Hey Alabama baptists, my name is Peyton Hill and I’m the Pastor of First Baptist Prattville.

Now, this is a really strange season that we’re all walking through. And I want you to know that I’m thinking about you and I’m praying for you as you lead your churches. First Baptist Prattville is on your team. I know that it’s a really difficult time as we are trying to shepherd our congregations and continue the mission of making disciples here and around the world. But please know that you’re not alone. We’re all in this together.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to open up God’s word to the book of Job and to see what God’s word says about our current climate. I’ve taken a lot, a lot of comfort in knowing that Job experienced quite a bit of suffering, yet the Lord was good and gracious to him in providing a wonderful opportunity for him to see God’s sovereignty and his wisdom in all things.

You see, Job lost all of his material wealth. He even lost all ten of his children, and Job had some friends that tried to encourage him by telling him that it must be his fault that all this suffering had entered into his life. Therefore, they were trying to get Job to repent and to confess his sin. As Job continued to cry out to God to ask God, why, why, why? Yet at the end, God begins to answer Job.

He appears to Job in a whirlwind, he sits Job and his friends down and God begins to ask questions. “Job, where were you when I laid the foundations “of the world? “Where were you when I put the water into the oceans “and told them to go this far and no further? “Where were you when I put the teeth into leviathan’s mouth?” Well the answer is, Job wasn’t there.

What was God trying to show Job? That though we may not always have an answer for what we’re experiencing, the Lord alone is sovereign and wise and we can trust him. But not only that, Job, though innocent of a lot of the things that he was being accused of by his friends, was not perfect. He was not wholly blameless, he was not sinless. And neither are you and neither am I.

You see, there was only one innocent man who suffered. And that was Jesus Christ. But he didn’t suffer simply because he was forced to, he suffered because he was willing to go to the cross to take our sins and our punishment upon himself. And so when we look to the book of Job we see the truly innocent sufferer, Jesus Christ, who suffered in our place so that we could receive righteousness that we don’t deserve. So yes, the Lord alone is wise and sovereign, but also Jesus is better.

These are two truths that I have been holding onto during this season. These are two truths that our church, here at First Baptist Prattville are holding on to. And these are two truths that I want to encourage you with as you continue to lead your churches for God’s glory during this season.