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Job chapter 23 in your Bible,
Job chapter 23, it's good to see a few folks that we've got
to meet down through the years of serving the Lord. I'll tell
you what, when I was unsaved and lost, thought I had the tiger
by the tail. Wasn't saved till I was 18, thought
I had all kind of friends. Then I got saved and realized
what, found out what true friends are, amen. And certainly appreciate
the folks that we've been privileged to meet over through the years.
Job chapter 23, And I think that the message tonight really kind
of goes along with the theme of the evening, and so I don't
want to do anything to disrupt what the Lord's already doing
in our hearts here tonight. Verse number 8, follow along,
we'll read the passage here. The Bible says, Behold, I go
forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive
him. On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold
him. He hideth himself on the right
hand, that I cannot see him. But he knoweth the way that I
take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My
foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined,
neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips.
I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary
food. We'll speak to you for a few
moments tonight out of this passage on the subject, navigating through
the zone of silence. Navigating through the zone of
silence, let's pray together. Father, thank you for your word.
Thank you for the work it's already had in my heart tonight. I've
been encouraged and helped. Thank you for the spirit of the
music and the good message and the songs that we've heard. Thank
you for the spirit of the service altogether, the congregational
singing. It's been exalting the Lord and lifting up God. And
I praise you for that. And I just thank you for this
place. The freedom and the liberty we have tonight to come and worship
you here. God, would you please use the message. Would you please
anoint both speaker and listener how we need your spirit to open
our eyes and help us see something wonderful out of your book tonight. So God, fill us and use us all
tonight in these moments. We'll give you the glory and
praise for it in Jesus' name and amen. There's something mighty
precious about being God's child and enjoying his presence as
we navigate through this life. The songwriter wrote, he speaks
and the sound of his voice is so sweet the birds hush their
singing. And the melody that He gave to
me within my heart is ringing and He walks with me and He talks
with me and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share
as we tarry there, none other has ever known. I'm sure about
everybody in this room has experienced those wonderful times in your
life since you've been saved where you just did sweet fellowship
with the Lord and it's obvious His presence is with you and
around you. As you're driving in the car,
it's almost as if you could reach over in the passenger seat and
just touch the presence of the Lord. I remember hearing Tom
Malone years ago tell the story about He flew out of Detroit
to go preach for somebody. And when he got there, the pastor
picked him up and was taking him back to the motel room. And
as they were driving along, Brother Malone in the passenger seat,
the pastor looked out the window like this as he was driving,
looked up and just waved. And Brother Malone said, he looked
through the glass, you know, in the windshield and he didn't
see any helicopters or airplanes or anything up there. So he didn't
pay much attention to it. And throughout the week as he
was there driving around with the pastor in the car, the pastor
occasionally would Just wave and look out the window. Look
up and wave. And so finally, you know, curiosity got the cat.
Brother Malone asked him, he said, Pastor, he said, can I
ask you a question? He said, what are you doing? Who are you waving
at? He said, oh, I'm just waving at Jesus. I'm just waving at
Jesus. Brother Malone said he thought
to himself, man, what kind of a nut have I come to preach for?
And throughout the week, he'd just keep waving like that. He
finished the meeting, he got back on the plane, flew back
to Detroit, got in his car, was driving back to Pontiac. He was
just reveling in the presence of the Lord. Pretty soon he found
himself looking out the window. Waving at Jesus out the window.
We've all had times like that in our lives. There's something
mighty precious about being God's child and enjoying His presence.
How wonderful that guidance, how wonderful that assurance,
how wonderful that blessing, how wonderful that direction.
But as I read my Bible, it becomes clear to me that sometimes God's
people go through the zone of silence where it seems like God's
voice is not and His presence is not faint.
