Aug. 22

Job

When I first received Jesus and my Savior and Lord I didn't even own a Bible.  My life was a hot mess and as pieces started to come together, (and I bought my first Bible), it was pointed out to me to read the book of Job.  All I could think the first time I read his story was "that poor guy!".  While much of his story spoke to my life at the time, I also realized that in the midst of my mess, there was actually room for it to be worse, as hard as that was to believe.  So here I am, a few years later, rereading the story and thinking to myself what if Job's story is actually a story of hope. What if we look at Job's story through the spiritual eyes of understanding that we live in a broken, fallen world where the enemy runs rampant and harsh realities of human life sometimes include undeserved suffering.  We see in verse 1:6 that God was on His throne (as He is today), before life as Job knew it fell apart. He is always in control and holds the intricacies of creation in His hands and has since the beginning of time (Genesis 1).  He always works things out for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose in ways our minds just can't understand. (Romans 8:28, Is.55:9). We have read many stories through our reading of men and women with incredible, unshakeable faith in the midst of their trials. Perhaps when we face mountains instead of asking "What Would Jesus Do", we start asking "What Would Jesus Say", and search the scriptures for His truths. It might require more strength and spiritual wisdom than we possess but the Holy Spirit will guide us into truth and we will mature along the way. I don't understand why, but it is often through adversity that God's greatness and love are discovered and our faith grows, which is very different than having life work out the way we think it should or would like. Jesus promises us in John 8:31-32 that if we abide in Him we will be set free and will enjoy freedom, peace, power, and joy that can only come from intimacy with God which always transcends above our circumstance. I think Job's story of faith sets this example.  There is hope through faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvYCF1slbEY

Randi