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For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 2 Thessalonians 3:7-8
When I was in Bible College I worked in a small woodworking factory. Our boss was openly agnostic at best and most days an atheist. However, one fall day we needed a new employee. He asked me if I knew anyone at the college that was looking for work. It just so happened that I’d struck up a friendship with a new student looking for work. I told my boss I did and I’d send him in for an application and interview.
In the course of our conversation my agnostic boss shared that there wouldn’t be much of a need for an application or interview. If he went to the college I went to he would probably get hired. In this small plant of perhaps 30 employees, over half of them were students or one time students at the college I attended. My boss shared with me that even though he didn’t buy all this ‘Jesus stuff’ he liked to have us working there because he knew we were hard workers and he could trust us.
During my time there my boss suffered a horrible tragedy. His five year old son died of an aggressive, fast acting form of meningitis. We as Christ-followers were able to gather around him during one of the most troubling times of his life. I’m not sure if Jim (not his real name) ever accepted Jesus as savior, I know that my friends and I had a ministry at that small shop.
Each of us is called to ministry. That ministry may take us to Walmart as a greeter or McDonalds as a burger-flipper or a ditch digger. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we carry with us an opportunity to show Jesus in the way we work, the way we react and interact with our co-workers or customers and what we do while we are on the job.
People will be far more likely to be interested in our Jesus when we show them our best effort at work. Bosses and co-workers alike are far less interested in our denominational affiliation or doctrinal stand than they are how we show them Jesus by our work ethic.
From this day forward don’t think of your job as just a job, think if it as an opportunity for ministry. Share Jesus by working hard, being considerate of others, and putting forth your best effort. People may not like you or agree with you on many things, but they can’t argue a job well done with a joyful attitude.
PRAYER: Father God, help me to see my job as an opportunity for ministry. Empower me with your spirit to attack each day with the mind of Christ so that even if people don’t agree with my doctrine or my lifestyle they will see Jesus in me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. Job 23:10
“I believe in the sun even when it is not shining, I believe in love even when I am alone and I believe in God even when He is silent” Inscription found scratched into a wall in Germany by someone hiding from the Nazi concentration camps.
It’s easy to have faith in God when you have a surplus in your checkbook. Having faith is easy when your spouse is sensitive to all your needs; your kids are well respected, academically achieving, mature young men and women; the doctor’s report comes back favorably and the weather forecast is perfect for that outdoor picnic.
If we are really honest with ourselves, all too often the level of our faith is directly proportional to the comfort level of our lives. When things go well, God is good. When things go bad then something or someone must be wrong. We can easily start blaming others, ourselves, or even God for all the bad that happens. Sometimes we even stop believing that God exists or, if he does, is unconcerned or unable to deal with our situation.
None of us have endured the pain and agony that Job experienced. Children in his day were a sign of wealth and godliness and all ten of his kids were killed in a horrible storm. He was the richest and most generous man in the region, yet had all his wealth taken from him. His body was full of painful, itching, oozing boils for which the only medicine was to sit in a pile of ashes and scrap himself with a piece of broken pottery. His community couldn’t bear to look at him so he was ignored, his friends became his relentless critics, imploring him to turn from sin and his wife, the last person he had on earth, turned her back on him. Job was a completely broken, lonely, pain-racked man.
In the midst all this pain Job testifies to his faith in God. It’s as though he says, in a voice that almost sounds like he’s trying to convince himself, “I know that He’s there. I can’t see Him. But I know He sees me. I can’t understand what I’ve done to end up this way. I followed and obeyed Him. I’ve been a good husband and father. I’ve been generous to the poor. It doesn’t matter what people think of me. This one thing I know. When all this pain is over. When the time of His testing is done. I’ll come out of this shining like gold.
The picture of gold is a picture of refining; a picture of removing all the impurities, all the faults, all the issues that may have been in Job’s character by the cleansing heat of fire. Fire is painful and ruthless in it’s purifying of gold just as trials are ruthless in purifying our character. Enduring faith is seen in the hard times of life, when everything seems to be going downhill.
Wherever you are in life, ask God to help you grow to have enduring faith. Perhaps you’ve looked back on your life and seen many times when your decisions and lifestyle have brought on the consequences you now face. Nothing you have done or anyone else has done can keep you from enjoying the peace and comfort only God can give through His Son Jesus.
