When Faith is Tested and Obedience is Costly
Sermon October 13, 2024, Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Mark 10:17-31
When Faith is Tested and Obedience is Costly
Pastor Fred Okello
In today’s readings, we meet two very different persons who, in their own ways, seek answers from God. Job is seeking God’s presence in the midst of his suffering, but the rich young ruler is looking for advice on how to receive eternal life. Both are searching for something deeper: Job wants to see God’s justice and sense His presence, whilst the rich young king seeks purpose and the guarantee of eternal life. These stories encourage us to seek God, especially when we face stillness, perplexity, and difficulty.
Job is in tremendous anguish. He believes that God is distant and silent, and he longs for a meeting with Him. Job’s wailing: “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His dwelling!” (Job 23:3). This scream indicates Job’s yearning to meet with God and explain his cause. He searches in all directions—forward, backward, left, and right—but God stays concealed.
Job’s encounter with God’s silence is not alien to us. We, too, have times when we seek God yet feel alone, with no response to our prayers. In these moments, our faith is tested. We, like Job, are asked to hold on and trust in God's presence even when we cannot see Him.
Despite his suffering, Job says that God knows his way and that after testing, he will emerge as gold (Job 23:10). This exhibits an unshakeable conviction in God’s justice, even when His ways are mysterious.
Unlike Job, who seeks God in the midst of anguish, the rich young ruler seeks eternal life from his position of wealth and luxury. The young man’s query, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” demonstrates a determination to secure his salvation. He has followed the commandments since his boyhood, but he believes something is lacking. In Mark 10:21, Jesus addresses his issue by instructing him to sell his possessions and donate the proceeds to the poor. He then invites him to accompany him.
The young ruler’s commitment to his wealth is his undoing. Jesus sees this as the only thing preventing him from fully surrendering. The young man goes away in grief because the price is too expensive. This text is about anything that keeps us from fully surrendering to God.
Jesus urges the young man—and us—not only to fulfill the laws, but to live a life of complete dependence on Him, letting go of our security and attachments. It’s an invitation to a deeper, more sacrificial relationship with God.
Though Job and the rich young ruler are in very different situations, they both face the same challenge: seeking God when the answer is not clear. Job’s story is about seeking God’s face when He seems absent, but the rich young ruler’s story is about finding a formula for salvation. Nonetheless, both are challenged to let go—Job of his desire for answers and the rich young ruler of his commitment to wealth.
Job’s tenacity in the face of God’s silence encourages us to cling on to faith even when God appears distant. The rich young ruler’s hesitation to leave his possessions prompts us to consider what we are holding onto that keeps us from truly embracing God’s invitation.
Like Job, we may experience times when our prayers seem unanswered, and God appears distant. During these moments, we are encouraged to keep seeking, praying, and trusting. Silence does not imply absence; rather, it indicates that God’s ways and time are beyond our understanding. Like the rich young king, we must consider what we are clinging onto. Is God asking us to let go of our security, ego, or need for control? Are we willing to submit and follow Him more completely?
Whether we are like Job, in a season of suffering, or like the rich young ruler, seeking more assurance, God’s mandate is the same: trust and obey. Trust Him while He is silent, and obey when He tells us to let go.
To conclude, Job’s anguish and the rich young ruler’s desire for stability inspire deeper faith and devotion. Both stories encourage us to pursue God diligently and to let go of anything that prevents us from completely trusting Him. When God appears silent, may we, like Job, endure and cling on to trust. When God calls us to let go, may we, unlike the rich young ruler, have the fortitude to give up everything and follow Him.
Let us ponder on what we seek from God and what we may need to let go of in order to truly experience His presence. May we react with open hearts, ready to submit everything to the One who gave His everything for us.