Hope is in Session
Do you remember high school math? There was always that one teacher that was super passionate about math even 1 week before summer vacation. Every other teacher had the AV kids roll in that old tv strapped down to the cart to watch a movie; but here you are in math with a teacher pouring their heart out on variables, fractals, and quadratic polynomials.
Growing up in Oregon – late afternoon blue skies were a treasure. Skip math?
We continue our “Can’t Cancel Hope” series with today’s message – HOPE is in Session. We’ve been looking at people in the Bible experiencing tests and dark situations of isolation, despair, hiding, lost, and lonely; and how they found Hope.
Follow along:
School is in session – conducting classes.
- What are you learning when life happens?
We are jumping into the book of Job today to look at 3 different sessions.
- Oppression
- Recession
- Depression
Ultimately the enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy. – according to John 10:10
The enemy uses tactics to try and get you to misplace your Hope.
You can’t cancel Hope. You can’t kill Jesus. So the enemy uses tactics to get us to place our Hope on anything but Jesus.
1 – Hope is in Oppression
Job 1:6-12
6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
Does Job fear God for nothing? Is Job’s Hope tied to the blessings or the blesser.
Satan has this theory – if bad things happen to good people; then good people will lose their Hope in God.
He ultimately wants us to accuse God of the bad things.
Satan has a 3 step program for you loosing Hope:
- Move hope from God to stuff
- Wait for stuff to fail
- Get you to accuse God for stuff failing
Hope is in oppression by placing our Hope correctly.
Too many people don’t learn the lessons found in life. Things get tough, they blame God.
2 – Hope is in Recession
Job 1:20-22
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Recession is a significant decline in the economy. I want to look at Job’s response in complete recession. He lost his family, his wealth, his everything.
- It is not wrong to grieve from loss.
- It is healthy to grieve.
- It is wrong to accuse God of your loss.
Satan wishes that you would blame God too.
Job didn’t blame God here. He tore his Robe and shaved his head and worshiped God.
You can’t control what you loose; but you can control your response.
Robe, hair and worship were all very public expressions.
When we are grieving it is ok to be public about it. Don’t think you need to hide how you feel.
Job was public about his grieving….. but he was public about his worship too.
His robe and his hair were symbols of ethnicity, background, wealth, tribe, land owner, successful businessman.
He tore his robes and cut his hair to show his identity was grieving; but his posture was worship.
Hope is found in recession when we worship.
***Pause here to join us in the chat or comments and do life together:***
What are different ways you worship God?
3 – Hope is in Depression
Job 1:20-22
20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”
22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Finding hope in depression is first rising up out of your emotions, your mind, and your state.
…then he fell to the ground in worship.
Hope is in depression through our position to Jesus
Hope is found in oppression, recession and depression.
If something still feels off something is miss-aligned.
God questions Job.
…..then Job replies.
Job 40:2
“Will you discredit my justice
and condemn me just to prove you are right?
Job 42:5-6
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
NEXT STEPS THIS WEEK: Find something to repent to Jesus about. Maybe it’s misplacing your hope on stuff, maybe it’s a lack of worship, or maybe it’s failing to position yourself at the feet of Jesus.