The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Category: Lent

March 29, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 15

Job 15 (click here)
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: 2 “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? 3 Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good? (Job 15:1-3)

Reflection
Eliphaz begins round two of this debate over Job’s condition by throwing caution to the wind and outright questioning Job’s character. It’s almost as if he has not even been listening to Job. As soon as Job claimed to be innocent of any wrongdoing, Eliphaz’s ears closed and his mind kicked into gear formulating a response. This type of “listening” is not rooted in a desire to offer comfort, but in a cockiness that desires to prove its own correctness!

Job’s words are “windy knowledge” and “unprofitable talk” to Eliphaz! And this assessment is not based on actually thinking Job’s words through, but on the simple fact that they are at odd’s with Eliphaz’s own words.

How often do we “listen” to people this way. We come into their situation knowing all the answers to what they should do, how they should react, or the way in which they should go forward…and as a result, we do not listen to anything they have to say unless they are agreeing with what we have already decided is right. Such an approach cannot ultimately bring comfort.

Job needs friends that will listen to him, sit with him, cry with him, and wrestle through difficult questions with him. Many things they have to say are true, but misapplied. Many things they have to say are true, but inappropriate to speak to the bereaved man as he sits in ashes scraping his boils. Job is not in need of solutions right now (which is what they are offering)… he is in need of a safe place to speak and be heard.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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March 28, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 13-14

Job 13-14 (click here)
Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face. (Job 13:15)

For there is hope for a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its shoots will not cease. (Job 14:7)

But a man dies and is laid low; man breathes his last, and where is he? (Job 14:10)

Reflection
Job wants his day in court! He wants to stand before God and argue his case. Have you ever desired the same thing? Yet, even though Job feels wronged in his current suffering, he does not abandon his hope in God. In fact, even if God should bring his death… Job says he will still hope in God. Why?

It is because Job knows that God is sovereignly in control… that is a truth he expresses again and again. Further, Job never lets go of his belief that God is ultimately good. Even amidst all his pain and confusion… even as he would like to share his thoughts with God and argue his case… even through all of that, Job still believes that God is good. Therefore, even if God should bring death, Job hopes in him as the only one who has the power over all his suffering. God is the only one that can redeem and vindicate Job… even beyond the grave.

Like a tree that is cut down, there is still hope that it will sprout again. In that proverb, Job speaks more than he knows or understands. He can see hope for the tree, but not for himself. If he is cut down (dies), then he can no longer be vindicated this side of the grave… or can he?

Job is lamenting how hopeless his situation feels… that even a cut down tree has more hope than he… but even Job knows this is not reality… it just feels like reality. He will later express a deeper truth, namely, that God can redeem him beyond any hopelessness. God can vindicate him, even beyond the grave. Job has just as much hope as the cut down tree…actually…he has more hope. You have more hope! For a tree that is cut down may sprout again, but to what end?… to be cut down again and again and again? Yet, this is not our fate! In Christ, we have the promise that though we may be cut down by death we shall be raised unto eternal life (1 Cor 15)!

For this reason, I can say… I can even sing with joy… though he slay me, I will hope in him!

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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March 27, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 12

Job 12 (click here)
The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand. 7 But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; 8 or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. 9 Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:6-10)

Reflection
Job bluntly tells his friends that their nice and neat theology does not square with what actually happens in the world. The wicked do not seem to always be punished and the righteous do not seem to always be rewarded.

Just look at robbers who live in peace and luxury or people who provoke God, disregard him, or worship false gods…many of them live in prosperity and relative ease. And lest Job’s friends try to say that God is obviously not involved in these exceptions to their rules…he calls on all of creation to testify concerning the sovereign power of God! In his hand is EVERY living thing!

The very reason Job is confused amidst his suffering is because he knows that God is in control. Is this not the reason we are often confused amidst our suffering? Pain is only problematic to those who believe in a good, loving, all-powerful God. This is what leads us to question the way God is running the universe, namely, the fact that he IS running the universe.

Yet…the most interesting thing about what Job is says in verse 9 is the name he chooses to use for God… “the LORD.” This is God’s covenant name…Yahweh. In all of the many speeches throughout the book, this is the only place God’s covenant name is invoked. The name recalls God’s faithful-never-ending-love for his people.

Job may be confused about how God could be in control of his situation, but he is quick to remind himself that, no matter how confusing, it is a hopeful thing that all is in the hand of the LORD…the faithful, loving one. The events of our lives may often seem confusing in light of God being in control, but that same truth is what brings comfort amidst the confusion for we know that God is good and can be trusted.
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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