The Joy of Glory

Job 19:14–27 (click here)
My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me.

All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me.

“Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God…
(Job 19:14, 19, and 23-26)

Reflection
Abandoned and alone.

That was how Job felt. Everyone he had ever known and loved had turned against him and even passing strangers scoffed.

Have you ever been there? Abandoned and alone?

Job doesn’t minimize his pain… he pours it out! Reading through his words is a gut-wrenching experience if you take him seriously. You can hear his anguish and feel his agony ripple through your own nervous system as he empties his soul on page after page.

This is actually what Job wished for in the midst of his personal midnight! He longed for his words to be written down in a permanent place where they could be passed from generation to generation. He longed for others to know his painful plight… but why?

We are not left wondering… for Job tells us why he wants his words engraved in rock forever… “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God…”

Job wants you and me to be able to read his testimony, not primarily so we can hear his complaint and sympathize with his pain, but so that we might see the faithfulness of his God. Job is confident that God will be faithful to the end! He believes that even if his flesh is destroyed, his God is one of redemption who will redeem that dead flesh to live again, and he will spend forever in his redeemed flesh with his redeemer!

Job wants a permanent testimony of his pain recorded so that all may know he loves a God who is bigger than his pain, who sustains him through it, and redeems it all!

Like Job, our pain stands as a testimony to those around us. I wonder what they read? What am I inscribing with the iron pen of my life upon the rock of time and history? Especially amidst my own midnight, my painful plights… will others read in these moments of my life the story of a faithful God who is bigger than my pain, who sustains me through it, and who will one day redeem all?

When people read the stories of our lives will they read the words “I know that my Redeemer lives?”

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Job 2:7-10
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Reflection
Satan struck Job.

Yet, Job spoke of receiving evil from God.

And… “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

So, who struck Job? From where did the evil come? Satan or God? Scripture simply answer is “yes.” But, this is far from simple.

What Job recognizes is that God is sovereign over all… even Satan and evil. There is nothing that befalls Job which somehow escapes the sovereignty of God. However, this does not make God morally culpable for evil! Job’s assumption is that God has good purposes behind all that he is allowing to befall him. It is to be received without cursing God, for God is at work for good.

Satan is at work for evil! Satan is at work to destroy Job’s faith and defame God. Yet, God is at work to establish Job’s faith for the fame of his name.

In the same event, Satan is at work for evil and God is at work for glory and good.

This is true all over the Bible and it is true in all the evil that befalls you. Evil is evil and can be called such. When you experience pain, suffering, and wickedness… you can talk about how Satan and others are at work to destroy your faith. You can denounce evil as evil.

But at the same time, we do not despair! For… we know that God is sovereign, and he is at work in the same events for his glory and our ultimate good!

So, we can look at every ounce of evil that comes our way and confidently say, “This doesn’t win! God wins!” Evil doesn’t get the final word, our great-sovereign-God works all things together for the good of those who love him!

I can receive what he is graciously doing in me even through the most painful of my days! I can receive “evil” from the Lord, knowing that he is sovereign over it, in it, and through it for glory and good.

Just look at the cross.

The crucifixion of the sinless son of God is the greatest act of evil that has ever happened. Simultaneously it is the greatest act for God’s glory and our good. If God was sovereign there for his great purposes, then truly he is sovereign everywhere.

Truly we can say with Job, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

Proverbs 3:19-26 (click here)
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth…

My son, do not lose sight of these—keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck.

Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.
(Proverbs 3 selected verses)

Reflection
When sudden terror strikes… what is your foundation… your anchor… your solid rock?

When the wicked close in around you with words or wounds… to what or whom do you turn?

When all around your soul gives way… who is all your hope and stay?

Solomon says we have one confidence that will keep us from being caught in the snares of terror… the Lord himself! He is our foundation, our anchor, our rock, all our hope and stay to whom we turn.

And Solomon emphasizes why we can have such confidence in God amidst such trying situations. “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth.”

Sovereignty.

Solomon tells us not to lose sight of God’s sovereignty as the one who made all and rules over all. Sovereignty is the very truth that often causes us to struggle when the wicked strike and prosper. We are left asking why the Lord doesn’t do something because we know he can.

And yet…

The very truth that causes us to question, is also the rock-solid foundation of our hope. For if God is sovereign, then he can keep all his promises, and he has promised that terror and the wicked do not win in the end. They will not last. They will meet their end when he brings redemption to completion! So, we have confidence because we do not lose sight of our sovereign God.

No matter how dark the terror of the wicked may seem… the light of the Sovereign God pierces the night with a beam of hope that will one day shine in full strength as the sun of victory.

Christian… do not be afraid… do not lose sight of your sovereign God… HE is your confidence!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.