“Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me…” (Job 31:35)

There are many events that come to the children of God that are contrary to the flesh. There are bends in the road that change one’s entire life as to one’s comfort zone. Many times there are potholes in the pathway of life that cause accidents or wrecks to happen. These bends in the path of life and the potholes that cause damage are life-changing, with no return.

You wake up one morning, and your entire life has been turned upside down. Job suffered a life-changing event as he lost his children, his health, his wealth, and his wife; and became the point of ridicule from his friends. Job said, “Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me…” (Job 31:35)

When your pastor has no answers; when your psychologist has no solutions; when your banker turns you down; when the creditors come to take it away; when your family’s and your wife’s presence are gone; when the doctor says, “I have done all I can do”; when death has taken your loved one away; when you are bound by a chemical or sexual addiction; when you sit in a prison cell in loneliness and depression – then you want God to give you an answer. “Please God, tell me why!”

Many times we can’t hear God; instead of listening for His still small voice, we are too busy, as Job was, telling his friends and God how righteous he had been. Many times we can not accept that God is in charge of every aspect of our life. We can’t see that God has many appointments for us to meet (Job 23:1-14). We can’t see that God has good for us (Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28) and that we need the Potter’s House. We need the School of the Desert, that we might be made to be still and find God’s face; find God’s reasons for this change in our life; to be tested and tried that we be proven; that we might be brought to maturity as a vessel of honor.

We want an answer from God and we want it now. God has the answer to our change of life. However, God also has the plan to bring us the answer. God has ordained time to bring His children into His will and presence. As long as you are alive, you have hope. When death comes, you step out of the realm of time into a realm of no time and no change. God uses His Rod (Hebrews 12:5-11); Trials (James 1:2-4); and Tribulations (Romans 5:3-5) to work patience in us. And patience brings experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh us not ashamed. When patience has her perfect work, then you are entire, wanting nothing (James 1:2-4).

God uses the loss of our sufficiency to bring us to His sufficiency. In the loss of our power to control, it causes us to turn to Him for help in time of need. In these times that we cannot help ourselves, cannot change the circumstances; we are forced to face God, confess our sins, and vow to submit and obey His Commandments and follow His Word.

When this happens, we find God’s answer to our change. God reveals His Word and will to holy, separated, and submitted children of God. Moses found his purpose for his life on the backside of the desert at the Burning Bush. Forty years Moses tended the flock in the desert. Time – yes God uses time to conform us in the Valley. Your answer is not in the cave of self-pity; it is not in the fire, in the wind, or in the earthquake; but in His still small voice.

Therefore, if you need an answer from God for your present change of life, remember:

• God loves you
• He saved you in Christ
• He has good for you
• He has a definite purpose and plan for your life
• He is not condemning you, but is conforming you to His image of His love, holiness, righteousness, power, peace, and joy of the Holy Ghost; that you might be a vessel of honor for His use and service in His Kingdom’s work
• He is proving you
• He is bringing you to perfection in Christ

It was in the fire of persecution that the three Hebrew men fellowshipped with Christ. It was in the den of lions that Daniel found the peace and power of God to be real in his life. And it was in the depth of sin and death that David was taught the value of confession of sin that brought him the joy of the Holy Spirit again, and made him a monument to all of God’s wayward sinners of God’s forgiveness and eternal security for the believer.

It was in the loss of everything, even his health, that Job learned that God is more righteous than man; that His Word is more necessary than his own food. He learned that the Power of God lived in him to stand in the face of death; that God is sovereign, and the Creator. “…If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

Dear friend, your answer from God is in your change. Note what you are becoming now in the process of this change, and you will find your answer. The answer is for His Glory and for your good.