The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…

Tag: Lent

March 19, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 2:1-10

Job 2:1-10 (click here)
Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” 6 And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” (Job 2:4-6)

Reflection
Satan has been defeated once. He tried to show that Job’s faith was a frivolous response to the material blessings God had poured out on him. But now, all those blessings are gone and Job still worships the Lord. So…Satan changes tactics. Perhaps it’s not physical blessings, but physical health that causes Job to continue his allegiance to the almighty.

Satan is wholly self-centered and cannot imagine viewing the world another way. Surely Job, and all other people, value their own life and health above all else. We know that in many situations Satan is right, but with one (like Job) who truly holds the living God as their greatest treasure, health is merely a bonus, but not a necessity.

How can this be? It is because the one who truly worships God lives with a God-centered perspective, not a man-centered one. The most important thing to a worshipper is that God be shown to be glorious/loving/valuable as he is. Therefore, to lose ones health and still hang on to God only reveals that he is more valuable to you than your own well-being.

The thing that most of the world vigorously values above all, their own health and life, is nothing compared to holding on to God. Even more than that, we hang on to the promise of God that death is not the end for those who worship him! He has promised to destroy disease and death so we dare not let go of him, our ultimate hope! This is the perspective from which Job and we cry, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him!” (Job 13:15)

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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March 18, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 1:13-22

Job 1:13-22 (click here)
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. (Job 1:20-22)

Reflection
Job stands among four servants…they’re all that’s left. He’s lost everything…or has he. Job recognizes that there is one more present that the four who “alone have escaped” to tell him all this bad news. The Lord is present…and so Job worships.

How can he do this? How can one worship amidst such immeasurable suffering? Job’s explanation is simple, yet has incredible depth… “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Job says that God is sovereign. He has been in control over all the blessings Job had ever received and he is still sovereign over all that Job is losing. We know that he has right for we have seen what is going on behind the curtain of heaven. Satan is attacking, but only in as much as allowed by the sovereign king over all.  Because God is sovereign, Job feels he can respond in worship.

How does that work? Job’s recognition is that he might not understand all that is going on, but God is still on his throne and can be trusted. He will say that God is worthy of worship when everything is great and he will say that God is still worthy of worship when everything falls apart. Even as he suffers, he knows God is in control and has the power to end his suffering…God is his only hope and so even though much has happened that he does not understand he will not let go of his only hope. Job’s faith doesn’t fail because his faith was not founded on all the blessings that are not gone. His faith’s foundation was God…who is still present to sustain Job through all his suffering.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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March 17, 2014

Lent Devotional: Job 1:1-12

Job 1:1-12 (click here)
And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” (Job 1:8-11)

Reflection
What is the real reason that Job fears God? Satan’s claim is that Job’s motivation is completely bound up in the fact that God has blessed him with material possessions. He’s claiming that Job doesn’t really love God the giver, but just the gifts. Take away the gifts and he will curse God…at least that is the claim.

Have you ever asked yourself, “Why do I fear God? Why do I love him, cling to him, and trust him?” It is important to know what is the foundation of our faith because if it is anything other than God himself it is a foundation that is easily destroyed.

If Job fears God because of God’s gifts…then his fear/faith is about to be gone. But, if Job fears God because of who God is…then his faith will remain no matter what happens.

What is the root/the foundation of our faith? Is it God’s good gifts or God himself? Only one of those things will sustain us when we undergo attacks from the enemy. Hint…it’s not the gifts.

*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.

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