Day 4 of 365 of reading through the Bible in a year...
Job 1-5
Passages that stuck out to me:
Job 1:5 - "Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought: Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts. This was Job's regular practice."
Job 1:8 - "Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil."
Job 1:20-21 - Then Job stood up, tore his robe and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying:
Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of the Lord.
Job 2:10 - "You speak as a foolish woman speaks," he told her. "Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?" Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.
Job 2:13 - "Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense."
Job 5:16-17 - "So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. See how happy the man is God corrects; so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty."
Where to begin...Job is chocked full of things to think about. First of all, Job is the quintessential example of how to trust God in circumstances that seem dire. That pretty much goes without saying. There are so many ways that he is an example of what my walk with God should look like. As I read these first five chapters, I highlighted just a few verses (I could've highlighted all 5 chapters) that exemplified what faithfulness and trust look like. First of all, Job 1:5 is a perfect example of what fighting for your children looks like. Being a father of 3, I know that I would do absolutely anything for my kids and their well being, especially their spiritual well-being. In this verse Job is making an offering on behalf of his children in case they need to after the previous day's/night's celebration. He also makes it in case his children forget to make a sacrifice. It is as if I were to ask God to forgive my kids for something they do wrong...on their behalf. Then the verse ends by stating that this was a regular practice of Job's. This challenged me to intercede on my children' behalf even more. I need to continue to fight tooth and nail for my children's spiritual well being. This is an area I need to improve upon.
Verse 8 of Chapter 1 is a verse that probably haunts a lot of people. The main question people ask is, "Why would God allow Satan to do this to Job?" Allow me to paint a picture...Satan is roaming about the earth, probably looking for opportunities to pounce. After roaming around for a little while, he ends up in the presence of God Almighty. God asks him what he's been doing, and he replies that he's been roaming around. Here is the most important point of this picture to me...God basically says, while you were wandering around, did you happen to run across Job. Job is one of my most prized pupils. It's a picture of a teacher bragging on one of his students because of how exceptional they are doing in class. As I begin to think about this picture in relation to my relationship with the Lord, I realize that there are aspects of my life that need improving. I don't look down on myself because of it (that's what Satan would want me to do). Instead, I see the areas of improvement as challenges to overcome so that, one day, God can look at me and say, "Have you considered Robert?"
So, how do you react when bad things happen? Job's reaction in chapter 1, verses 20 and 21 is an example of what it means to stand on your beliefs and lean not on your own understanding. Job did a couple of things through crying out, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Praise the name of the Lord." First of all, he realized that he started with nothing (naked I came from my mother's womb). Secondly, he realizes anything he attains can't be taken with him in death. Finally, he realizes from whom all blessings flow, and he worships God instead of cursing Him. In the middle of Job showing his humanity, his spirituality shines through, and that is something to take note of. I have had some difficult times in my life, but it is my reaction them that truly shows what I believe about my God.
Satan's first attack on Job was to take away his earthly possessions...livestock, servants, children. His second attack was on Job's person. He, in essence, attacked his health and gave him incurable boils from his head to his feet. There is nothing more taxing than an attack on your health, especially (I would assume) after you have had everything taken away from you. Job's wife wanted what any loving wife would want for her husband who is in pain and suffering...relief. However, her remedy was not what Job needed. She wanted him to curse God so he would die and be out of his misery. Again, Job shows us an example of enduring through hardships and understanding why we must endure. He responds in chapter 2 verse 10, "Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?" This statement pierces through some people's preconceptions of what God is there for. Today, there are some "preachers" out there that preach all about prosperity. May I submit this verse as exhibit 1 of my case against this type of "gospel." Why must we have adversity? Well, for me, adversity stretches me and pushes me to a deeper understanding of who God is, what I believe about Him and how much I am willing to let Him control my life. It is then that I realize my humanity and realize that God is bigger than any situation that comes my way. Am I always successful? No! But, I can honestly say that I am having a lot more victories than defeats because I realize more and more that I don't fight the battle alone.
As someone who has been on both ends of "hospital" ministry, allow me to submit Job 2:13 as a perfect example of how to minister and reach out to someone who is going through a difficult time. "Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense." Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing! We spent months and months in the hospital with our son when he was a baby. We had many people come visit and pray for him and our family. Every single person that came to visit us, came with the heart and spirit. However, some of them decided to open their mouths and what they said was more detrimental to the situation than encouraging. Again, I know that their hearts were coming from a place of love and compassion, but sometimes it's best to just sit with someone and tell them that you love them, which is exactly what Job's friends did. They sat with him for 7 days and nights and said nothing! Their presence and support of Job had to be uplifting for him. When I read this account, I realize that this is the kind of friend I want to be. I want to be the person someone can call on at any hour of the night and know that I'll be there for whatever need they have.
The last set of verses that jabbed me in the stomach were from Job 5, verses 16 and 17, "So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. See how happy the man is God corrects; so do not reject the discipline of the Almighty." This is Job's friend Eliphaz speaking to Job. Am I happy when God corrects me, and do I receive God's discipline joyfully? The older I get, the more I can say yes to that question. I am reminded of the song "Refiner's Fire." The chorus of that song says, "Refiner's fire, my heart's one desire is to be holy, set apart for you Lord. I choose to be holy, set apart for You my Master, ready to do Your will." It is in this disciplining process that I am becoming refined, so it is my responsibility to accept this process willfully, as Job did. If I realize that at the end of the pain and suffering I will experience God in a deeper way, then the process is SO worthwhile. However, it is difficult to have that kind of perspective when your children and your health are being attacked, which is why looking at Job is such an encouragement! I pray that in any trial or discipline that comes my way that I can worship God and say, "Praise the Name of the Lord!"
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