The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Tag: Job

March 24, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 8

Job 8 (click here)
Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: 2 “How long will you say these things, and the words of your mouth be a great wind? 3 Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right? 4 If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.” (Job 8:1-4)

Reflection
Bildad’s problem is that he is right! God does not pervert justice! The Almighty does not pervert the right! Bildad’s theology is correct…but he makes the grave mistake of assuming that he can see the whole picture of what is going on with Job and that leads him to horribly, wrongly apply his right beliefs!

Bildad cannot imagine a universe beyond what he can see…a world in which God has more information and wisdom than he does. In his mind Job’s suffering must be direct punishment for some sin or that would make God unjust. This leads him to say foolish things to his suffering friend…such as, “Your kids must have sinned and received what they deserved!”

Could a worse thing be said to this bereaved father? All too often, we have correct beliefs that lead us to say foolish things amidst suffering because we believe we have the full picture when we simply do not. We must always remember there is a heavenly perspective that goes beyond us and we cannot possibly know all that God is doing in any given situation.

Before we attempt to advise anyone who is suffering, we would do well to recall Paul’s words in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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March 23, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 6-7

Job 6-7 (click here)
Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. (Job 7:11)

Reflection
Despair. It has crept into Job’s soul and now spews out his mouth. God is the sole source of his hope, but it seems as though God himself is set against him. He has nowhere left to go. What is a believer to do when despair comes?

We are still to go to the only source of hope we have…God. We take our anguish, our complaints, our bitterness to the Lord. We do not keep everything shut up inside our hearts and wear a happy face like all is ok. No.  Bottled up bitterness is like a stomach full of glass…it will cut you to pieces and kill you from the inside out.

Even though Job feels like God is opposing him, he still goes to God. As a believer, he (and we) has nowhere else to go.  And Job doesn’t hold back, he lets go everything that is in his heart. This doesn’t mean that everything he says or does is right! All too often we mistake it being ok to express our feelings before God as an actual affirmation that our feelings are correct. That is not the case.

As Job will find out, anytime we are angry with God, we are in the wrong…for God never does anything wrong. Yet, it is ok to express what we are feeling to the Lord. He will walk us, as he does with Job, through the situation in his time and his way. He will affirm the feelings that should be affirmed and lead us to repent of those for which repentance is needed.

Don’t sit in the darkness of despair alone…for you are not alone. Cry out to God. Take everything in your heart before him. Hold nothing back. He is the only one who can turn our night to day. He is our only hope.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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March 22, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 4-5

Job 4-5 (click here)
Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? 8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. (Job 4:7-8)

Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. 18 For he wounds, but he binds up; he shatters, but his hands heal. (Job 5:17-18)

Reflection
Flat, overly-simplified theology is dangerous. The world is complex, we are complex, situations are complex…things are not as simple as they seem. All too often we take something that is true and apply it in a very flat/rigid manner that Scripture simply will not allow.

This is the fault of Eliphaz (and the rest of Job’s friends). The basic truth he latches onto is that God punishes the wicked and upholds the righteous. We know that to be true, but the way in which that truth plays out in life is very complex. Eliphaz attempts to apply it in a very flat, overly-simplified way. Job is suffering…God punishes the wicked…therefore Job must have done something wrong and is being punished as a result.

Eliphaz offers an equally simple solution. Job needs to repent and God will bind up his wounds and heal him…restore him. The situation seems very cut and dry. Yet, we know that Job is not suffering as a result of sin. There is no punishment present. This is innocent suffering. Eliphaz has no category for that.

Innocent suffering does not undo the truth that God punishes the wicked and upholds the righteous…for God will uphold his justice, but in his time and his way. He works from an eternal perspective that we simply cannot see.

This is why we, like Job, must walk by faith…trusting God. When it comes to our pain and the pain of others…we must avoid simple diagnoses and prescriptions.  Job knows that he does not “deserve” his present suffering. God must be doing something other than “punishing” him. God must have a deeper purpose, for he does not allow any of our pain to be meaningless no matter how senseless it feels to us (2 Cor 4:17).


*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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