Praise Him today for the fact that someday your earthly trials will be over. Someday He will show Himself to you in ways you never thought possible. You may not be able to see Him. His ways may seem to far off for you and your pain may be too great right now. But He does love you and knows where you are and wants to walk with you through the adversity that lay ahead.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. Although I’m not in nearly as bad of shape as Job, my pain is still very real. I’ve tried to find you, but I can’t. I’ve tried to fill this void in my life with all sorts of things, even things like religion, but that hasn’t worked. I thank you that you see me where I am and love me the way I am. Help me to have enduring faith as I walk this journey called life. Show me Jesus so I can follow Him. Thank you for forgiving me, in Jesus name, Amen.
After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. Job 42:10
The story of Job is rich with lessons for each of us as we travel this journey called life. Here’s a man who ‘did everything right’ yet lost everything he had for no apparent reason to him. He’d lost his children, all of his wealth and the intimacy of a relationship with his wife. As he sat in emotional and physical agony his so-called friends show up and give him all sorts of answers as to why things happened the way they did.
All of their wisdom really could be boiled down to this: “Job, you messed up. You are a miserable sinner that God is punishing for your pride and arrogance. Why not just confess your sin. Everyone knows that tragedy only come because of our sin.”
They were wrong of course. We have the advantage of reading the entire script for the drama and seeing all that was going on backstage. Job was an innocent man. His trials were really the result of satanic attack. God himself was testified to His innocence and holiness backstage of the drama where only heavenly beings could hear.
Job is rich with lessons for our journey of life. God is in ultimate control of all that goes on in our lives. He allows things to happen. Painful things. Tragic things. Things that bring agony for a time. While He doesn’t explain Himself, we can know from the story of Job that although the agony is horrific, it isn’t always because of our sin and it is temporary. Even if it is sickness it is temporary because as Christ-followers were aren’t home yet. Our home is a place absent of sickness, pain, tears and death.
There’s another lesson we can learn from Job. It’s a lesson about prayer. After all his friends offered up their meaningless wisdom, God appeared to the three of them. Job was vindicated and his friends chastised.
After God was seen for who He was, the Bible tells us that Job prayed for his friends. There is no indication that he was healed of his pain or restored until he prayed for them. Imagine the scene. Job is still sitting in a pile of ashes. The piece of pottery he used to scrap his boils was laying nearby. All those involved were awestruck by the very presence of God. Then, in the midst of Job’s pain he prayed for his friends!
When we are in pain and agony we may hold that pain in because we wrongfully see pain as a sign of weakness. We may ask our friends to pray for us. But Job prayed for his friends even though he, himself had yet to be healed.
As we travel this journey called life there are many setbacks and hurdles along the way. Things that will hurt us to the point where we question if we can continue on. You could be suffering from the consequences of your own sin or poor decisions. You could be bearing the physical and/or emotional bruises of abuse. There could be no known reason for why you are in the place you are.
In the midst of your pain, don’t forget the pain of others. Job’s friends were wrong. They were judgmental, critical and compassionless. We all run across those people during our lives. People we’ve trusted laughed with and loved. Yet when times grew bad they turned on us. Follow the example of Job and pray for others in the midst of your pain.
Sometimes, in order to do this you will need to forgive others for their insensitivity. Sometimes you will need to overlook the fact that they are just plain wrong. Only you and your God know your heart. Never lose sight of the fact that while they can’t see your heart, you can’t see their heart and/or motives either.
After Job prayed, God blessed him. This wasn’t a small blessing. Job had all his wealth and more restored to him. I believe that one of the reasons he was restored so completely is because of his humble willingness to pray for those who mistreated him. This can only be done through the strength of God. Don’t let the pain of your own life cause you to overlook the pain of others.
PRAYER: Father God, I don’t understand why I have to endure some of this pain that you have placed along my path. I am so tired of so-called experts who offer all sorts of advice while overlooking my own pain or understanding my agony. Help me to forgive them and pray for them. Give me words of encouragement I can offer them even though they can’t return the favor. Thank you for being in complete control of all I do and am. Help me to trust you in the darkness. Amen.
Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be. Job 8:7
There are times when all of us can identify with some parts of the story of Job. Those times when God seems distant; when everything is going wrong and we can’t get a handle on solutions. Those are the tough times along the journey. The times when the rocks and dust along the path choke our desire to go on. The times when our heart is faint as we view the gaping chasms that drop on each side of the road.
All too often we can add to that misery the myriads of people who see our dilemma and feel it is their duty to ‘cure us of our disease’ by offering all sorts of advice and suggestions. All too often these well-meaning ‘messiahs’ don’t take the time to consider our past or what we are going through. Emotional and spiritual battles are not solved by one-size-fits-all bandages.
