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The story of Job has always intrigued me for a variety of reasons. Here he was, the man that God himself was impressed with. “Have you seen my friend Job?” It almost sounds as though God himself were boasting. “Look around. Try to find anyone that is more stable, more blameless than he is! Try to find someone. I dare you!”
Apparently, God had reason to boast (If God boasted). Job had it all together. He was the poster child for spiritual living. Job had it all. A great church, a great family, well behaved kids and although Scripture says little about her, I’m guessing his wife was a knock-out.
If Job were alive today he could probably have whatever he wanted. The evangelicals would flock to him as the one who could do away with all the social ills. Those on the other side would have to admit he was a class act. Besides, he had money, and money always speaks loud and clear.
Try looking at Job from a human perspective. Look at his story without the advantage we have of the backstage drama between God and Satan. At the peak of his career Job suffers the trifecta of disasters. Economically he loses all his livestock. In his day, livestock = $$. Secondly, he loses everything relationally. The one thing every man hopes for is to leave a heritage behind him. Job lost any hope of passing on his good name that day when, due to natural disaster, every one of his children was killed. But, he still had his health, right? A man can suffer lots of adversity if he’s healthy. Not so fast. Job loses his health too.
So here he is, this man of greatness wallowing in a burnt out campfire scraping his sores with a dirty, broken piece of an old dish.
Enter the church…well, maybe not exactly the church, but close. Three of Jobs ‘closest friends’ come to hold an intervention. Perhaps Job’s demise was casting a dark shadow on their ministry. Give them the benefit of a doubt. Maybe they were there with good intentions. Whatever their motives, the men all had the same message for Job. The message was worded differently, and arguments were made rationally, from our perspective. The bottom line to these ‘friends of Job’ was that adversity comes as a result of sin. Job suffered adversity. Therefore Job sinned.
It’s a simple equation that has been handed down through the centuries. Sin = adversity. Spirituality = Blessing. We have to explain things. We have to give reasons for those times when our Theology about a God of Love falls short. We all have the tendency to explain those times when ‘good people’ suffer and ‘bad people’ are victorious.
Eventually, Job had his wealth and position restored, and a new family to carry on his good name. But Job learned a valuable lesson that each of us needs to learn and I have to admit I’m not good at this yet. That lesson is this. God is God. He is sovereign in all he does.
While I’m not advocating that when trials come we need to don the sackcloth and grab the nearest broken plate on our way to the burnt-out campfire, each of us needs to take the time, during the tough times, to stop and evaluate what got us here. Sometimes it is our sin. Sometimes it’s the sin of others. Sometimes we won’t know.
I appreciate the fact that Job questioned God. He didn’t question YAHWEH’s existence. He evaluated himself and could find no sin. But he shows each of us a couple valuable lessons.
First, God is God and is of another world. We have no idea of the future. We have no idea what is going on in the spiritual realm involving our lives. It takes faith, but each of us must look first to see if there is sin that needs to be dealt with. If so, deal with it. Ask repentance and work towards a cure with the help of the Holy Spirit. If not, faithfully trust that God will eventually make His way plain. It may not be until heaven, but He will reveal Himself.
Secondly, it’s okay to question God, to ask for answers. To share frustrations. To cry. Our Heavenly Father isn’t an emotionally weak old man that can’t handle adversity or argument. He’s a loving, understanding Heavenly Father that only has our best in mind, and He knows better than us what is best for us.
Lastly, stay true to yourself. There are many people out there that will tell you exactly why you are going through this trial and what you need to do to get out of it. Before you jump on some ‘quick cure’ bandwagon spend some time with the Master. Then listen with a Godly wisdom to that others say.
(From ‘Sifted as Wheat’)
He walked slowly up the stairs. He didn’t really want to go into that room. He didn’t want to face them. But he had nowhere else to go. It was dark, cold and the Jews may be out for more blood. What a difference a few hours had made. It seemed like just minutes ago that he’d left this upper room with his buddies and the Teacher. He could still smell the aroma of the roasted Lamb, he could still see the Teacher’s shadow in the distance as he prayed. How could he have fallen asleep? If only he’d known.
He tried to open the door quietly, but the rusty hinges gave him away. The others in the room looked up when he entered. Not one said a word. The air had been filled with celebration earlier, but now it was heavy, full of grief and sadness.
