Sunday April 14th
What If You Lost Everything In Life​

Welcome to The Journey Church. I'm Pastor Paris Pasch.

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Last year I did a “Lie Busters” series about some of the things we are told by society and culture to believe, that simply aren’t true.  So in a similar way I’m going to tackle a few “What If…?” statements.  These will address our progressive cultures criticism of organized Christianity.  Last week we covered a biggie: What if Jesus were never born?

We learned pretty quickly of the catastrophic reality for all humanity if Jesus had not rescued us by His shed blood on the cross, but also of the impact on our social entities like education, medicine and moral foundations.

Today we will shift to a real life reality for many people who share the planet with us, maybe even you.  So, here is today’s What If…?  What if everything you have worked for in your life suddenly or even gradually disappeared? 

Because many people live as though this world we live in is all there is, they hang onto everything with a very tight fist, afraid to relax about what they acquire.  They demonstrate that this world is more about competing against your neighbor, defending your rights, battling anyone who intrudes and waging war against all who contradict your plans.  It is all out survival of the fittest, or Evolution 101. 

One of the great problems in many minds is that they seem unaware that they have an enemy who works night and day, 365 days a year, to stop them in their tracks and sometimes he succeeds.  Their fear driven focus is accumulation and acquisition.  They battle day and night to get more and give less, the opposite of who God is calling His people to be.

The struggle may be caused by job loss, family crisis, sudden death, a health crisis or any number of other realities.  It may be based on a weather impact, fear of climate change, poor personal choices or even the choice of a controlling government strategy.  So let’s consider, “If your life rotates around your accomplishments or climbing the life ladder, then what if it all goes away?”

Actually there are a number of places in the Bible that address this possibility based on some simple realities.

1. There is an enemy at large trying to destroy your life. John 10:10

2. This world we live in is temporary and broken. 1 Peter 4:12

3. Trouble can happen even when you do everything right. John 16:33

4. Other people’s influences can have a huge impact on your life.  1 Corinthians 15:33

5. Our personal life choices come with consequences.  Deuteronomy 28:1 & 15

These realities take us to a scripture verse that reminds us of where to put our trust.

Matthew 6:19–21 (NIV) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Most of my life, as a disciple of some 46 years, has included Vicki and I trying to move from a life of our accomplishments to a life of Christ centered contentment.  Now don’t misunderstand me, we work hard to be good stewards of what God has afforded us, but place little confidence in our achievements apart from God.  An image I often try to remind myself of is, to hold my accomplishments in an open palm where they can be enjoyed one day and absent another.  Every item I own and everything done in my life is viewed through this lens.  I only find peace knowing that God has much more available for me in the future, if I lose what I have today.

This is not some cliché or easy road to joy and happiness because we have lost much in our lives.  Financial security, loved ones, family, friends, medical insurance, employment, nearly our lives in an auto accident and many many other things. 

For the unbelieving person, life is over when you die, so get all you can while you can.  They struggle and clamor to compete on this planet because the one who dies with the most junk wins.  The battle is for achievement, success and beating the neighbors to the biggest house, the fastest car or the most prestigious job.  Loosing something is devastating to a plan like that.

For the believing person this “What If We Lose Everything” threat has been removed from our lives as a reality.  We no longer live in fear of the loss of life, the loss of comfort or the loss of stuff.  We are to live clinging to the eternal, not the temporal.  In fact, when this whole life on earth is over, we simply move onto the eternal blessing and peace afforded us by our rescuer.  We are Heaven bound.

Having this heavenly reality, let’s investigate the possibility of losing everything.  Many intelligent, yet misinformed people, try to describe their loss by using the biblical story of Job.  The reality is that none of us has experienced the life of Job and few have stood their ground like Job did.  He is a great example of extreme, but seldom a reflection of our personal reality.

I’ve attempted to comprehend the “why” of Job’s great struggle in the story just like many of you have tried to understand why you are in the predicament you are in.  The better approach is not the solving of why, but rather to understand the players and their motives.

Job 1:1 (NIV) 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.

Does your story start like this?  If so, then continue to relate.  If not, then simply read your Bible again and solve the mystery of calamity I’ve already listed for you.  Here is just one of the verses I’ve revealed already.

Deuteronomy 28:15–19 (NIV)However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you: 16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. 17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. 18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

But Job was not like that and yet he still was attacked by Satan.  Job lost most of his possessions, his children, his health and his livelihood.  Here is his response.

Job 1:20–22 (NIV) 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.

At the end of the day we must conclude, as Job did, that God is sovereign even when we don’t understand.  Even when the “why” eludes our understanding.  Sovereign is that God doesn’t answer to us, depend on us or constrained by us to determine the best course of human action. 

Job 38:4–7 (NIV) “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels  shouted for joy?

Today as a pastor, one of my least favorite statements made by well-meaning church people is that “everything happens for a reason”.  This seems to imply that God works like a puppeteer manipulating humanity.  However the reason might be that Satan is in full attack mode, or we might be in self-destruct mode.  We must stand in faith against Satan and other human beings efforts because God always prevails.

You see, our real life is not found in our 80 year existence, it is found in our eternal existence.  Get your palm open and trust the king of kings and the Lord of Lords.  Because Job refused to falter in his faith God restored all that Job lost.  He refused to shift into our normal fear response because He trusted God knew what He was doing.  Can you trust God that profoundly or is your faith conditional?  Let’s pray a portion of Psalm 91

Psalm 91:1–2 (NIV)Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

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Next week Pastor Paris covers; “What if the world collapses before my loved ones find Jesus?”

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      Message Questions

1. Why are so few people using the book of Job correctly?

2. If the essence of the story of Job is to describe God’s sovereignty, how should we think regarding calamity?

3. What would be a true faith perspective in light of our own calamities?

4. Why doesn’t God need to feel obligated to give us the “” answer?

5. For Christ followers what is the answer to What if everything you have worked for in your life suddenly or even gradually disappeared?