Surviving the Silence-4: When the Battle Becomes Personal 🦋

🎙️ SURVIVING THE SILENCE – EPISODE 4

What do you do when the battle becomes personal? When the pain moves from around you to within you? When your body is hurting, your heart is weary, and your faith is being tested?

In Episode 4, we explore Job 2 and one of the most difficult seasons of Job’s journey. His possessions were gone. His children were gone. Now his health was under attack.

Yet even in the ashes, God had not abandoned him.

Together, we’ll unpack the psychology of pain, the theology of suffering, the power of presence, and the truth that your pain does not change God’s purpose for your life.

Sometimes the greatest act of faith is not having all the answers.

It’s continuing to trust God when you don’t.

🎧 Episode 4: When the Battle Becomes Personal
📖 Job 2:1-13

Remember:

Your suffering does not change God’s view of you.
 Your pain does not cancel your purpose.
 And your current chapter is not your final chapter.

#SurvivingTheSilence #BookOfJob #BeautifulMeEmpowermentMinistry #FaithInTheStorm #JobSeason #HealingJourney #TrustGod #GodIsStillWriting #HopeInTheAshes #FaithAndHealing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Good morning, good morning, good morning, happy, happy Fri. Yay, we made it. We made it to Friday, and that is enough for us to get on our feet and do some hand clapping and some feet stamping. Because I am sure that when you woke up Monday morning, or probably even when you went to bed Sunday night, you were like, Oh my god, I can't believe it is Monday, or it's going to be Monday again. And then when you wake up Monday morning, you're like, Oh my god, I don't think I can make it through the week. But hey, look at how far we have come. We made it to Friday, and last night, you know, God is just so amazing, God is so intentional as it relates to us. I mean, He is just such an awesome God, and He loves us so much. You know, I was laying down last night, and I have a brother, He has adopted me. You know, I am so in awe sometimes of how God He moves on our behalf. You know, He knows our needs, He knows our wants. Like the Bible tells us that He knows even the number of hair, the strands of hair that is on our head. He knows every single one of us by name, by age, by number. He knows us personally. You know, there's a song, long time song that talks about up close and personal. God knows us, up close and personal. And I remember a couple minutes ago, a woman of God she called me and she said, Do you have a covering? And I said to her, Honestly, I don't. And she said to me, She said, If you're in ministry, you need a covering. And God sent me a covering in the form of a powerful man of God who has adopted me and now calls me sister. And last night, as I was laying down, you know, he called me and we started to pray. Because let me tell you something, people of God, we need community. No man is an island, no man stands alone. We need community, and there are going to be days when we we don't know what to pray and say, and the Bible, the Bible is a living example of just how we should go about living our lives because even in the Bible, scripture tells us that there are going to be moments when we don't know what to pray and say, and so we have the Holy Spirit who intercedes on our behalf, and then the Bible talks about our high priest Jesus, who also intercedes on our behalf. What does that tell us? It tells us that yes, there are going to be moments when we cannot pray, and we are going to need those people in our lives to lift us up in prayer, to pray us up until we come out of some of those seasons that we end up in. And so he called last night and we were praying. He was praying for me, you know. We were praying together because sometimes it's not even that you want somebody to pray for you, it's really the Bible tells us that when two or more are gathered, right? And sometimes you just need that push to pray because you find yourself in seasons of prayerlessness, and that's okay. God always sends help, we always have bucket, and so he called me, and you know, he said, Sister, you ready to pray? I never ready to pray, but I said yes, and he started to pray, and as we were, as he started to pray, you know, I started to pray, and I was like, Thank you, Jesus. And as we prayed, you know, the Holy Spirit said, God Emmanuel. And God Emmanuel means God is with us. It didn't say God was with us or God will be with us, it says God with us, it means that He is present, He never leaves us, He never forsakes us, and I am just so amazed by our awesome God, our Emmanuel. So this morning I want to encourage you that as we go through chapter by chapter journey through the book of Job, um, surviving the silence, even in the silence, God is our Emmanuel, He is with us, and that is just amazing. Of course, I am your host, Monique Anderson, and this is Beautiful Me Empowerment Ministry, where healing meets hope, and broken places become testimonies of God's grace. Hallelujah! So, in episode one, we learned that before the storm, God established Job's identity. Before the storm, God established your identity, and in episode two, we stepped into the heavenly courtroom, my God, and discovered a conversation Job never heard. And then in episode three, we witnessed the day everything changed as Job lost his possessions, his livelihood, and his children. And so today we are going to enter an even deeper level of suffering because sometimes the enemy is not satisfied attacking what surrounds you. Sometimes he attacks you, he attacks your body, he attacks your mind, he attacks your emotions, he attacks your confidence, he attacks your peace, like the devil will stop at