I believe some in the Bible entered into the zone of silence because
of personal sin. When I think of that, I think
of Eli and his two sons. The Bible says there that the
word of the Lord was precious in those days. There was no open
vision. In other words, there were very
few messages. In fact, there were no messages
from God to Eli. His word was not flowing openly
and freely to Eli and the boys because of their personal sin. In fact, at the time that Eli
was laying in his bed in the temple in the zone of silence,
just down the hall a few feet, God was speaking freely to a
little boy named Samuel. Eli was in that zone of silence
because of personal sin. But that is not what my message
is about tonight. Others in the Bible entered the
zone of silence, I believe, according to God's plan. And one such man
was Job. I don't think I have to familiarize
you with the story of Job. You know it well. After losing
everything, his sheep, his camels, his oxen, his donkeys, his 10
children, his health, Job made that famous statement. The Bible
says in all this, Job sinned nor charged God foolishly. Then after that, it seems that
Job entered into that awful place where God doesn't speak to the
heart, where God doesn't make an impression upon the heart.
It seems like God was not listening, it seemed like God was not speaking,
and that's not what Job was used to. Turn in your Bible, hold
your finger there in chapter 23, and turn over to chapter
29, and look with me at what Job was used to by his own testimony. In chapter 29 and verse number
2, Job says, Oh that I were as in months past. I wish it was
like it used to be. As in the days when God preserved
me. Now notice the wording here.
When his candle shined upon my head and when by his light I
walked through darkness. As I was in the days of my youth,
when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle, where the Almighty
was yet with me. That's what Job was used to. Job was used to God's presence.
Job was used to God's direction. Job was used to God's assurance.
Job was used to all of that. But that's not where he is as
he's writing in chapter 23. In fact, look back at chapter
22 and verse number 21. Eliphaz is talking to Job here.
And in verse number 21, he says to Job, Acquaint now thyself
with him, with God. and be at peace. Thereby good
shall come unto thee. Receive, I pray thee, the law
from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. If thou
return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt
put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. Eliphaz said, Job,
what you need to do is get back to God. What you need to do is
find God. What you need to do is get God's
assurance. What you need to do is get God's leadership. What
you need to do is get God's direction. Look what Job said in chapter
23 in verse 3. He said, oh, that I knew where
I might find him, that I might come even to his seat. You tell
me to go find God? Brother, if I could find God,
I would. You told me to go to where God's seat is. If I could
find his seat, I'd go there. If I could get direction, if
I could get assurance, if I could get leadership, if I could get
some presence of God in my life, I'd get it. But Job could not
find God anywhere in his life. There was no candle shining upon
his head. Look what he said in verse number
eight again. He said, I go forward, but he's
not there. and backward, but I cannot perceive.
On the left hand where he doth work, I cannot behold him. He
hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him. You see
what he's saying, people? Job says, everywhere I turn in
my life, I go front, I can't find God. I go in the back, I
can't find God. I go on the left hand, I can't
find God. I go on the right hand, I can't find God. In the 306
degree circle in my life, I can't find God anywhere. There's no candle shining upon
my head. There's no light so I can walk
through the darkness. There's no secret of God with
me. I can't find the Almighty anywhere. This is Job's testimony. He's
not used to it. Now friends, I mean, I'm preachers
and anybody in the room, it is incredibly dangerous when we
enter into those days, those weeks, those months that could
be called the zone of silence. I believe David understood this
because he said in Psalm 28 and verse number 1, Be not silent
to me, lest if thou be silent to me I become like them that
go down into the pit. God, please speak to me. God, please give me some direction. God, please give me some assurance.
