WHEN THE ROAD GETS ROUGH STAY THE COURSE
Forward Thinkers, today we are going to venture off the journey of Abraham and look at the journey of Job. Forward Thinkers I made this sudden switch based on the current reality of several interactions I’ve had over the past few weeks. People are dealing with losses all over the place from loss of loved ones to loss of jobs and relationships. Parents are having to deal with difficult situations concerning their children and families are still fighting through addictions which have derailed their families. Not to mention the number of prayer requests due to sickness and health issues.
Forward Thinkers embrace your journey even when the road gets rough trust God and stay the course. All of us have been traveling on a smooth road and suddenly the road became very rough sometimes the road became so rocky you almost pulled over to see if you have a flat tire. The old Saints would call this the swift transitions of life.
Job 1New International Version (NIV)
1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
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.”
Job 42
10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver[a] and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part
Forward Thinkers we are introduced to Job in chapter one and his journey looks smooth and he is described in ways most would love to be identified with. The bible tells us Job is a good man, better yet Job is a Godly man, a family man, a wealthy man, a faithful man, and a successful man. There is a major point I want to get across here as we embrace our journey sometimes the journey of good people gets rough.
Forward Thinkers I know you may be questioning God on why are you having to deal with a rough patch of road on your journey. After all you are making all the right moves and doing all the right things but you are still experiencing the same rough road as everybody else. I know you are saying God this is not fair.
Forward Thinkers remember the earthly journey of Jesus and before I even go into it ask yourself this question am I better than Jesus. Forward Thinkers every time I start to question God about difficult or rough patches of my journey the Holy Spirit jumps in and answers my question with a question “are you EA better than Jesus?”
Forward Thinkers Jesus was betrayed by those he came to save, Jesus was denied by those close to him. Forward Thinkers the road got so rough for Jesus his sweat turned to blood and he cried out my God, my God why have you forsaken me? Yet, Jesus embraced his journey and stayed the course to encourage you and I to keep going also.
Take a closer look at verse seven in Job chapter one. The devil and God are having a conversation about Job and God puts his faith in Job. Forward Thinkers I wonder can God put his faith in us. Can we pass the faith test when the road gets rough?
God allowed the devil the attack Job from every direction and God still expected Job to finish the course and win. God knew He was Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending and He knew Job would trust Him from beginning to ending. God also knew in the end it was really not about Job’s faithfulness to Him but His faithfulness to Job.
Forward Thinkers we identified Job as a family man but now his family is in trouble. His children are killed and his wife tells him to curse God and die. Basically Job’s wife was saying at this point I’d rather the life insurance over your miserable life. Embrace your journey and stay the course even when your family is going through a rough time.
Job was also known as a wealthy successful business man but the devil is allowed to attack his financial stability and Job takes a major financial hit. In Texas the gas and oil business took a hit and many families still have not recovered financially, the housing market had a negative effect on the economy, and every week in business news big companies are laying off and some are even closing down. Forward Thinkers do you have the faith to embrace your journey and keep going when your money gets funny? Do you trust God to tithe through a rough patch or have you already tapped out?
The devil still was not finished messing with Job because we see Job going through major health issues and his body literally starts to break down on him. Job has to deal with medically problems while dealing with family and financial problems all at the same time and you thought your journey had hit a rough patch. Watch this next time you complain about your issues give me a call and I promise you I can easily find someone that would love to trade places with you. I remember my grandfather told me one time boy you complaining about walking home from the store with a bag of groceries while you walking pass somebody on the side of the road with no home to walk to, no shoes to wear, and no food to eat.
Did you notice in the midst of chapter one and chapter two Job still praised God? Let’s pause for seven seconds and praise God because we know the rough patch of road will eventually come to an end. Matter of fact if God has ever taken you through a rough patch already I challenge you to give him an even louder praise.
Forward Thinkers Job turned to his friends or should I say so-called friends during his time of trouble only to find out like many of us the people around him were only friends with benefits. They were Job’s friends when it benefited them. Job was the man when he was shot-calling and balling but when he couldn’t help them their energy changed.
Forward Thinkers a hard lesson on this journey is to realize people represent energy and energy does not die or fade away but energy is always transferred. Examine the level of energy people give you when you’re going through and that’s the true litmus test of their relationship with you. With everything else Job was dealing with on his journey he now has to deal with negative energy from his boys.
Let’s wrap this up and look to Job 42:
1) After Job prayed for them the Lord restored him with double
Forward Thinkers don’t let anyone or anything disconnect you from God.
The Lord responded to Job’s pray for them while Job needed prayer himself I pray you caught that (selfish prayers go unanswered).
2) The people who knew you before the struggle will witness the comeback story
I love watching God work throughout the bible he let people go through public setbacks only to step in with public blessings twice the size of the setback. Yes God will use your public setback as a Public Set Up.
3) The doubters will have to sow into your journey
Forward Thinkers notice Job’s family was silent during his rough patch but as soon as God moves they rush to sow into Job’s comeback. This season all who overlooked or slept on you God is going to use them to elevate you.
4) Because you didn’t quit God is getting ready to bless you in full view
I told you earlier about Jesus so I’ll close with Jesus. After they killed Jesus the enemy thought they had won so all day Friday and Saturday they were celebrating the demise of Jesus but early Sunday morning the women got to the tomb of Jesus and He is risen from the grave. An angel is there declaring Jesus is not here anymore He has risen and today I’m declaring as the angel of this house YOU ARE NOT THERE IN DEFEAT ANYMORE YOU TOO HAVE RISEN ABOVE IT ALL!
Pastor E. A. Deckard is the Senior Pastor/Founder of the Green House International Church located, in both Houston, Texas, and the Woodlands, Texas. Pastor Deckard is also the Co-Founder of the No More Bloodshed Movement. To contact Pastor Deckard for speaking engagements contact him at pr.ghic@gmail.com, follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Periscope @ Pastor E A Deckard or the church website www.ghic.net