The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Tag: Lent

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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March 26, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 11

Job 11 (click here)
If you prepare your heart, you will stretch out your hands toward him. 14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, and let not injustice dwell in your tents. 15 Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish; you will be secure and will not fear. 16 You will forget your misery; you will remember it as waters that have passed away. (Job 11:13-16)

Reflection
Zophar solution to Job’s plight is pretty simple…do right and good things will happen…continue to do wrong and things won’t work out so well. This is the heart of prosperity theology and it is so dangerous for it destroys any relationship of faith that one might share with the Lord.

Prosperity theology treats God like “the great vending machine in the sky.” If you put in the right change you can pick your heavenly “snack.” So…put in the right deeds of prayer, church attendance, Bible reading, and some general “niceness” and then pick your blessings. This removes any semblance of a real relationship, turns everything into something more akin to business transactions.

According to Zophar, Job isn’t using the right currency. He has obviously sinned and is being punished. If he’ll simply swap back to the right money via repentance, he’ll get back anything he wants and all this misery will be forgotten. The irony is that if Job actually pursued this type of action, it would prove Satan’s original point in chapters 1-2, namely, that Job doesn’t really love God, but just God’s gifts and is willing to do anything (even repent when he doesn’t need to) in order to get the gifts back.

Unknowingly, Zophar is helping us look deeper at the heart of Job (both the person and the book). Job is showing us that the real value in a relationship with God is not the blessings, but simply knowing and being known by God himself. Do we treasure God himself? Do we treasure him more than the gifts of possessions, family, and health?

May the only “prosperity” in our Gospel be the infinitely prosperous treasure of knowing God in Christ Jesus!

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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