God, please give me some guidance. In Psalm 83, 1, the psalmist
wrote, keep not thou silent. Oh God, has anybody ever been
on the receiving end of the silent treatment? Maybe I should rephrase
the question, are you married? All right, put it that way. Truth
of the matter is, friends, Job searched for a place. where he
could hear God's voice, where he could get God's message, a
message of explanation, a message of comfort, a message of understanding,
a message of encouragement, a message of direction, a message of assurance,
some kind of message, but none came. No visible or audible sign
or message from God. I love the times. where the presence
of God is so real you can reach across the car seat and touch
it. But I must confess that in these almost 40 years of serving
him in ministry, I have found myself occasionally in this place
where it's difficult, if not impossible, to get a message
from God. The zone of silence. And I want
to talk to us a little bit tonight about what we need to do according
to what Job did when we hit the zone of silence. First of all,
I want to show you tonight out of the passage here what Job
remembered. What Job remembered. Look at
verse number 10. He just got through saying in
verses 8 and 9, I turn everywhere in my life and I can't find any,
I can't find any message from God. Then he says in verse 10,
but he knoweth the way that I take. The first thing that Job remembered
is God is watching. You know what Job's testimony
was here? I may not be able to see him, but he can see me and
because he can see me, everything is all right. And when you and
I hit the zone of silence, we need to remember that God is
watching. We may not be able to see Him,
but He sees us. I remember being a 15-year-old
boy and going to work in a grocery store there out in Cliftondale,
out by Fairburn and College Park, Georgia, that part of southwest
Atlanta. And when I was working in that grocery store one afternoon,
we were stocking shelves and working with a gal by the name
of Daryl there. And I looked up against the wall and I saw
this dark glass. I never had noticed before. I
hadn't been working there very long. And I said to Daryl, I said,
what is that? They said, you don't know what
that is. And I said, no, I don't know what it is. He said, that's a one-way
glass. He said, on the other side of that dark glass is Mr. Ramsey's office. Mr. Ramsey owned
the store. He said, sometimes Mr. Ramsey
will go up there during the day. He'll look through that glass.
Nobody can see him, but he can see everything going on in the
store. He'll look for shoplifters. And I've seen Mr. Ramsey personally
run after shoplifters and stop them in the parking lot. I mean,
back in the days when you could do that without getting in trouble.
So, I've seen him do that. But he said, Darrell also said,
he's not only looking for shoplifters, he's watching his employees.
He's seeing how we work. And I remember the impression
that it made on me then as a 15-year-old boy, that even though I could
not see him, he could see me. And when we hit the zone of silence,
brethren, we need to remember that even though we may not be
able to see God, He sees us. He is watching. He is watching
us carefully. I believe Hezekiah hit the zone
of silence. The Bible says about Hezekiah,
God left him to try him that he might know all that was in
his heart. There was a time where Hezekiah
evidently couldn't find God. He couldn't see God, but God
could see him. So we gotta remember when we
hit the zone of silence, that God is watching. Second thing
we need to remember is that God is waiting. God is waiting. Look at chapter 23, verse number
10. Again, not only did Job say,
he knoweth the way that I take. I love this. He said, when he
hath tried me. Now I love that word when because
that tells me that the zone of silence is not indefinite. It has a starting point and it
has an ending point. God is patient. God is waiting. His zone of silence has a starting
point and it has an ending point. I remember reading in Psalm 105
verse 19 where the word of God says until the time They're talking
about Joseph in prison down there. Until the time that his word
came, the word of the Lord tried him. Now you remember when Job
entered into that trial, Joseph entered into that trial down
in the land of Egypt. You remember when he went to
the pit and then he went to Potiphar's house and then he went to Pharaoh's
prison. And then the butler and the baker had the dreams. And
they came down into prison down there. And they told Joseph about
their dreams. And Joseph interpreted their
dreams. He told the baker, he said, in three days, they're
gonna come and they're gonna take you out of here and chop
your head off. You're gonna lose everything. And he told the butler,
he said, in three days, they're gonna come and restore you to
your position there under Pharaoh. And sure enough, in three days,
here they came. They took the baker out, they killed him. They
took the butler out and they're going to restore him to his position.
