The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Tag: Job

April 13, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 34-35

Job 34-35 (click here)
Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong. (Job 34:10)

Reflection
Is it ever “right” to accuse God of wrong? Is it ok for us to be angry with God?

We must answer these questions carefully and not be overly simplistic. Scripture tells us that God is never in the wrong, he never acts wickedly, he never sins, etc. Therefore, it IS sin to accuse God or be angry with him. There is no such thing as justified anger at God, for he never does anything wrong…he never does anything worthy of our wrath.

Yet…as soon as I say that, people begin to get upset because there are many times in their life they have “felt” wronged by God. Perhaps you have felt this way. Anger towards the Lord has festered in your heart. Are we just supposed to suppress that anger and put on a hypocritical face of love towards the Lord? No.

If we are angry with God, we should be honest about it. He knows anyway. Confess it, pray for comfort, and help… and eventually… repent. He is faithful and just to forgive. When we sin by being angry with the Lord, we don’t sin again by hypocritically hiding that anger.

Ultimately, we need to see that our anger is pointed in the wrong direction. Typically when we are angry at the Lord, it IS because some injustice has taken place, but such injustice should make us angry at sin, death, and Satan! We should not be angry with the only solution to those problems! The Lord is the solution! He has promised to deal, in a real/final way, with sin, death, and Satan. When we are angered by injustices, let us not aim that anger at the only one who has promised to bring us the justice we desire.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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April 12, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 32-33

Job 32-33 (click here)
So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. 3 He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. 4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. 5 And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger. (Job 32:1-5)

Reflection
Finally… Job’s three “friends” give up. However, before we can rejoice that this seemingly endless debate has come to an end, a fourth “friend” enters the picture. Here comes Elihu. He may be the strangest character in the whole book.

Elihu comes out of nowhere. He has not been mentioned up to this point and, after his long speeches end, he will not be mentioned again. No one even acknowledges anything he has to say! No one affirms his words, but no one denies his words. Even when God finally speaks he will ignore this young man. Who is this and why is he even in the story?

I think Elihu is there for us. Don’t get me wrong, I believe he is a real person and is really a part of this story, but I think he is there for all the readers of the story. Like us, he has been sitting back and simply listening. Like us, he has grown weary with all this talk. Like us, he has a few things of his own he would like to say. Like us, he has been willing to listen because, surely, these other men were wiser than he.

Right about the time Elihu can’t stand to be silent anymore is also right about the time we want to start screaming at Job and his “friends.” We want to rebuke everybody and that is exactly what Elihu does… but it does nothing. Elihu’s voice is not the one that Job or his friends need… they need to hear from God. Our voice is not the one that Job or his friends need… they need to hear from God.

God can and does speak through his people, but all too often we want to jump into situations and speak our own wisdom. People don’t need our wisdom… they need a word from God. Elihu is the final person that proves all human wisdom falls short… all our wisdom falls short. The only one left to speak is the only one that Job (and us) needs to hear speak… God.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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April 11, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 31

Job 31 (click here)
I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? 2 What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high? 3 Is not calamity for the unrighteous, and disaster for the workers of iniquity? 4 Does not he see my ways and number all my steps? (Job 31:1-4)

Reflection
This is Job’s final appeal. He walks back through his life and looks at how he has lived…searching for something that could have brought about his present situation. But, there is nothing to be found. Job has lived his life in the pursuit of righteousness.

He poses an interesting question that we do not have consider…if he had lived NOT pursuing righteousness, then he asks, “What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?” The implied answer is obvious…NOTHING!

Job believes that if he did not live a life pursuing righteousness that he would have no inheritance from God! Wait a minute Job…isn’t that works based righteousness? Are you saying that your “good deeds” merit you salvation? No. All too often we have no place in our thinking (or living) for a pursuit of righteousness because we immediately want to label that as “legalism” or “works-based-salvation.” But, this is not the way the Bible talks.

A pursuit of righteousness is evidence that one has a real relationship with the Lord. I don’t pursue righteousness to create the relationship…I pursue righteousness because I AM in the relationship! Such a pursuit does not save me, but it is necessary evidence that I am saved! A life devoid of pursuing righteousness is evidence that someone does not have a relationship with God and will have no inheritance from him.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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