and suffering.
Let them know of your
almighty power.
Let them know of your
wisdom; that you have a
design and a plan for
them.
Let them know to be
patient and wait for your
season of relief to come.
And let them know, most of
all, that they have a
Savior in Jesus, your Son,
a Redeemer who's alive;
who himself suffered
horribly, died, was
buried, and rose again and
who's coming back.
And in the end, we, too,
will stand upon the earth
and see him with our eyes.
Help us to have Job's
confidence in our soon
return of our Savior
Jesus.
We eagerly look forward to
his coming.
Thank you, Lord, for the
comfort of your word.
We pray in Jesus' name,
Amen.
For Time of Grace, I'm
Pastor Mark Jeske, here
with Pastor Jon Enter,
celebrating God's amazing
grace with you and it all
starts now.
[MUSIC]
[ANNOUNCER] The
preceding program was
brought to you by the
friends and partners of
Time of Grace.
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