* Jobs friends traveled a long way to simply sit with him.

* They sat with him for a week and never said a word.

* They were good friends.

* Job then voiced his complaint (which he most likely should have kept private between him and God).

* Then his buddies jumped in.

* Job 16:1-6 - Job’s friends make a big mistake.

* Look at Job’s response.

* They should have focused on WHO - simply sit with Job and let him know they are in it with him. (Job 19:21 - look in pity, empathy)

* People unite over love but separate over belief.

* Empathy Grid:

* Don’t focus on WHAT, WHY, or HOW (theology, belief, behavior) - this aims at the head.

* Focus on the WHO (the hurting person and God) - this aims at the heart.

* THEN, at the right time (when the person is emotionally stable) you can talk about the what, why, and how.

* Job’s attitude in the midst of his struggle is what we should all ascribe to have.

* He did not see his stuff or his family as his own.

* He was poor in spirit - this is someone God can use because He can trust you.

* Notice two aspects of Job’s response:

* 1) His heart-set (vs 20) - he had a heart to worship.

* Worship is “reverence and adoration of a diety.”

* 2) His mind-set (vs 21) - everything I have is borrowed.

* Two parts to this:

* ** Birth - I came with nothing.

* Imagine a woman trying to give birth to a kid with a backpack.

* ** Death - I leave with nothing.

* Imagine an old man packing a suitcase so he could bring it with him when he died.

* Neither will work.

* This is the greatest business example we could have - be naked to it!

* Don’t wrap your emotions up with your success.

* Don’t find your identity in what you do.

* You can’t bring anything with you because you brought nothing with you.

* Now be free, work hard, and let the chips fall where they may.

* The book of Esther is a recounting of God’s faithfulness in their history so the Jews would never forget to follow Him.

* For Americans, it’s July 4th. For the Jews, it was the Day of Purim.

* The book of Esther keeps the history of this day alive so they never forget.

* The Day remembered:

* 1 - Haman, a Jew-hater, gets elevated and everyone is to bow to Him.

* 2 - Mordecai, a Jew who's related to Esther the queen, refuses.

* 3 - Haman hates Mordecai for this and gets the king to agree to issue an irrevocable decree to destroy all the Jews (when anger fills your heart murder crouches at your door).

* 4 - The plan is flipped on it's head because Esther has the guts to approach the king to expose the wickedness of Haman.

* 5 - Mordecai got what was Haman's (his estate) and Haman got what was Mordecai's (the gallows he was hung on). But notice that the enemies of the Jews were still planning to kill them because of the first decree.

* 6 - The king makes another decree since the first one couldn't be revoked, and he tells all Jews that they can fight and destroy anyone who comes against them. (Mordecai actually made the decree under the king’s authority).

* 7 - When the time came to exercise the first decree many people assembled to kill the Jews, but due to the second decree the Jews were ready and they had organized themselves to fight.

* 8 - The Jews win and they destroy their enemies!!!!!

* This verse is an amazing goal for all of us as we do our work.

* The goal should be to do our job so well that others will know that God helped us get it done.

* “Only God could have done this!”

* The requirement for work is faithfulness.

* The reward for work is rest.

* The result of work is that God gets glory.

* If all business owners operated like this the world would change overnight.

* Nehemiah did what was right as a leader and relied on God to reward him for it.

* He didn’t try to get his own reward his own way.

* Faith is living without scheming.

* Haman had two plans - kill Mordecai and honor himself.

* God turned those plans around and did the polar opposite.

* When Haman paraded Mordecai through the open streets who do you think saw it?

* All those Jews who bowed before Haman a year earlier.

* Esther 7:10 - Haman was hanged in public.

* The same Jews saw this as well.

* This was an open rebuke to everyone who refused to stand with courage like Mordecai!

* God blessed not only the Jews who obediently went back to Jerusalem, but also those who refused to leave.

* The book of Esther shows us how God took care of those who didn’t join in with the other Jews who faithfully followed God’s leading back to Jerusalem.

* It shows how God’s hand was behind the scenes working things out to protect His people.

* vs 10 - on the “seventh” day the king made a mistake.

* vs 10 - There were seven eunuchs who found the girls.

* vs 14 - There were seven princes who gave the plan.

* God was on the throne working things out and His name was never once mentioned.

* Esther 3:7 - Roll the Dice.

* Haman kept rolling the dice until everything lined up just right.

* Proverbs 16:33 - God used this method to direct people.

* Haman had to wait 12 months to execute the plan.

* The minute the dice fell into place God’s plan kicked into action.

* Esther 9:23-24 - the enemies of God were destroyed because Haman decided to roll the dice and attack them.

* Nehemiah needed the king to buy-in on his idea.

* How would the king go from a passive observer to an active buyer?

* What did Nehemiah do?

* Foundation - he first received the call from the Lord as a burden on his heart.

* A good question to ask - what breaks my heart?

* This got him working from the inside-out.

* You know God is leading you when you can’t stop thinking about something and it feels like you’ll fail worse if you DON’T do it than if you tried it and it didn’t work out.

* Second, he proved valuable to the king.

* He didn’t start the process until he had already proven to be a producer and not a consumer for the king.

* This put the king in the position to want to help/buy.

* Practically, here was his process:

* 1) He fasted (vs 1:4) - he denied himself in the physical so he could gain something in the spiritual. He was looking for God’s favor.

* 2) He prayed (vs 1:4) - he brought God into the mix. He wanted God’s mind, not his own.

* 3) He repented (vs 1:6-7) - purity brings clarity.

* *** Most sales process don’t start with these three things.

* 4) He brought value (vs 2:1) - he was a value creator for the king before he asked the king for anything.

* 5) He presented the problem (2:3) - don’t try to sell something without showing what the problem is you’re solving.

* 6) He gave his story (vs 2:3) - he shared how he personally and his people were affected.

* *** People buy on emotion, not logic. Your story unlocks emotion for them.

* His story got the king to ask, “What do you want?”

* 7) He gave a specific solution (vs 2:5) - riches are made in the niches. He didn’t paint with a broad stroke.

* 8) He presented a plan (vs 2:6-8) - he outlined a solution.

* 9) He gave God credit (vs 2:8b) - This kept him in the Lord’s favor.

* King Cyrus issued a decree to let the Israelites go back to Jerusalem and paid to have the temple rebuilt.

* Enemies arose and stopped the work.

* They sent letters to the new King Darius to have him stop the work - it backfired and he ended up continuing to pay for it.

* Who was in office at that time? DANIEL!

* We get a chance to see how a faithful man had a tremendous influence on the lives of countless people 500 miles away.