Job 40-42
Job 42:1-6 - "Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted. You asked, 'Who is this who conceals My counsel with ignorance?' Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak. When I question you, you will inform Me.' I had heard rumors about You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I take back my words and repent in dust and ashes."
Job says this on the back end of God proclaiming His power and might. God goes through a few chapters of a list that is pretty impressive. It make me think about how little I give God credit for. My little finite mind cannot comprehend what it takes for God to keep things going on a daily basis. God gives a little taste of what that entails to Job. When I read this list of things, I can't help but respond similarly to what Job did. It makes my pain and suffering seem awfully insignificant in the grand scheme of things. However, I am reminded that God, in the midst of all that He maintains, cares for me enough that He wants me to learn something and experience Him in a new way. He cares for me enough that He wants to discipline me so that His eternal plan can be fulfilled in some infinitesimal way through me. I say that with no pride or egotism! God truly wants to use each of us to carry out His eternal plan...that's humbling. Just as God used Moses, Daniel, Peter, Paul, Martin Luther, George Muller, Billy Graham, Gladys Aylward, and list goes on...He wants to use me. However, I have to be willing to be prepared spiritually in order for that to occur. Until I'm willing to answer God's questions of me, then He can't use me to the fullest. Just as Job did, as soon as God begins to ask His questions and give me His perspective, I should respond by taking back my words and repent in dust and ashes. I think that job is a perfect example of how to endure through difficult times. I've spoken on this before, but the cycle is worth instilling into our memory.
First of all, when the "event" happens, there is an initial response to God. When I make this initial response, it is me trying to frame what has just happened in my mind. After I make this response, and I think I have it framed in my mind, I begin the questioning process with God. Who, what, why, you name it and I ask it. At this point, God is still silent. He's still allowing the emotional cycle to spin until this next step...exhaustion. After I've exhausted all my questions and emotions, I am at the end of my understanding and myself, for that matter. It is here where I tell God that I have nothing left, and it is here where God meets me with His divine wisdom. The lessons that I learn during this time mean more because of process I went through to get there, and I think God knows that. In my life, wisdom learned through suffering and pain lasts longer than wisdom learned during the "good times." The last part of the process using the knowledge and wisdom God imparted in this process with someone else. This takes a bit of humility because I have to be willing to admit where I messed up and how God restored me. However, to me, this is also the payoff! It is in these moments that I realize that all the struggle, pain and tears were all worth it for that particular moment.
Job 42:12 - "So the Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the earlier."
The ending to Job's story is one of restoration. God restored his family, his possessions and his prosperity. However, the tendency here is to think that God will give us those things, too. I think God restores each of us in different ways. We have to be careful not to fall into the "prosperity gospel" crowd after reading this. God's will restore us, but it may be in a different way than what we are expecting because His ways are not ours. The way that I read this, as opposed to prosperity, is that God restored Job's relationships. He restored his family and his friends (even those who spoke falsely). So, when difficult times come, I pray for restoration, but, I pray that I am aware of how God restores me because it's not always how I expect. I am so thankful that His understanding and plans are far beyond mine!
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