Today’s Scripture Reading: Job 22:1-25:6
Chapter 22 We start today’s reading with Eliphaz’s third response to Job…and his opinion of Job hasn’t changed at all. His friends continue to chastise and degrade him…telling Job again and again that if he would just turn from his wicked ways, his problems would disappear. Can you imagine Job’s hurt and frustration…bottles of emotions that must have raged in his heart. Over and over he has heard this SAME speech from one of the three. There is nothing he can do to prove his innocense to his friends—he has nothing to show them and they will not believe his words. And how does he respond after ANOTHER accusation?
Chapter 23 Job’s 8th response to his friends is not one of frustration or hurt to his friends–but now simply longing to be in the Lord’s presence—so he may understand why this has happened to him and his judgement can finally be over and the air can be cleared. OH…don’t you LONG for the Lord’s justice? Don’t you long to be understood by those who ever never “got” you? There have been so many times in my life where I have been heartbroken by sin around me, and as much as I have wanted to take a matter into my own hands I have only gotten peace as I knelt before the Lord and said, “Take this Lord. I trust you Lord. I believe you are a just God. I know you are a good God. I ask for you to work this out. May your justice prevail and Your will be done.”
His justice will always, always prevail. But I think the hardest part—is that although we are instructed in His word to seek justice, defend the cases of the oppressed—we are not promised justice in this life. But we have to remember—we are promised justice (Isaiah 10) when we all see God face to face. Defend the weak, fight for justice and trust in the Lord who is a God of justice, truth and love.
Chapter 24 Job asks in this chapter why the wicked are not punished. And oh–how this chapter I feel like I could cry out as well! Why is their pain in the world? Why hungry children? Why are children abused? Why do evil men get away with such crimes here on Earth? WHY? WHY? WHY? I have a list of whys for my own life—but looking back, I know see…that in every last one of them…THE LORD HAS BEEN GLORIFIED.
Why Lord did my father, a good man and a hard worker, lose jobs when I was little…why did everything never seem to work out…why did my parents have to struggle so? The Lord have given me a heart to give, to spot a child in need, compassion for the poor and to know the joys of not having what the world has. Oh–that I can give my children the same gifts my parents gave me! The gift of creativity…in using EVERYTHING…in not wasting…in stretching a penny. I would not change ONE thing about the things I once thought were unfair. The Lord was just. He was faithful. My heartbeat is now to care for those who are in need—forget saving for Disneyland…Heaven is going to be way cooler than that. The Lord is glorified as we love the world deeper!
Why Lord when you finally provided a job was it in a town far away where we knew no one…and in the midst of tough middle school years where my sisters and I would do anything to fit in? I felt so alone Lord…and never in the years to come was I ever so far away from you? And when I finally became a believer, I was ridiculed and mocked. BUT…I can identify with the lost. I long for them to experience the Lord. And the Lord blessed 10 years of middle school and high school ministry in my life after I finally came to him at 18. I couldn’t have understood or identified with those kids had the Lord not taken me through the valley. The Lord is glorified!
Why Lord when I was 16 did you allow me to be at the wrong place at the wrong time? When I cried out to you why didn’t you come save me? How in the heck could you ever use that for your glory? The Lord needed me to understand pain–and to also understand TRUE forgiveness and the miracle of healing. To knock on the door of an evil doer and say, “I forgive you because I was forgiven is. I have to tell you about the Lord–because He loves me. He forgives me. And if you let Him—He also wants to forgive you.” To see tears of regret and to know the Lord had already tormented one with guilt and grief…and to ask the Lord to change a heart and to please forgive…lives are changed…justice is served…I can understand those who have been hurt in a new way…the Lord is glorified!
Following the Lord to India, China and Africa in missions…why Lord are these children poor? Why are they alone? Why are they being victimized? Ah…my daughter, you know how they feel. You asked me to help you understand and to know their hearts…your life experiences have given you a gift to understand their pain and their hurt. I want YOU to fight for them. I never gave up on you. This will be how you spend your life…loving them as I loved you.
Job 25:1-6 So while Bildad comes back to Job with God is great and we’re maggots…I have to say to Bildad—that we serve a powerful, just and loving God. He changes us through the blood of Jesus from maggots to masterpieces. Bildad, you ask how a mortal can be innocent before God or how anyone born of a woman could be pure? Through the blood of Jesus. And through Jesus–we are offered a relationship with God. Forgiveness of our sins. The old is made new—and through Him we can do all things!
Today, I cling to His truths. He is just! He is righteous! And He always wins. I have seen it in my life, and in all things I know He will be glorified. Because my God wants to be glorified in all things—my God WILL be glorified in all things! AMEN!
The Lord has been faithful to me. He has blessed my life and my household. Because I have seen His faithfulness in being just—I will trust Him with the injustice I know see. And I will not give up fighting the good fight…fighting for those who aren’t able YET to fight for themselves and trusting my God to be with me every step of the way.
by admin
LOL! You and I put the same Isaiah verse on our posts today! We are so alike!
Wow! Powerful words Andrea, thank you!
Chapter 22: I really can’t believe how Eliphaz is giving Job a list of his sins, when he obviously doesn’t even have the foggiest clue about him! I can’t even imagine saying something like that to someone!
Chapter 23: In Job’s response, you can hear the confidence in my voice! It seems the more he searches, the more confidence he can claim! I’m so proud of him for standing up for himself! I think it is really easy when people are accusing you to either hush up and listen, or after a while kind of wonder if they are true. You wonder if you missed something in your own life. Job stuck to his guns! And again, my commentary speaks about Job’s honesty with God. “God is not afraid of our feelings, and strong emotions are a natural part of life. We should not label them good or bad. It is how we choose to express them and deal with them that God is concerned about. Honest assessment of our feelings is important as we seek spiritual growth.” Those are important words for me to hear.
Chapter 24: My commentary here summed it all up so well.
“As we face a momentous loss, we are often compelled to rediscover the foundations of our faith. Job probed the whole realm of God’s justice, judgment, and timing, and he came to a humble conclusion: God’s ways are just. We are often confused by his timing, but his ways are ultimately just.”
“Our need for security affects our decisions, attitudes, and actions every day. Each of us has a working definition of security, and we fear anything that threatens it. Job’s entire foundation in this world has been shaken, and yet he learned an important lesson: Real security doesn’t lie in what this world has to offer; it lies in the consistency, the justice, the faithfulness, and the overwhelming power and love of God.”
Chapter 25 & 26: Bildad is short and sweet, “How much less are mere people, who are but worms in his sight?” (25:6) Job is not denying God’s power, he is acknowledging it. “These are some of the minor things he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who can understand the thunder of his power?” (26:14)