nothing. He is coming after you, he went after Job with everything that he had. However, there's a plot twist, hallelujah. If you've ever walked through a season where the battle felt personal, then tune in. This episode is for you. Hallelujah, Father Daddy. I big you up this morning, my Emmanuel. You are truly an amazing God, and I am just grateful this morning for life. We are grateful for life, God. We are grateful for health and strength, Abba Father. We are grateful this morning, oh God, for your ruck, your breath that is in our lungs. We're grateful, God, for your grace and your mercies that has been keeping us, Abba Father. Thank you. Thank you for your goodness. The songwriter says, Your goodness is running after it's running after me, my God. Hallelujah. And we are just so grateful, oh God, that you chase us down, you fight until we are found. Thank you for being provider, thank you for being healer, and even in this moment, God, I thank you for restoring Abba Father, your daughters and your sons. Thank you, oh God, for being there, for being present, a present help, oh God, in times of trouble. God, I thank you for every listener joining us today or whatever time that they listen to this podcast episode. For those carrying physical pain, for those carrying emotional wounds, for those carrying uh physical wounds, Abba Father, for those whose faith has been tested. God, I ask you to meet them where they are, just as you have been meeting me, God, right where I am. Remind them, Abba Father, that they are not alone. Emmanuel, hallelujah. God is with us. Remind them that you are with them. You never leave them, you never forsake them, Abba Father. You're right there in the middle with them, mighty God. Hallelujah. And today, God, we speak hope into places that feel hopeless in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Amen. I'm so excited. God is so good. Listen, people of God. A few days ago, I was not the girl sitting here with smiles and with this, with this um amount of joy in my heart. And when my brother called me last night and he said, Sister, how are you doing? You know, I said to him, I said, I am still in that season. However, I am experiencing a peace even in that season, and that is a peace that could only come from God. And sometimes, maybe God will not take away the storm that is raging around you, but he will allow you to experience his peace even in the midst of that storm. And maybe that is the lesson that God is trying to teach us, or maybe that is the experience that he is trying to help us to have. Because every experience and every encounter with God it changes you, it changes your perspective on things. So maybe as you go through the storm, what God is trying to do is not to remove the storm, but rather to have you experience Him as your peace. I still have questions, there's still discomfort, I'm still processing, and I found myself yesterday in a space where there was just silence. At some point, how to think, how to feel. There was just silence, and that silence represented peace. Hallelujah! And I'm just grateful. I'm just so grateful. I want you to imagine standing in the middle of a storm, the rain is pouring, the wind is raging, the waves are crashing, and somehow you've managed to stay standing, bruised, exhausted, my god, but still standing. Then suddenly another wave hits. It's not your house this time, it's not your possession, it's not your circumstances, it's you directly, personally. That's where Job, that's where we find Job this morning. The enemy has already attacked Job's family, he attacked Job's finances, he attacked Job's future, and now he comes after Job himself. My God, Job 2, verses 3 to 6 says, and I'm not gonna read all of it, but the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? God says it again, even after all the suffering, even after all the losses, even after all the pain, God's assessment of Job has not changed. And yesterday I was speaking to a friend of mine, a minister, and you know, I was just relating some of the things that I've experienced, not everything, in the past two months. And I said to him, I said, I don't know, like I don't know what God knows about me, or I don't know what God see in me, but I said to him, I said, I want God to know that I ain't no Job. I said, I ain't no Job. So I said, I don't know what he sees in me at all. That I don't see in myself, why he keeps throwing blows after blows, he keeps allowing blows after blows, you know, to be coming. And he said to me, He said, Well, God must see something in you that you don't see in yourself, and he must trust you to that level where he knows that I can allow the devil to attack you because he has that confidence in you that you're now gonna let him down in Jamaican terms. We now let go of a God, and so God's assessment of Job did not change. God actually goes back and said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? What a confidence that God had in Job. Can you imagine God in God's courtroom? God is saying to Satan, one more time, have you considered my servant Tanisha? Have you considered my servant Jolene? Have you considered my servant Shanice? Have you considered my servant Michelle? I don't know who Michelle is, but his names are just coming up. Have you considered my servant Monique? My God, have you considered my servant Andrea? Have you considered my servant Job? A second time God go ask the devil that question because God's assessment of you has not changed. Job's circumstances changed, your circumstances changed, but God's opinion of you has not changed, and that alone this morning is supposed to get you on your feet and dance and jump and sing and shout Victory! Hallelujah! In the