Lydia Sandquist and Nora Byers from Monday night MOMS share how God has steadfastly loved and kept them as they have trusted steadfastly in him.

Heidi Brazis gives us some patterns of daily living that help toward loving and respecting our husbands and living with humility.

Job's Confession & Restoration | Job 42

1—RESPONSE (Job 42:1–6)

    A—RECOGNIZE God’s wonderful ways, power and purposes (v1–4)

    B—RENEWED VISION (v5)

    C—REPENTANCE (v6)

2—REBUKE and RECONCILIATION (Job 42:7–9)

3—RESTORATION (Job 42:10–17) And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:10–11)

“Tween Age” Pastor Ben shares about discipling late youth/early teens and how to connect well with them.

God SPEAKS! And God CREATED it all and CONTROLS it all, even Behemoth and Leviathan.

1-The world is more terrifying and terrible than we think (Ephesians 6:12) and utterly beyond our control. But God is infinitely more aware of the suffering/injustice/wickedness in the world than we are. We can trust HIM

2- God is so much greater than we realize. We can trust HIM

3-Submit to God’s wise plan/purposes. Reflecting on God’s wise plan and purposes, even in light of our suffering, ought to move us to trust HIM more.

4-Trust HIM, even if you struggle to do so. He is good, wise, kind, trustworthy and so much more and encourage one another to trust him.

5-Someday we will see more clearly Summer Bible study:“Glory! Steadfast Hope in Our Heavenly Home” will begin June 11/12. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. (Job 19:25-26) …Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13)

6-Someday God will destroy the powers of evil once & for all The very power and wisdom and love that governs our sorrows now is the same power that will deliver us in God’s all-wise timing. (Job 40:19; Colossians 2:12-15; Revelation 15:3; Lamentations 3:31–32)

As we reach Job 32, we come to a turning point. After three cycles of argumentation, Job’s three friends—Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar—have finally run out of words. Job himself has offered his final rebuttal and a searching reflection on wisdom. He has grieved the loss of his days of sweet fellowship with God and man and grieved the stark reversal of his life. And in chapter 31 he has searched his own life and laid it bare before us and God as testament to the opening affirmation of his character: Job is “a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil.” In closing, he pleads for the Almighty to meet him at the witness stand and bring His charge publicly to bear… if indeed there is an indictment against him.

So Job’s words close, as it were, by calling God to the witness stand in the court of justice. Job, in his integrity, in his confusion, in his despair, pleads for a fair hearing to rebut the assertions of guilt seemingly piled up by his circumstances and, certainly, by his friends.

As Job’s questions come to a close after 31 long chapters, we await some answers. And the text that we are studying today comes from a new voice, a new friend named Elihu, and it sets the stage for when God Himself will draw near to at last address Job.

In Job’s last testimony, he longingly gazes at the past where he and those under his care flourished under the friendship of God. He bitterly glares at the present where he seems to be suffering the judgment of God, and he hopefully glimpses the future where he boldly approaches God like a prince, robed in righteousness and crowned with justice.

In Jesus, we have a righteousness greater than Job’s! So when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we too should boldly robe ourselves in Jesus’ righteousness and approach God like a princess, fully persuaded that he will embrace us.

In these chapters we see that the all-wise Creator God does not disclose all his ways to his creatures (Job 28:23). His wisdom is hidden from view, as a cloudy sky keeps us from seeing the stars. But the limits of our perspective do not limit God’s wisdom, justice, or goodness. And Job knows God, even though he doesn’t know why he suffers so. 

And the apparent contradiction of Job’s life provides us with a pattern that Jesus Christ fills up in the fullness of time. Job’s suffering points us to the wisdom of God revealed at the cross of Christ. The Almighty planned for the Son of God—the only truly good man—to suffer the worst fate to save bad people. 

Jesus Christ is our great Answer. He is the Redeemer for whom Job longed (Job 19:25). He is the mediator who would stand between him and God (9:33). He is the true friend and sympathetic comforter (Heb 4:15–16). He is Wisdom of God in-the-flesh (Job 28:33; 1 Cor 1:30). And nothing in heaven or on earth or under the earth can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom 8:35–39). 

Consider a mirror and binoculars. If a mirror reflects our current situation, binoculars magnify what’s far off. In our suffering and our struggles, we need a fuller perspective. We need to look out and up to Christ, our suffering and risen Lord, the Answer in the flesh. As the Scottish pastor Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said, “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely.”

As we study Job's conversations and musings in this particular part of the book, we find him growing in hope and confidence that God will hear and vindicate him (23:6–7, 10); we discover a man who treasures God and his Words above great wealth and fine feasts (23:11–12); and we see a godly man grappling with his own inability to fully comprehend the transcendent God (26). But we also find a man who is pained by doubts. He fears God’s purposes for him (23:13–16), and he wavers in trusting God’s justice (24:1, 12). But for all his hopes and doubts, Job is exemplary, teaching us to suffer with steadfastness and growth.

In Round 2 (Job 15–21) of the speech dialogues, we saw highlights of hope and lowlights of despair, how these chapters point to Jesus, our Redeemer and the living hope HE offers. Because our Redeemer ever lives and intercedes for us, he will be that witness who stands up for us, pleading on our behalf, testifying that we have HIS righteousness when we are IN him. He is our advocate! Job longed for vindication- and that day WILL come for believers, even if not in this life. Trust in our steadfast Redeemer!