He found a corner and slid down the wall. He buried his face in his hands. He began to cry again. This time, there were few tears left. He sensed a shape near him and heard John’s voice.
“Did you hear about Judas?” John’s face was full of grief and fear when he looked up.
“They got Judas too?”
“No,” there was a heavy pause, “he hung himself.”
Peter placed his face back in his hands “When will it end?”
He may have slept a bit. If so, it would be the first sleep he’d had in two days. But his rest was shattered by a rattling gate. Instantly everyone was up. They were here. At any moment soldiers could break through.
John looked carefully through the drawn window. “It’s only Mary. Let her in.”
Mary bust through the door. She was breathless from running and could barely speak.
“He’s not there. The tomb. He’s gone. They took his body!”
Peter broke through the crowd. “What are you talking about?” He demanded.
“I went to the tomb to mourn. The stone was rolled away. The tomb was empty Peter!”
Peter hesitated to try to understand. Then he bolted from the room and ran down the steps. He hurried through the streets. ‘It couldn’t be,’ He told himself. When he and John got to the tomb it was just as Mary had told them. The grave clothes lay in a neat pile. The small room smelled of fresh burial spices. But there was no one there.
Peter’s mind was racing. He was angry at the Jews for taking his body. But what if they hadn’t taken it? “What if….NO! I saw him die.” He got back to the room before the others returned. He didn’t know what to make of things. So many questions. What was it he said? The Son of Man must be lifted up? What did he mean? Where was his body?
A thousand other questions went through his mind when suddenly the cool, dark room was warm and full of light. He looked up to see the Teacher. Peter fell to his knees and hung his head. A hand reached down and pulled him to his feet. The Teacher gently lifted Peter’s head so that he could see his eyes.
Peter didn’t understand completely, but looking into Jesus’ eyes he knew everything would be okay.
I am publishing this excerpt from my Built with Grace topic, ‘The Day Peter Learned Love’, to remind all of us on this Resurrection Weekend that it doesn’t matter what you have done. There is nothing in your past, present or future that can keep you from experiencing the life-changing love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Find a house of worship this weekend and make or renew a decision to follow Him completely.
A woman contemplates suicide. She’s a hooker, a mom, and addict. She has stooped so low as to sell not only her body, but the body of her three year old daughter to support her habit. At the end of her options, with no where to turn, she seeks out a counselor. He suggests church and she is shocked. “Why,” She asks angrily, “Would I go to church. I already feel bad enough about me. Why would I want to go someplace where I’d only be made to feel worse about myself?
A soldier sinks low in his foxhole. Bullets and rockets fly overhead. He’s been gone from home for two years fighting this war. He opens a bent and crumpled envelope. It’s from his home church. Anticipation rises within him. Expectantly he opens the letter, only to find that he has been dropped from the membership because he has fallen behind in his annual giving. When he returns home he never again darkens the door of a church.
They ‘did all the right things’ as parents. They had family devotions. They were involved in their local church. They took an active part in the social, educational and spiritual lives of their four wonderful children. They were good, Godly, caring parents. Then, within a span of two years, three of their children are taken in tragic, separate accidents. Three young lives taken before they really had a chance to bloom. Mom and Dad were never the same. The lone, remaining child struggled with drugs as he dealt with the tragic turn of his life. Throughout this tragic turn of events in this devastated family, the church remained strangely quiet.
What has happened in 2000 years that has made those who used to cling to the feet of Jesus, run from him in anger and shame? When did the church place the importance of money before the giving of one’s life for his country? How did we lose the compassion of the church in Acts to overlook the pain of our brothers and sisters?
The United States of America has more freedom, and opportunities to show the love of Christ than any country in the world. Yet churches close every week because there are no longer enough people attending to fill the pews. We are a nation of ‘empty pew people’. People who for a variety of reasons have turned their backs on the one person that can give them the fulfillment they seek.
In the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul writes to a group of people that have fallen into the trap of legalistic thinking. They had become more intent on rules and regulations, and less concerned about living relationally. In Chapter 5, verse one he earnestly pleads with them to remember that we were born to be free.
The body of Christ needs to return to being a living organism of faith and mercy and love. Each of us has the responsibility to show the Grace of our Lord Jesus to those who might make us uneasy, or take us out of our comfort zone. Our Heavenly Father can’t do His work when we confine Him within the walls of ‘church-ianity.’
(From “When Grace Isn’t Enough: Amazingly Graceless”)
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 