Reason #631
Aaron and I finished reading through Job tonight. We are teaching the last few chapters tomorrow, and these last 4 hit hard. Job has been through so much, which seems pretty unfair up until this point, and now he is about to be confronted by God. And so we get to hear this incredible exchange between God, himself, and Job. No, God doesn't send someone else to tell Job what He wants to say. He says it right to Job's face so that there is no guessing what He means.
It's pretty easy to identify with Job at some point in our lives. We all go through struggles. Some of our struggles are more public than others, but people face trials and that's just a fact of life. And so for 30 some-odd chapters, Job and his friends have been trying to figure out a,) why this has happened and b.) how to get it to stop. Job's friends think he must be facing these trails due to some sin in his life that he hasn't repented of. Job is absolutely sure that he has done nothing to deserve such treatment. He argues that he has tried to do everything right, so he can't understand why these things are happening. No one can, for that matter. And so Job has stated that he would like to talk with God face to face about this. Wish granted, and Job's about to learn a really important lesson.
"Who is this that questions my wisdom...? (Job 38:2) And I think this is an important question we need to ask ourselves, too. Who do we think we are? Why is it that we think we are so good, so righteous and perfect, that the Lord should never allow any trials to come our way? Why is it that we think, for some reason, God owes us only good things? What have we done to deserve only good things? Are our thoughts that pure, our intentions that good, our actions that loving, our behavior that perfect, our lives that clean that only good things should come our way? And if we're looking at it from a human perspective, what have we done for God that would warrant us to be exempt from difficulties? Do we serve Him that diligently, praise Him that regularly, obey Him that closely, or worship Him that often? Who do we think we are, what is it that we think we have done so right, that we should be able to only receive a life of ease and luxury, free from pain, temptation, trials, and suffering?
“Will the wild ox consent to being tamed? Will it spend the night in your stall?" (Job 39:9) I don't know about you, but I've never had an ox spend the night in my stall, so to speak. But there was one who has. One who had an ox at the foot of His manger. The One who was and is. Who lived a perfect, sinless life. Who was righteous and holy, who never messed up. Who was so in tune with the Lord, lived His life to glorify God, and worshipped Him with every breath. One who deserved nothing bad because He did nothing bad... ever. Pure thoughts, good intentions, loving actions, perfect behavior - always. And yet He faced temptation. He went through trials. He suffered and died for things He didn't do, and if Jesus wasn't exempt from such things, who are you that you should be?
I love reading God's response to Job. Being reminded of how powerful, magnificent, great, and mighty He is. How aware, how involved, how ever present He is. That He is over and above all things. That He has total and complete understanding of every thing that goes on, and that He always has. Who are we to question God's ways when our understanding is so small? Who are we to tell Him how to move and work in our lives when our knowledge can't compare to His?
Job realized this. And as the Lord spoke, Job was amazed. Amazed at who God is. Amazed at what God has done. And when we realize the magnitude of God's sovereignty, we realize that it doesn't matter whether or not we understand life, it just matters that we allow God to work in our lives no matter what. Because it is through the things that seem so bad that we get to experience God. It's through the storms, the trials, and the challenges that we get to witness His power first hand. And when we really understand who God is, how great He is, what He has done and is capable of doing, we realize that He can definitely take care of any situation in our life. He may take care of it in the way we'd like, or He may not. Regardless, He's still God and we are the ones who need to remember that.
#631 - For the opportunities we have to experience God's might and power through our struggles.
"Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me." - Job 42:1-3
It's pretty easy to identify with Job at some point in our lives. We all go through struggles. Some of our struggles are more public than others, but people face trials and that's just a fact of life. And so for 30 some-odd chapters, Job and his friends have been trying to figure out a,) why this has happened and b.) how to get it to stop. Job's friends think he must be facing these trails due to some sin in his life that he hasn't repented of. Job is absolutely sure that he has done nothing to deserve such treatment. He argues that he has tried to do everything right, so he can't understand why these things are happening. No one can, for that matter. And so Job has stated that he would like to talk with God face to face about this. Wish granted, and Job's about to learn a really important lesson.
"Who is this that questions my wisdom...? (Job 38:2) And I think this is an important question we need to ask ourselves, too. Who do we think we are? Why is it that we think we are so good, so righteous and perfect, that the Lord should never allow any trials to come our way? Why is it that we think, for some reason, God owes us only good things? What have we done to deserve only good things? Are our thoughts that pure, our intentions that good, our actions that loving, our behavior that perfect, our lives that clean that only good things should come our way? And if we're looking at it from a human perspective, what have we done for God that would warrant us to be exempt from difficulties? Do we serve Him that diligently, praise Him that regularly, obey Him that closely, or worship Him that often? Who do we think we are, what is it that we think we have done so right, that we should be able to only receive a life of ease and luxury, free from pain, temptation, trials, and suffering?
“Will the wild ox consent to being tamed? Will it spend the night in your stall?" (Job 39:9) I don't know about you, but I've never had an ox spend the night in my stall, so to speak. But there was one who has. One who had an ox at the foot of His manger. The One who was and is. Who lived a perfect, sinless life. Who was righteous and holy, who never messed up. Who was so in tune with the Lord, lived His life to glorify God, and worshipped Him with every breath. One who deserved nothing bad because He did nothing bad... ever. Pure thoughts, good intentions, loving actions, perfect behavior - always. And yet He faced temptation. He went through trials. He suffered and died for things He didn't do, and if Jesus wasn't exempt from such things, who are you that you should be?
I love reading God's response to Job. Being reminded of how powerful, magnificent, great, and mighty He is. How aware, how involved, how ever present He is. That He is over and above all things. That He has total and complete understanding of every thing that goes on, and that He always has. Who are we to question God's ways when our understanding is so small? Who are we to tell Him how to move and work in our lives when our knowledge can't compare to His?
Job realized this. And as the Lord spoke, Job was amazed. Amazed at who God is. Amazed at what God has done. And when we realize the magnitude of God's sovereignty, we realize that it doesn't matter whether or not we understand life, it just matters that we allow God to work in our lives no matter what. Because it is through the things that seem so bad that we get to experience God. It's through the storms, the trials, and the challenges that we get to witness His power first hand. And when we really understand who God is, how great He is, what He has done and is capable of doing, we realize that He can definitely take care of any situation in our life. He may take care of it in the way we'd like, or He may not. Regardless, He's still God and we are the ones who need to remember that.
#631 - For the opportunities we have to experience God's might and power through our struggles.
"Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me." - Job 42:1-3
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