name of Jesus, my God. Because the truth is sometimes many of us assume that our suffering changes how God sees us. But I want you to know this morning that it doesn't. And so we see here where the devil knows we talk about skin for skin. Satan responds with a very interesting phrase. He says, skin for skin, a man will give all he has for his own life. In other words, Satan is saying, Job is still holding on because the suffering hasn't touched him directly. My God. What he is saying is attack his body, attack his health, attack his comfort, and he'll break. And this reveals something to me about spiritual warfare. The enemy's ultimate goal is not merely your suffering. His ultimate goal is your surrender. He wants you to stop trusting. He wants you to stop believing. He wants you to stop hoping. He wants you to stop worshiping. He wants you to stop showing up. He wants you to stop expecting God to move. And I'm telling you, I was here the other day when the devil launched an attack on my health. My God. There were disappointments as it relates to some things that that you know I was I was um planning, I was working on to make life better for me and my son. And I received one disappointing news after the next, after the next, after the next. I mean, plans that I was making to better my future and my son's future. And and the devil just coming and just mash up that. And it was just one thing after the next. My finances, relationships, um, my future plans, my God. And then the devil said, All right, can I shake you? And then the devil came at my health. I mean, three weeks. And several doctors' visits. And I sat and I said to God, I said, God, honestly, I don't know how to hope anymore. I don't know how to believe anymore. I don't even know how to worship. But I sat here in the mornings and I wrote my prayers still. And I said, God, regardless of what I am going through, you are still good, and you are still God. And I said, I'm giving you the tiny bit of belief that I have. I even said to God, I said, God, right now, me not even have no belief, but please help my unbelief. My God. And for two days I could not even show up at work. I said to God, I said, honestly, God, I can't show up today. No, I can't show up today. I can't put on the mask today. It is too heavy for me to wear a mask today and walk around and pretend that everything is alright and smile at people. I can't do it today, God, and I stay home for two days. And you may know how that feels. And that is what the devil wants. His goal is our surrender. He wants us again to stop trusting, to stop believing, to stop hoping, to stop worshiping, to stop showing up, to stop expecting from God. But God is giving us a revelation this morning. And I'm excited. Let me not get ahead of me. Holy Spirit. So we know what that feels like. But this morning, the Holy Spirit wants us to know that God is our Emmanuel and He is with us. And we're going in the enemy's camp this morning and we are taking back our worship. And we are going to show up because we're not showing up alone and we are dismantling every plan that the enemy has. My God. Jesus. The Bible says, I'm excited. The Bible says Job was struck with painful sores. My God. From the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Every movement hurt. Every day hurt. Every night hurt. I found myself the other day in the night, curled up in the bed. And I just asked the Holy Spirit. Every night hurt. His suffering was visible. Public, unavoidable. Imagine the humiliation. Imagine the discomfort. Imagine the loneliness. My God, I like when when when when the doctors told me finally what was going on, I felt like a leper. I felt like if I went outside, it's like whatever was happening to me was printed on my forehead, and people could tell what was going on. I was so embarrassed by it. I felt shame. My God, I felt so lonely. There was so much discomfort, my God. And we can imagine the loneliest loneliness as Job sat in ashes, scraping his wounds with broken pottery. And this is not the image many people associate faith with. Yet, this is where some of the deepest faith is form. My God, it's not on the mountaintop, but it is in the ashes. And as a counselor, one thing I have learned is that prolonged suffering often creates emotional exhaustion. You become weary. And it's not because you don't have faith, it is because we are human. Pain affects the mind. Pain affects emotions. Pain affects our perspective. So we begin asking questions like, How much longer, God? Will I ever recover? Will things ever change? Can I keep doing this? Perhaps that's where you are now, where you're asking these questions. There is no shame in admitting that suffering is hard. A hard job's story, however, gives us permission to acknowledge our humanity. And one thing that I've noticed in my study and over the years on my journey, when we look at Job's wife, right? Job's wife, she says, Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. And many of us, as I said over my lifetime, many of us and many sermons that I've listened to paint her as the villain. But if we pause for a moment, she lost 10 children, too. I mean, she she buried every child she carried. She watched her husband suffer. She was grieving. She was broken. She was traumatized. And so her statement was born from pain. Is not necessarily rebellion. And that's how we are too. Pain can make us say things we would never say in healthier season. Like the other day, when I said to God, I said, God, why did you allow my father to pray me back to life? My brother, who was born before me, died a couple hours after birth. And then I was born and I was sick. Pretty much supposed to have shared the same faith as my