New Songs, Same Humanity | Week 3 of 4

Jul 23

Key Bible Verses

Book of Job

Digging Deeper

It is wonderful when we come to God, praising and thanking Him for the beautiful things in our lives. These things we cherish include special people we care for and value. They could also include special memories and mementos that remind us of wonderful times we have experienced. These beautiful things and times could be when we praise God for who He is and what He allows us to learn as we grow in maturity and grace. God has been gracious and generous with beautiful things. May we never take them for granted and always appreciate what He has given us.

But there are times when we come to God with heavy hearts, grieving the loss of beautiful things that have been taken away that were dear to us. Our experience teaches us that nothing is permanent and everything is subject to change. Yet, it still hurts when we lose something that holds beauty, meaning, and value in our lives.

Knowing that God's loving arms surround us brings peace and solace to our troubled hearts, comforts us during seasons of loss, and strengthens us. Working through the power of the Holy Spirit, God gives us the courage to heal and accept what has gone away and helps us hold on to the remaining beautiful memories.

What Not To Miss

We are looking at new music but the same kind of humanity in this A&E series.

Main goals for this series:

This will help you spiritually and biblically process the music you listen to.
This will equip you to missionally engage family, friends, and co-workers who listen to the music.

Music cues the culture to know when and to whom to bow down.

Artist and their music express:

What they believe.
What questions they have about life.
What their hurts, habits, and hang-ups are.
What they value.
What they love.
What they worship.

Benson Boone’s song, “Beautiful Things.”

“Beautiful Things” big buckets:
- Acknowledgment of beautiful things.
- Thankfulness for beautiful things.
- Fear of losing beautiful things.
- An idolatrous love of beautiful things.

The takeaway from the song:
- Boone is so worried about losing the beautiful things in life that he has failed to realize and embrace the most BEAUTIFUL THING in the world—GOD.
- There are many people in the world today who are religious or spiritual, believe in a higher power, believe in God, and resonate with Boone’s song.
  - They resonate with his sentiment.
  - They don’t want God to touch their beautiful things.
  - They cope by demanding that God protect the beautiful things in their lives, and if God doesn’t listen, they distance themselves from God.

Job sang another song after being a man who lost all the beautiful things in his life.

Satan requested God to be able to test Job. As a result of the Lord releasing Satan to do what Satan asked for, Job lost every beautiful thing other than his sobbing and grieving wife.

Satan is not God.

Satan is not omnipotent (He has to ask for permission), is not omnipresent (He has to roam the earth), and is not omniscient. (He thinks he knows what Job will do.)
Satan believes that human beings worship God only for what God gives us.
- Satan believes that if he could strike and take away the beautiful things in our lives, then we would lose sight, focus, loyalty, and allegiance to the Most Beautiful thing in the world and in the world to come.
In all of this, Job did not sin in what he said. Satan asks to go further and affect Job’s health, and God says Satan can affect Job, but not kill him. In all this, Job maintains his integrity, and he does not curse God.
- Yet, in all this, Job praised, worshipped, extolled, and was faithful to God, accepting the good and the bad.

How do we sing this song like Job?
Where do pain and suffering come from?

Disappointment, discouragement, discipline, difficulties, discomfort, dissatisfaction, despair, disease, and death.
Ultimately, pain and suffering come from…LOSS!

Why do we experience pain and suffering?

Living in a fallen, broken, marred, and sinful world.
Our own sin.
Someone else’s sin.
Satan’s scheme.

How do we respond to pain and suffering?

Petition the prevention.
Paralyze ourselves from the feeling.
Protest God in our distancing.
Praise God and lift up prayers to Him.

How do we respond like Job rather than Boone?

Five truths we see in the Book of Job needed to respond to pain and suffering like Job.

1. Hope. (Job 13:15–16)
2. Redemption. (Job 19:25–27)
3. Refinement. (Job 23:10)
4. Limitation. (Job 26:14)
5. Restoration. (Job 42:10–13)

When we find our ultimate fulfillment and satisfaction in the Lord, that is where true shalom and flourishing are found.

God doubles everything that Job had lost because it was never about what he had lost; it was always about what he had gained when he became in right standing with God.

Job realized that God was the most BEAUTIFUL THING in the world.
Job realized that God was better than life itself.
Job realized that God was enough. He was more than enough!

There is a greater Job who would endure the pain and suffering from God, who is Jesus.

Jesus was God’s Son sent to take away the sin of the world.
Jesus was sent to take upon Himself the wrath of God as the punishment for the world.
Jesus was perfect, fully righteous, the God-Man who knew no sin.
But on the cross, He who knew no sin became sin for us that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
It was God’s will to crush Him.
Jesus experienced pain, suffering, sorrow, and loss so that we might ultimately experience redemption, deliverance, salvation, renewal, and restoration.

The ultimate BEAUTIFUL THING gave up HIS ONE AND ONLY BEAUTIFUL THING that He might save His beautiful things so that they might ascribe ultimate worship and love to the most BEAUTIFUL THING for all eternity.

There will be times when and where the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, but as with Job, we can sing, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Life Application

Make a list of all the beautiful things that God has blessed you with. Pray and give all these beautiful things to God, who owns everything and controls the universe. Realize that by giving our beautiful things to God, He will take the best care of them. Pray to God, thanking Him for all He gives you, and express your trust that everything beautiful and dear to you is in His loving and sovereign hands.

Small Group Discussion Questions

What are the most beautiful things in your life?
Why does God allow the beautiful things in Job’s life to be taken away?
How does Job challenge God about the good things of life being taken from him?
What is God’s response to Job’s situation?
How should we, as believers, regard the beautiful things in our lives?

Daily Devotional Bible Passages

Day 1: Beauty-Philippians 4:8; Ecclesiastes 3:11; Psalm 27:4
Day 2: Loss-2 Corinthians 4:16; Isaiah 40:8; Isaiah 41:10
Day 3: Trust-Matthew 6:28-29; Isaiah 43:1; Jeremiah 29:11
Day 4: Faith-Galatians 3:26-27; Ephesians 2:10; 2 Timothy 1:7
Day 5: Love-Romans 5:8; Jeremiah 31:3; John 3:16

Prayer

Dear Lord, Help me to find joy in the beautiful things in my life. Let me have the wisdom to cherish and appreciate the people and things that bring me happiness and fulfillment. But also, help me find hope in knowing that You are with me when beautiful and meaningful people and things are taken away, and in my sorrow, let me remember that You understand my pain. Let me trust in Your plan and remember that you are always in control, even when I feel lost, alone, and out of control. I trust in your unfailing love and ask your Holy Spirit to be with me, guiding and giving me Your comfort and peace.