And I can see Joseph in that dungeon. And I can see the butler
as he's getting ready to leave. And Joseph says to the butler,
he says, hey sir, when you get restored to your position there
at Pharaoh's palace, don't forget me. Remember me. Talk about me
to Pharaoh. Tell him about me. And preacher,
I think it must have been in Joseph's mind that he thought
his trial was over. He thought his days in that dungeon
were done. His days in that prison were
over. But you remember the story, friend. It was too full. Years later, you know what the
problem is folks the butler didn't start Joseph's trial and the
butler couldn't end Joseph's trial God Started Joseph's trial
and only God can end Joseph's trial and we need to remember
that we hit the zone of silence as difficult as frustrating as
it may and it is frustrating and We gotta remember when we
hit that, that God is not only watching, God is waiting. You know, I'd like to think that
after, you know, turning 62 years of age, you kind of learn a few
things over the years and grow up a little bit. And I remember
when I first started traveling a little bit, going to places
and flying out of airports, and I'd much rather drive on the
ground than fly in a plane. It just has no appeal to me,
really. But I mean, man, you get to the
airport and there'd be all kind of things going on, weather delays.
And I don't know if any of you are this way, it used to fret
me. And I used to just, I mean, I just used to fret and get aggravated
and frustrated and all kind of been out of shape there. And
finally, you know, it dawned on me one day, there is a man
out there in that control tower. who not only knows what the weather
is like where I am, he knows what the weather is like where
I'm going, and he knows what the weather is like in between
where I am and where I'm going. Now you can fuss and fume and
get all aggravated and frustrated, or you can just sit and relax
and be patient. And the truth of the matter is,
brother, when we hit the zone of silence and we can't find
God anywhere in anything we're doing, we have to remember that
God is waiting he starts it and he ends it and he's not going
to end it until he gets ready to end it you're not going to
push it No, you're not gonna change it. He's gonna end it
when he chooses to end it. So Job was remembering some things
here. He said, I'm going 360 degrees in my life and I can't
find God anywhere. But he's remembering that even
though he can't see God, God can see him. And he's remembering
that God is waiting. So God is watching, God is waiting. But there's a third thing that
Job remembers in this time of silence. It's at the end of verse
number 10. He says, when he had tried me,
I shall come forth as gold. He remembered thirdly that God
is working. God is working. I shall come
forth as gold. The truth of the matter is, brethren,
the length of the wait is determined by how extensive the work is.
The length of the weight is determined by how extensive the work is.
You know, my son that works with me there part-time at the church,
he had an appendectomy. And I was called to the hospital
and it was there. I'm not kidding. They had him
in and out of surgery in 20 minutes, taking that appendix out. We
have a man in our church, Scott Kirchner, who had a total heart
replacement. They didn't do a balloon, a catheterization. They didn't put stents in. They
opened his chest cavity, took his heart out and put, threw
it away, I guess, I don't know what they did with it, and put
another one in his body and sewed him up. And I'm gonna tell you
something, that didn't take 20 minutes. That took 14 hours. 14 hours
of surgery. But I would say tonight that
a total heart replacement is a little bit more difficult than
an appendectomy. And I'm saying tonight, dear
friend, listen, if you're in the zone of silence, hey, God
does not sit around the marketplace idle. God is working. And it may not seem like He is
working to you. It may not seem like He is working
to me. But God is not idle. The zone
of silence is a construction zone. And can I remind you what
Job said? God is not making nickel. And
God is not making silver. And God is not making brass.
God is making gold. Preachers, can I say to us tonight,
those of us pastors and evangelists, missionaries, sometimes God has
to grow us before he grows the ministry. We get so fretted and
frustrated sometimes when the ministry isn't going like we
think it should. And we're in this zone of silence.
We can't find God anywhere. And we're frustrated a little
bit and a little bit put out because God's presence just doesn't
seem to be near. Look, I'm in this service tonight,
and I don't mean just because of the shouting. I felt the presence
of God in here from the opening song. Jesus saves. Jesus saves. The song before
that. I've enjoyed the presence of God, but it hasn't always
been like this. There are times when it's silent. And I can't find God's leadership. I can't find His direction. I
can't find His encouragement. can't find his assurance. But that does not mean that he
is sitting idle. God is at work. And what he is fashioning, Job
said, is gold. When we hit the zone of silence,
we need to remember what Job remembered. God is watching,
God is waiting, and God is working. There might be somebody here
tonight, in ministry or just servant of God. Maybe you're
a mother, maybe a grandmother, maybe a young adult man or a
young adult woman, maybe a preacher here tonight, an evangelist.
