For about the last two months, I've been reading and studying the book of Job on Fridays during my Sabbath Rest.
I have NO IDEA why I started to read Job on July 16...but God did. And I am so thankful! (More on that near the end of my ramblings...)
Even though I've read Job a couple of times in my life, this was the first time I was reading it, really reading it, word for word.
And I've been captivated.
I've been caught up in Job's life. I feel like I was there with him...like a fly on the wall...watching the events unfold...crying alongside him...rolling my eyes at the ridiculous advice of his so-called friends...and being reminded, yet again, of some absolute truths...
"The Lord gives and the Lord takes away." (Job 1:21)
"The name of the Lord will be praised." (Job 1:21)
"Resentment kills a fool." (Job 5:2a)
"Our days on earth are but a shadow." (Job 8:9b)
The thing I love most about the book of Job is that it teaches a proper theology of who God is and who man is.
God is God.
I am not God.
God's rule is right.
God has a right to rule.
Nothing in God's economy is wasted.
Job understood who God was...and that he was but a mortal man. He did not cling to the things his friends said, but he held tightly to the character of God...to God's never-ending love...and to the fact that some day he would be found innocent of any sin that could have caused his trials.
"Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him." (Job 13:15)
As I've read further, he also spent a great deal of time "fixing" his friends' improper views of God. He told them that God doesn't promise happiness (Job 11:13-20)...that God can't be manipulated and that He knows our motives (Job 13:1-12)...that (not all) bad things that happen are a direct result of sin. He even prayed for his friends near the end of the book...
...even after all the grief and pain they have caused him.
Wow...
And, somehow, in my first readings of this book, I missed one of the most beautiful verses...one that is so telling of the character of Job.
"I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand upon the earth." (Job 19:25)
Amazing!
I am so thankful for what I've learned from Job, but I am even more grateful of its timing.
The last week or so has been a rough one for me and Brad. There was something we had placed "our hope" in that was "taken away." We questioned God's plan. We brought our frustrations, hurts, and broken dreams to Him. We cried out about how "unfair" things were. We wondered how this would work for our good.
Ummm....sound familiar?
God was so faithful to begin to soften my heart towards His ways through my study of Job. So many of Job's words filled my mind over the last week. And I can go on and on about all that He has taught me during my Thursday night Bible studies that have also prepared me for this very time.
And again, my breath is taken away, and all I can say is...
Wow...
Amazing!
I CAN confidently say...
Everything is for God's glory and my good.
Praise God!
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing your words from His heart to yours, I benefit from them now too! I also have been in a Job phase as of late, (as you know) and I read some of Job shortly before my trials began, only I didn't want to have to go though anything painful, so I quit reading it. I wish that I had kept on. Can't wait to see you at the Y again! I miss our treadmill chats. :)
praise God that everything is in his hands! And for giving your rock solid friends and mentors to talk with.
I probably need to read Job, too! I've been going thru a Job experience. Everyone does some time in their life. Dr. David Jeremiah was preaching on Job in May & June early on Sunday mornings. I heard most of them. He was very good.
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