Tag: A chapter a day

And Job said, “[Now] I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you…I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me…I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”

Only a short time ago Job boasted that he was ready to face God. “Let the Almighty answer me… I would come before him like a prince.” What happened? “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.”

It is impossible to imagine (let alone prepare for) such an encounter with the Almighty, the Righteous Judge of all men — which makes it all the more difficult to understand why He should turn to Eliphaz and say, “I will not treat you as [your sins] deserve”.

Who is this God?

If the behemoth and the leviathan – creatures that I have made – are terrifying, “Who then can stand up to me?”

God is not a monster, but he is not a teddy bear either. His eternal power and divine nature are revealed in creation, as much in the behemoth as in the butterfly.

“I am nothing. How could I ever find the answers?”

Life is full of seemingly unanswerable questions. But God is the Author of life; He alone has the answers. They are revealed only to those who, like Job, have reached this same conclusion.

How awesome it must have been to hear the Lord speak out of the whirlwind – in an audible voice.

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” Silence is the only appropriate response.

On this very rare occasion the Lord speaks out of the whirlwind. For the most part, he speaks in the whirlwind, and in the rainstorm, and in the sunset. There is much to be learned about the Designer by studying the design. And yet it is only the beginning…

Powerful.
Personal.
Pure.
Passionate.
Patient.
Perfect.

The God of heaven and earth, life and death, now and forever is all of these.

“But by means of their suffering he rescues those who suffer, for he gets their attention through adversity.”

God rescues those who suffer. How? Does he heal their diseases? Does he deliver them from those who oppress them? He may certainly do that. God is sovereign after all.

But, as this verse suggests, He may choose instead to rescue those who suffer through their suffering, rather than from it. And if this is true, then adversity is not simply a sword in the hand of a Judge; it may rather be a textbook in the hand of a Teacher.

There is no salvation in suffering alone, but neither is there any salvation without it. The Seed of the woman will crush the serpent’s head, but his heel will be badly bruised in the process.

How much there is to learn through adversity, yet even so, no one would willingly choose it. The Almighty must choose for us.

“But it is wrong to say God doesn’t listen, to say the Almighty isn’t concerned.”

Hearing and listening are two different things. Sure, He hears. God is God.

But it is wrong to say that he doesn’t listen, because that implies he is not really interested, doesn’t care.

And if the Sovereign God of the universe doesn’t care…

“God is picking a quarrel with me, and he considers me his enemy.”

What is man, that the Almighty should pick a quarrel with him? Man is but a creature. God is the Creator, the Watcher, the Judge and the Redeemer of mankind.

Job rests his case with these thoughts: God is sovereign in the affairs of men. If He is not for me, he must be against me. If he is not blessing me, I must be under his curse. But here I must complain! I have done nothing wrong! I do not deserve this! “Let God weigh me on the scales of justice, for he knows my integrity.” Let me list for you the good things I have done, and the bad things I have not done. And let the Almighty answer me.

Is the sovereign God on trial? Is He the enemy? Is the One who sees and knows everything aloof? “What [then] is our inheritance from the Almighty on high?”

“I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look. You have become cruel toward me. You use your power to persecute me.”

Is God really cruel? Has he really afflicted Job just for the fun of it? Is He now ignoring Job’s cries for help?

Does this sound like the same God who walked with Adam and Eve in the garden in the cool of the evening?