I don't know. But boy, I'm telling you, it's
like you can't find God. You read, you pray, you go to
church, you sing the songs, you do everything that you should
do. But there's just no, there's
no, There's no assurance, no leadership, no direction, no
guidance. It's the zone of silence. And friend, when we hit the zone
of silence, we need to take a lesson from this wonderful man in the
Bible called Job. Job remembered God is watching,
God is waiting, God is working. That's what Job remembered. Now,
I want to show you how Job responded, how Job responded when he was
in this zone of silence. Look at verse number 11. This
was his testimony. He's just talked about the fact
that I remember now that God is watching, God is waiting,
and God is working. And then he responds in verse
number 11 by saying, boy, I love this, my foot hath held his steps. His way have I kept and not declined. Neither have I gone back from
the commandment of His lips. You know how Job responded in
the zone of silence? First of all, he determined to
keep God's way. He determined to keep God's way. My foot hath held his steps. His way have I kept. I think we just heard something
about that in one of the songs that the family sang. Not to
go to the left or the right. Stay in the right path. This
is my burden. Boy, this is a burden that I'm
carrying now for younger preachers and ministry. I'm afraid this
is what's leading, Brother Jason, this is what's causing some of
our younger preachers in ministry to change direction, deviate
from the right path, the old path. The church is just not growing
like they think it should. People aren't getting saved as
often as they think they should. And here's what they say, preacher,
they call an older pastor like you, preacher, it's not working. It's not working. And usually
what they mean by it's is old-fashioned confrontational Bible preaching,
soul winning, and separation, and holy living, and it's just
not working. Can I tell you, church, it never
has been an it. It's always been a who. And I believe in praying for
the power of God. And I believe in begging him
to fill us with his spirit. But I wanna tell you something,
brother. We gotta remember that the work of God is the work of
the Holy Spirit of God, the work of the Holy Ghost. And just because
on the mission field or at the church house or even in your
own family, you don't feel like it's going as it should, it's
no cause for you or me or any of us to change direction. Stay in the old paths. I know, I know, I know, Brother
Flora, I know you talk to them. And brother, the pressure is
on. Because of all these, all these whatever they are, they're
not churches. They're not churches. They're entertainment centers.
That's all they are, soft soap and everything. Everything, anything
goes. Always used to be, you know,
used to be that they didn't like the dress. They didn't like this. But brother, how come when they
leave to go for the lack of standards in dress and the lack of standards
in music, not long it's sipping wine? That's not just good preaching.
That's reality. Some of us have seen it in our
own families, extended family. I had a missionary who came home
from the field because he went to this non-denom, rock and roll,
no standards. Well, you guys always say it's
a slippery road. I said, that's because, son, it is. And it is. It's a slippery slope. Brother, I'm going to tell you
something. These young men, they call. And across town, there's
some old boy with no standards, no Bible. He don't have a Bible. He has a book been tampered with
by men. And he's building a crowd. I worked for Brother Larry Brown
out there for 10 years in Washington, Iowa. And little by little and
bit by bit and here a little and there a little, God used
him to build a wonderful church out there. And I don't know what
we were running. I don't remember even what we
were running when we went there. But now there's a fly-by-night organization
in that town running 900 and 1,000 every Sunday, singing on
Father's Day. Here's to you, Dad. Born to be
wild. 900 and 1,000 people. in a little town of 6,500 in
Iowa, out in the middle of the cornfields. An independent, fundamental
Baptist preacher with a King James Bible and some convictions
in his heart, looks across town and sees that crowd and sees
that building and sees the money pouring in and you start to feel
like, I gotta do something. I gotta, yeah, you do gotta do
something. Do what Job did. Respond the same way Job did.