brother. But my father prayed, and my daddy prayed, and he's still praying that prayer. God take away the sickness and take away the pain from my daughter and give it to me. And he spoke life into my dry bones. And I lived. My sister, who was born after me, she died. And I found myself in that place where pain made me. I was just here and I was like, God, I am angry. Why did you let my father pray me back to life? Why did you let me to live if the cost of living is so high? I will talk about cost of living. You can't identify because the way that the economy is right now. So the cost of living is high. And I question God, pain can distort our perspective, pain can cloud hope. This doesn't make her right, but it makes her human. You know, one of my students said to me, Miss, so who encourage you? And I've learned that faith is not pretending you're okay, faith is continuing to trust God while acknowledging that you're hurting, and there's a difference. And so, as we go down a little bit more, what we know is that once again, Job doesn't know what we know, he doesn't know about the heavenly conversation, he doesn't know why this is happening, he doesn't know when it will end, he doesn't know what God is doing, and that uncertainty is part of the suffering. One of the greatest challenges in life is learning to trust God when you don't have all the information because we love to have the whole entire manuscript in front of us. We want explanations, God often offers presence, we want certainty, but God offers relationship, we want answers, but God often offers himself, and then we see where his friends arrive, and surprisingly, you know, this is one of the most beautiful moments in the entire book of Job. Before they start talking, before they start analyzing, before they start giving advice, they simply sat with him for seven days and seven nights. They sat in silence, they cried with him, they mourned with him, they acknowledge his pain. And sometimes the greatest ministry is not speaking, it's just showing up. My girlfriend, you know, she came to the house one Saturday and she sat with me. She didn't have the words, she didn't have the answers, she just sat with me, and she allowed me to put my head on her shoulder, and she just sat with me, and she said, Mo, one thing I know is God. She said, Mina know what is going on with you and God. But since I've known you for the past nine years, God really threw some things at you. But baby girl, he must see something in you that you still not see in yourself, but one thing I know he loves you, and just know that I am here for you. And she just sat, and her presence alone was everything, and sometimes that's what we need. We don't need answers sometimes, we need presence, and sometimes maybe you're sitting there and you're saying, But I don't know what to do to make my friend feel better. But this morning, sometimes just show up, hold your hand, and just show up. Your presence will mean a world to them. If you're walking through a difficult season today, I want you to know your suffering does not change God's view of you, your pain does not cancel your purpose, your struggle does not erase your calling, your wounds do not disqualify you. Listen, one thing I've learned if the devil is not coming after you, then you need to go pray. Something wrong. That means you're doing something right. Your wounds, they do not they don't disqualify you, and your current chapter is not your final chapter. God still sees you, God still knows you, God still loves you, and God is still writing. He is your Emmanuel, He is with you. So today I want you to sit with these questions. Ask yourself Am I allowing my pain to determine my identity? Have I been honest with God about my suffering? And you know, one of the most beautiful things is you know, we lie to ourselves, so maybe we need to be honest with ourselves about even where we're at and how we feel, and the things that we've allowed, and be honest also with God. Ask yourself, am I expecting myself to be stronger than God is asking me to be? Who has God placed in my life to sit with me through difficult seasons? Job lost much, his body was afflicted, his heart was broken, his future seemed uncertain. Yet one thing remained his integrity. The enemy could attack Job's circumstances, but he could not take Job's relationship with God, and the same God and the same sorry can be true for us. The storm may shake us, but it does not have to define us. Hallelujah. God is just amazing, and I'm I'm just I'm just in awe. And I'm believing God for us suddenly in your life. Hallelujah. I want to thank you this morning for joining me for episode four of surviving the silence. In our next episode, we enter Job chapter 3, where Job finally speaks, and what he says may surprise you. We will explore grief, depression, lament, emotional honesty, and what it means to bring our darkest emotions before God. Until next time, remember, your pain is real, your feelings are valid, your faith matters, and your story is not over. Hallelujah. This is Monique Anderson from Beautiful Me Empowerment Ministry. Keep trusting, keep believing, keep healing, and remember, God is still writing. Father, thank you. God, I big you up. Big up, Daddy God. Thank you for being near to the brokenhearted. Thank you for loving us in every season. Strengthen those who are weary, comfort those who are grieving, heal those who are hurting, and remind us that even when the battle becomes personal, you remain faithful in Jesus' name. Amen and amen and amen. God bless you. Remember that I love you, but God loves you even more. Have an amazing weekend in the Lord. And remember to like, share, follow, and leave a comment. I love you.