Enter Bildad, Jobs friend. In the midst of his pain and devastation Job’s friends gathered around to tell him exactly what his problem was and how to fix it. The problem is, as is often the case, they were off base on their assumptions and too proud to admit their ignorance. They were no help at all!
Each of us has a ‘Bildad’ or two in our lives. People that have all the answers to all the world’s problems. They may be well-intentioned, but they are often of little or no help.
There are two things we need to realize when we run across the ‘Bildad’s’ of life. First of all, most of them are well-intentioned and we should do our best to accept them grace-fully even though their assumptions are not valid.
Secondly, as with Bildad in Job 8:7, there is some truth to be gleaned from their words. While the basis of Bildad’s tirade was false, verse 7 holds a nugget of truth each of us can hold on to when the road is rocky and our journey is in jeopardy.
Too often in life we want it all now. Setbacks can cause us to give up completely. We live in a microwave world and serve a God that works more along the lines of a crock pot. He brings things about slowly which is harder for us to take, but better in the long run.
Job suffered unbearably. Still, in the end his faith and perseverance paid off. He was able to see all his riches restored. It’s the same for us today as Christ-followers. Even though you may fail to see any good in what you are going through. Even though your health may be failing, your kids rebelling, your boss (or employees) is jerks. Patient waiting on God will bring all things about in His time, not ours.
God loves you. He wants to see you succeed in life. He wants to provide you with the best life can offer. Sometimes it just takes longer to get where you want to be. Trust Him to show you the way today.
PRAYER: Holy God. I thank you today for the fact that you know all about what I’m going through. Even though they are hard to deal with, I thank you for the ‘Bildad’s’ that cross my path. Help me to be patient with them and to try to see some truth in what they say. Most importantly help me to grow closer to you and wait for your working in the trials I’m going through. Amen.
After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. Job 42:10
Have you ever noticed how, during the driest times of the year, the only greenery in your yard is the weeds? Why is it that when the nice, soft, green grass goes into dormancy and stress the weeds are the ones that stand strong and tall? They seem to stand out above the brown dry grass around them as if to say, “Look at me! I’m still green and healthy. And you…well….you are dead!”
People can be the same way. At those times when we are in despair or struggling to survive, there are those who ‘have all the answers’ to our dilemma. We aren’t eating right. We aren’t wearing the right clothes. We aren’t hanging with the right friends. We aren’t doing our job right.
It can even be more frustrating for us when they even throw the ‘spiritual’ angle into our pain. We need to pray more, go to a different church, attend a bible study, read a certain book, or do what Aunt Sally did when she was going through the same thing.
Job endured a similar situation with his ‘friends’. He’d lost everything he had. His wealth was gone. His kids were dead. He was covered with painful boils, and for whatever the reason, his wife had stopped supporting him emotionally. Add to that the visit from three friends who proceeded to tell Job, in all their human wisdom, why God was punishing Job.
The problem with Jobs friends, and the problem with the advice we sometimes receive, is that…well…it’s worthless! It doesn’t speak to our needs. It increases our pain and can load a boat load of guilt on us. To be fair to the ‘advice-givers’ their advice may be well-intentioned, and there may even be some truth to it.
For example, going to the right church, being involved in Bible Study and reading Gods word and having a good prayer life are all important parts of being a Christ-follower. However, doing all the right things doesn’t guarantee that life will work for us. We still encounter grief. We still get cancer. We still have to endure broken relationships. People still let us down.
In the story of Job, we have an opportunity to see what he didn’t. We see what was going on in Heaven and the discourse between God and Satan. We also see God’s impression of Job. God Himself said that Job was a man of integrity and character. In all that Job went through, God himself stated that ‘Job did not sin’ (even though Job’s friends thought otherwise).
At the end of Job’s test, God reveals Himself in a mighty and awe-inspiring way that drove Job to His knees in worship and humility. Then, God spoke to Job’s friends. He was not kind to them. But Job prayed for his friends. He wasn’t told to. That’s the way Job was.
People of integrity realize that offensive people will come their way. True Christ-followers know themselves so well that the words of thoughtless people, whether intended to be harmful or not, do not change their standing with Jesus. Because they are secure in who they are, they can pray for offensive people just as Job did. It’s not easy. It’s a lifestyle of forgiveness based on knowing that what others think of us isn’t nearly as important as what God thinks of us.
PRAYER: Holy God. I thank you today for who I am. I praise you for the fact that regardless of what others think about me, you know my heart. You understand my pain. You know my past and all the reasons I am the way that I am. I ask that you would give me patience to bear with offensive people. Help me to have the power to pray wisely for them, not for my sake, but for yours and theirs. Guard my lips as I speak to those around me as well. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 