Just stick to the way. Don't deviate. To the right or
to the left. It's so dangerous. Can I use
you, brother, up here? Can you help me just a minute?
What's your first name, sir? Tyler, good to meet you, Tyler,
amen. All right, so let's say Tyler and I, we're serving the
Lord full-time servants or whatever. Doesn't matter if you're a parent,
full-time servant, doesn't matter. You're a child of God. We're
serving the Lord. We are perpendicular on the line of truth. Here is
the line of truth right here. We're standing on it perpendicular,
straight as can be on the line of truth. Now, I can deviate
from my stance two degrees, and at this point, you may not even
be able to tell. But if Tyler stays straight on
the 90 degree angle on truth, and I've deviated a couple of
three degrees to the right or the left, we go down the road
a few years, walk with me a little bit here, Tyler. The longer we
walk, the more apparent that's gonna become. The further and
further off course I'm gonna get. Thank you, Tyler. And young
preachers, I don't know you folks. This is my first time here. I
know just a handful of you, but I don't know what burdens and
battles you might be facing in your ministry. But I will tell
you, the pressure is on young men, especially, not just young
men, the preachers in them, middle-aged men, old men too, to just change
a little something. Because it's not working. It's not working. But I will
tell you something, you, sometimes brethren, it's just more perspiration
than it is inspiration. You get in that path and stick
to it. I've got to do it with a good
spirit. There's no merit being mean and ugly, treating people
wrong. But you don't have to change.
You don't have to alter. By the way, I found out through
the years, it's not just fundamentalists that can have a bad spirit. The
evangelicals can have a pretty bad spirit too once in a while.
This was years ago. Remember when promise keepers
was a big thing? And we had these billboards all around town. And
I didn't know what it was. It was this multicultural person
up there with long black hair. And this thing was, come home
for Christmas. Christmas, come home for Christ.
Christmas, the Christ part of Christmas was highlighted. So
I get it, okay, that's supposed to be Jesus and come home for
Christmas. I just remember seeing it all over town. After the first
of the year, we had our visitation, soul winning meeting on Saturday.
I went back to the office to get ready to go out and a fellow
was standing there, had a jacket on and had some material in his
arms. Are you the pastor here? I said,
yes, sir. He said, my name is so-and-so. And he said, I am
with, and he opened up his jacket and there was the logo that was
on those billboards. I said, yeah, I've seen that.
He said, I'm with promise keepers. You know what promise keepers
is? I said, no sir, I don't. He said, well, it's an organization
of men. And we're going to be over here at Olivet Nazarene
University. And we're trying to break down the barriers between
race and gender and doctrine. I said, and that's my problem
with what you're doing. How are you going to break down
doctrine between a person who believes you pray to Mary and
one who believes you go to the mediator, Jesus Christ? God is
my witness. This is no lie. You Baptists
are all alike. I said, amen, amen. Not all of us, but a lot of us,
amen. You Baptists are all alike. You and John Marvin over town,
you're all just alike. And it stunned me. I mean, he's
jawed. He's turning red in the face.
I said, he's in my office now. I said, stop. I said, us fundamentalists
are supposed to have the bad spirit? Here you are, an evangelical,
standing in my office, screaming at me. Get out of here. Now look, you don't have to have
a bad spirit, but just stay on course. Oh, look at what he said. I have not, my foot hath held
his steps. I am not, he's taking my donkeys. my camels, everything, and now
I can't find him anywhere, but I trust him enough to keep his
way. Keep his way. I am weary. I hope we've seen the last young
independent Baptist preacher, evangelist, deviate. from the
way to stay in it. Not only did he say
that he determined to keep God's way, he also said he determined
to esteem God's word. Look at verse number 12 again,
the last phrase. I have esteemed the words of
his mouth more than my necessary food. Brethren, can I say something
tonight? I don't mean to, look. I'm treading
lightly here because this, y'all got a great printing ministry
and I've ordered some materials from your printing ministry. There never has been a book written
by man that is infallible. And what do we always hear? Read
the book, eat the fish, Spit out the bone. OK, I get it. But can I suggest something tonight?
