Job 23:1-12

William F. Schnell

October 11, 2009

Test anxiety is something that never quite leaves you.  For some time after graduating from college and grad school and seminary, I would continue to have this recurring dream where I would wake up late for an examination.  Being totally unprepared after sleeping away a night that should have been filled with cramming, I would race to the class with panic in my heart.  But the faster I tried to run the slower my legs seemed to move, as if I was wading through molasses. 

Clearly, the trauma of taking exams at school left an impression upon me.  Now I no longer go to college—by my two children do.  Even though both of them made the Dean’s List last grading period, I find myself getting anxious whenever they face a new test.  Jim Bob has a particularly grueling schedule this term that includes a tough chemistry class.  As a test approaches, I try not to bother him.  But as soon as hour of testing is completed he gets a text message from me: “How do you think you did?” 

The answer is rarely definitive, so I have to wait until his next Chemistry class to find out what grade he received.  As soon as the class is over he gets a text from me: “How did you do?”  He texts me back: “The Prof hasn’t graded them yet.”  What?!?  What kind of service is that?  I’m paying a fortune for this.  But I finally cool down before I text back that we will just have to wait and see.  Okay, maybe I am a little too affected by all this, but test anxiety is hard to kick.

Taking tests is a drag.  You have to prepare for them by attending lectures, taking notes, memorizing hordes of stuff, and maybe even joining a study group.  Then you have to regurgitate all the stuff in a competitive environment and under enormous pressure to make the grade.  Then maybe you don’t do so well, which means that you have to work even harder to catch up.  Or maybe you do real well and your reward is to move up to an even more demanding level where the tests are even harder.  It never ends.

However, it is how we learn and grow and develop our God-given intellects and talents.  In the process we learn how to learn and think critically and synthesize knowledge, which in turn makes us into productive citizens, which in turn provides meaning and purpose for our lives—not to mention a livelihood and paycheck and all that entails.  In short, while taking tests can be hard there is a redeeming value in what test-taking achieves for us which makes the effort more than worth it.

And while I am glad that I am no longer back in school doing what my kids are required to do, I must say that times of testing do not end with the college years.  Some of life’s really big tests come after that.  The title of our message for today is, “The Testing of Faith.”  It is the second in a series of four sermons from the book of Job.  Today we are going to discover a redeeming purpose for life’s trials and troubles—especially those that we do not necessarily cause for ourselves because of foolish choices but that may happen because of circumstances completely beyond our control.  Perhaps seeing them differently we will not be inclined to run away from such tests of faith, but to pass the test and make the grade and grow because of them in a way that makes the effort more than worthwhile. 

By way of review, Job was both a righteous and prosperous man of whom God was justifiably proud.  Satan took another view entirely, and challenged God concerning Job.  Of course Job was righteous and God-fearing, look at how God had prospered his life.  But take away his wealth and health and family and friends and watch how quickly Job would curse God.  So God allows Satan to take away Job’s blessings, which indeed catches Job by surprise and leads to the questions we all ask when undeserved misfortune strikes: “Why is this happening?  Why is it happening to me?  What did I do to deserve this?”

But no answers are forthcoming.  Indeed, despite Job’s most ardent seeking, God cannot found by him.  In our text he declares, If I only knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!  …But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him.  When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him (Verses 3 & 8-9).  But God is catching a glimpse of Job—of Job’s character—and so is Satan.

Job refuses to curse God even when his own life is, for the moment, cursed and he can find no good reason why.  Job is questioning to be sure, and he is struggling and he is hurting, but he is not forsaking his faith in God.  Why?  The answer lies in how Job chooses to see his present misfortune and God’s role in it.  God hasn’t caused his misfortune—Satan has been responsible for that—but God has allowed it to happen.  God sees all things and knows all things.  Certainly he knows of Job’s undeserved suffering, just as he knows of Job’s continuing devotion in the face of it.

Job declares, But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.  My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside (Verses 10-11).  Job sees his present misfortune as a test of his faith, and it is a test he is determined to pass.  He is going to prove that he has more than a fickle fair-weather faith that folds when the going gets tough.  Indeed, he is going to prove that his faith is as pure as gold refined in the furnace of affliction.

There are several places in scripture that liken faith-refining affliction to gold-refining fire, and our New Testament text is one of them.  Peter addresses his readers saying: …though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (I Peter 1:6-7).

Gold is often mined along with a lot of other waste products.  To separate the gold from the waste—a process called refining—the mined material is put into a fiery furnace which melts the gold and burns away the wasteful dross.  What is left is pure gold which may then be fashioned into coins or jewelry or other beautiful objects.  Peter says that faith is like gold in that it can be refined and purified in the fiery furnace of affliction.  Job says that his faith is more than dross—is, indeed, pure gold—and the fiery furnace of affliction is going to prove it.

Anybody can say that they have faith, just like anybody can say that they know their organic compounds or their algebraic equations.  But no self-respecting educator is going to take a student’s word for it.  No, a good educator is going to test students to discover what they have learned.  A dealer in precious metals is going to test the nugget you want to sell with what is called an assay to prove that it is real, pure and solid gold and not some plated piece of junk. 

God is likewise going to test our faith from time-to-time, and we are going to know when he is testing it because that is when we find ourselves in the furnace of affliction.  When the economy goes south and a job is lost or a net worth is decimated; when a spouse quits on a marriage; when poor health leads to a hospital bed, when a kid goes bad, when a friend betrays—that is when we find out what faith is made of, whether gold or dross.  Either we curse God and fall away, or we draw near to God and find a peace that passes understanding and strength to pass the test and make the grade.

Every surpassing blessing in my life has been preceded by a little time in the fiery furnace where faith is tested.  As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I had to break an engagement to find Nancy.  Breaking up is hard to do, but it was worth it.  We tried for years to have kids and couldn’t, which was really hard, but we remained committed to God and one another until the time of testing was past and God blessed us in his time and way.  I had to give up a call to one pulpit to become a candidate for this one.  It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was a test of faith that left me with no cause for regret.

Every good thing in my life has been preceded by a test of faith, and I would suspect the same holds for you if you think about it.  The tests if life may not be easy, but they do have the power to bring out the best in us if we recognize them for what they are and commit ourselves to passing them with the strength God provides.  Otherwise, avoiding them at all costs is like the student who avoids taking tests in school.  That student is doomed to fail.  That student will never graduate to new and better things. 

What are the trials in your life right now?  Perhaps some of them are deserved because of sinful folly, in which case it should be clear where the improvement needs to take place.  Perhaps some of them are not at all deserved.  They occurred because of circumstance completely beyond your control.  They may not be fair, but they present a redeeming opportunity if seen in the light of God’s Word to us today in the story of Job—if seen as “The Testing of Faith.” 

We return to the question posed in the first sermon of our series: “Given the difficult circumstances I am presently facing, what does it mean for me to make a faithful response to God?  What response is required to pass the test, make the grade and move on to something better?”  Job eventually moved on to something better, but we do not want to get ahead of ourselves.  Thus far we have learned from the story of Job about “The Give and Take of Faith,” and “The Testing of Faith.”  Tune in next Sunday as we continue with “The Mystery of Faith.”  For now we will rest assured with the witness of a hymn: “No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you.”