Job 10-13
Job 10:12-13 - "You gave me life and faithful love, and Your care has guarded my life. Yet You concealed these thoughts in Your heart; I know that this was Your hidden plan."
Throughout this whole time of grief and suffering, Job never loses focus of who's in control. In my opinion, there is solace to be found in that fact. It's good to know that when everything in life may not seem to make sense, and your world is turned upside down, God is still sovereign and He still has everything under control. Yet, there are times that I have Garden of Gethsemane moments where I ask God if there is any other way, could we try that instead. However, just as Job did, I come back to the fact that this is all part of God's plan. I have to remember that my life is part of God's story and not the other way around. I have also come to realize that, the more I die to myself and find my identity in Him, the easier it is to withstand these kinds of trials and tribulations. My true battle is against my pride and my ego. If those things die, I can withstand anything that may come my way.
Job 11:13-16 - "As for you, if you redirect your heart and lift up your hands to Him in prayer—if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it, and don't allow injustice to dwell in your tents—then you will hold your head high, free from fault. You will be firmly established and unafraid. For you will forget your suffering, recalling it only as waters that have flowed by."
In Chapter 11, Job's third friend chimes in, and his name is Zophar. Like Job's other two friends, Zophar tries to win the contest of who can stick their foot in their mouth the farthest. However, he does say some things worth noting. Particularly, the passage I listed above. Zophar mentions the fact that there may still be iniquity or sin in Job's heart. So, he challenges Job to confess those things and be free from fault. While this isn't the most gentile approach to take, there is merit in what he says. Zophar even states to not "allow injustice to dwell in your tent," which is another way of saying to not let sins dwell in your heart. Confess them and be clean. Otherwise, the enemy has his foot in the door, and we all know that he doesn't give up his ground easily. Then, Zophar ends his thought by talking about job forgetting his suffering. To me, this is the best part of the whole process. Once you have endured the pain and made it through the suffering, you reach the other side where there is peace and a feeling of victory. Then, the best part is, you get to use the things you've been through to encourage someone else who is going through the same situation. It is this moment that you realize that all the pain and suffering, heartache and confusion has all happened so that God can use your story to encourage another one of His children. This is where I experience God in a new way, and that's what makes it all worth it.
Job 13:12 - "Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ash; your defenses are made of clay."
As with his two previous friends, Job has a chance to respond to Zophar's ramblings. He does so with wisdom and understanding. What Job says in verse 12 is something that hit home with me a few years ago. When Job says, "Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ash," I about laughed out loud. Basically, Job is saying, "Zophar, Bildad, Eliphaz, your arguments for why this is happening are meaningless and full of hot air. Another way of saying this is, "the wise sayings that you keep quoting from are as good as this pile of ashes I'm sitting in." I read a book a few years ago (the title escapes me), and the author was talking about the religious jargon that we all use. There was a time when all that seemed to come out of my mouth was one spiritual "zinger" after another. I would do that with the hopes that the people I was speaking to would hear it and think, "wow, Robert is really spiritual." However, what I've come to realize is that there are a lot of people who put that façade on. Whenever I hear (or say) spiritual jargon, it makes my skin crawl. I long for a day when people are real and honest about who they are and what their struggles are, because that is what the church should be about. The problem is...that kind of "church" is messy, because you begin to take an active role in other people's lives. However, I've come to realize that people long for that kind of relationship. If you haven't experienced that kind of vulnerability, perhaps it's time to reevaluate.
God give me the strength to be transparent and real with all those I come in contact with.
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