When you're in the zone of silence, there's a book with no bone in
it. And there's only one book with
no bone in it. And it's this one right here.
It's the one you've got. And I'm for reading good books. They're
a great help. We're doing it in our church. This year we're
giving out a book a month. And our church family are reading
that book every month together, one book a month. Because Timothy,
Paul did tell Timothy, give attendance to reading. And Paul did tell
Timothy, bring the books and especially the parchments. So he differentiated between
books written by men and the book written by God. So they're
helpful. I'm not saying they're not helpful.
Not saying that at all, but I am saying that when we are in the
zone of silence, we better have enough sense to get our nose
in this book. And here's why, brethren. We're
vulnerable. When you're in the zone of silence,
you're vulnerable. And something written by this
fella can get us off course, can get us out of the way. And
it's not just the books in print. It's the internet and the blogs. You gotta get your nose in the
book. Not something written by somebody
who's in the same shape you're in. You know, I think one of the
saddest things in the world, those two disciples walking on the road
to Emmaus, and they communed with each other. That's the worst
thing they could do. They're both in the same shape.
Well, we thought it was the Messiah. Yeah, we sure, we made a mistake
there, didn't we? Yeah, we blew that one. I mean,
what good are they to each other? There is a book without an error
in it. A book of truth. And when we
hit the zone of silence, this is the book we need. And Job said, his words gonna
be more important to me than my breakfast. John Rice said
that he lived by a little saying, no Bible, no breakfast. No Bible, no breakfast. I don't
know where you are tonight, But I can testify that I've been
in those places of fellowship with the Lord. You've been there. And I'm thinking
now of those times where it was so holy. You really don't like to talk
about it. I don't mean spooky. I don't mean spooky. But I mean... You don't go turning 360 degrees
looking for God. He's there. but I've also hit these seasons.
And maybe you haven't, but my guess is you have. You hit these
seasons. God, where are you? And one of
your good friends says, well, just go to prayer. If I could
go to prayer and find God, I would. If I could go to his seat and
find him, I'd be there. I'm at a loss. Remember he is watching. Remember he is waiting. Remember
he is working. And respond by determining to
keep his way and esteem his word. I'm going to tell you what's
going to happen. You're going to get out of bed, get your cup
of coffee, sit down in your chair with your open Bible. In all
those weeks or days where you haven't heard anything from God,
You're gonna start reading, and God's gonna say, see that? See
that? God. Yes, son. You're back. I haven't been anywhere. I haven't moved anywhere. I'm
in the same place I've always been. You just hit the zone of
silence, son. God help us. I wonder how many
ministries have crashed in the zone of silence. I wonder how many of God's men
got off course in the zone of silence. If we live like Job,
do what he did, we'll navigate successfully through the zone
of silence. Father, bless the message to
our hearts tonight. I pray that you'll help somebody Lord, I
thank you that you are not only the God of the fire and the God
of the lion, you're the God of the fall. And Lord, you're God
when we sense your presence and feel it and know it and when
we can almost touch you, it seems. Lord, you're there in that silence
as well. And I pray that you'll help us to remember that you are watching. waiting and working. And God,
that we will respond by keeping your way and esteeming your word. I pray tonight, Lord, for some
person in ministry who's a little bit discouraged because it's
not going like they think it should. I pray that you'll help
them tonight. I pray for a mother, a grandfather,
a young adult man or woman who's in the zone of silence and just
wondering what's happened, what's happened. What's happened to
my assurance? What's happened to my fellowship?
What's happened to my direction? God, please help them tonight
to navigate successfully through the zone of silence.
Navigating Through The Zone of Silence
Series 2020 Emerald Coast Jubilee
| Sermon ID | 12320032228043 |
| Duration | 40:24 |
| Date | |
| Category | Special Meeting |
| Bible Text | Job 23 |
| Language | English |
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