Throughout the Bible, we are given examples of people who faced tremendous times of great need. Some of these individuals walked near total disaster. Their stories were recorded so that you may know that God is a very present help in times of great need. During their times of great need, these individuals were often surprised by God’s presence. Yes, they were people of faith and trust in God, but they felt like they were going through their test and great need all alone.
Job 23:8–9 NKJV Look, I go forward, but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.
In the middle of your time of great need, did you wonder what God was doing or where He was?
Have you struggled trying to find and know God’s will, ways, and works? Have you ever felt like you were abandoned to your troubles? When it was all over, did you look back and notice that the hand of the Lord had been on you the whole time?
You need to know that God has never left you.
Suspended on the cross with a bloody, beaten body, Jesus was searching for the Father.
He cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46
Jesus had never questioned His relationship with the Father.
Now while He was in the time of His greatest need, Jesus was saying, “I don’t understand why I can’t see you here.” He felt abandoned and alone.
We often struggle when we don’t know where God is or what He is doing.
It is hard to remain calm in uncertain times. We look for evidence of His presence. We want to know that He has heard us. We want to know what He is doing about our situation.
Many times we only see how God has worked when we look back.
When we are in great need, we wonder where God is or what He is doing. In the storm, we need Him and depend on Him most. If He does not help us, we know we will not survive.
We all will have times when we just need to find God.
Our search for God is a primary part of worship. We search for things we value. The fact that we search for Him indicates that He has become essential and precious to us.
Our worship recognizes that God is the only answer for our great need.
Worship declares that God is worthy of our attention. Our need causes us to pursue God. When we desperately need Him, nothing else can satisfy. When you set your heart to seek Him, you are making a conscious decision that God is your only help.
There are no manuals that give step by step instructions on how to seek the Lord.
Hebrews 11:6 NET Now without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who approaches God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.
From the depth of our faith we begin seeking God in the urgency of our great need.
Some seek Him quietly with soft tears and others cry aloud with shouts of adoration. Some stand in awe in His presence and others fall on their faces before the Lord.
There are no rules.
We just seek the Lord our God with a whole heart knowing that our only help is in Him. That strong desire causes us to press past our weaknesses into His presence. Whatever you do, don’t let this moment of great need pass you by! We don’t have all the answers, but we know the God who does.
The Bible declares, “Seek, and you shall find” (Matthew 7:7).
Many things that are available to us will not be found without an all-out search.
Seeking God takes focus.Our search cannot be distracted.
It was that kind of moment when the disciples awoke Jesus in the back of the boat. (Matthew 8:24-25)
They cried out, “Lord, save us! We are perishing.”
Who knows what will happen when we search for God with all our hearts?
Have you grown weary of incomplete or faulty answers?
Desperate times require more than good advice, we must find God.
We need a word from God.
Job was going through an absolute crisis.
- His source of income was destroyed.
- His property was demolished.
- All of his children were lost.
- Then he became so ill his breath was offensive to his wife.
- His close friends were sure he was a great sinner, (Job 19:17).
In one day, his life was radically altered. It was during his time of great need that Job was looking for the Lord.
Isaiah 55:6–7 NIV84 Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
It is terrifying when you see no help coming.
Job said, “Behold, I go forward, but He is not there,” (Job 23:8). Comfort comes when you know that the present adversity is about to end and God is present to help. What can you do when it appears the problem will never cease?
Job was saying, “I see no help, no sign of God in the future.”
Satan wants to bait you with fear and doubt in your time of great need.
He wants to make you think God is not interested and will not help. Job was desperately looking for some shred of hope.
Frustrated, he confessed, “Behold, I go forward, but He is not there,” (Job 23:8a).
“I can’t find God where I thought He would be.”
Have you said that the storm will soon be over?
The day passed and the same storm beat against your life. You felt that God missed His appointment. You thought He would move by now! You kept thinking, “Where is He?”
Psalm 77:8–9 NKJV Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah
You need to know that God has not forgotten you. God knows when and how He is going to bless you! Just hold on.
I know what God is going to do because
I have seen what God has done.
But Job said, “Looking back, I could not perceive Him,” (Job 23:8).
Have you ever said: “Why did this happen?” “Why have I had this struggle?”
Sometimes life seems to have no purpose.
You will have times of great need that try your heart and faith. These are the times we need answers! These are times we need God’s presence. These are times we must have a supernatural God in our midst.
The truth is: God is never far away.
The Psalmist said: “God is a present help in the time of trouble.” Only God had the answer that Job needed.
Do you understand the power of God’s presence? Have you ever considered the mere power of His presence?
He doesn’t have to do anything but be there, and it is over.
The three Hebrew children knew they needed the Lord when they faced the fire and furnace.
- They were in the most difficult moment of their lives.
- They faced the king and the furnace with faith and trust in God.
- They did not see the Lord, but they were convinced that He was able to deliver them.
- Everyone was saying, ‘Burn them alive!’
- They made the furnace seven times hotter.
- They landed in the flames bound, terrified, and trembling.
- The fire was all over them and all around them.
- The ropes that had them bound were ablaze, but their skin seemed undisturbed.
What was going on?
All of a sudden they realized they were not alone!
The fourth Man that was in the fire made the difference.
His presence created protection in the crisis. Did the fire go out because He was there? No, the fire still burned.
The fire lost its power to destroy when God was present.
In His presence we learn… “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper!” (Isaiah 54:17)
Psalm 16:11 NKJV You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Job was sitting in sackcloth and ashes searching through the rubbish of his life looking for God.
He knew that his only help was in the Lord his God. God’s presence could bring needed comfort and healing.
Have you searched for more of God’s grace, mercy and help?
Look closer… God is in the furnace with you.
He is never far from those who want to be in His presence. Stop listening to the enemy of your soul and the voice of your great need. You may be in isolation, but you are not alone.
Job 23:8-9 NIV84 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.
Everywhere Job looked he could find no evidence of God, but he knew that God was working all around him.
Keep on holding on.
We don’t always know what the Lord God Almighty is doing. You may think He has forgotten you!
Sometimes we just do not see what God is doing.
- God has not forgotten His promises.
- God has not forgotten His children!
- Sometimes God moves and works openly.
- Sometimes God shakes the mountains when He comes down.
- Sometimes He works silently in the shadows.
- You cannot see Him.
- You do not know what He is doing.
- It appears that He is not there, but He is!
You have been going through a time when you cannot see what God is doing.
You have not seen the mighty power of God. You keep going through fiery trials.
God is with you right now.
He is operating in a different way.
It is hard to trust Him when you can’t see Him!
That is exactly what He wants you to do. He wants you to trust Him when you see the Red Sea opening up and when you wonder where He is. His methods may not make sense to you, but His results are wonderful.
Job concluded that, “God knows the way that I take.”
When I don’t know where He is, He always knows where I am. God has never taken His eyes off you.
Job said, “When this time has past… I am coming out like pure gold.” (Job 23:10b).
God has a plan for bringing you out. He knows how to increase our strength when we have none. He keeps on giving new mercies for our old problems! We may not come out today or tomorrow, but God is bringing us out!
