Overview of: JobToday's Reading:
Job 42:1-17
"Job Repents in Faith"
Focus Verses: Job 42:3-6
3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.' 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
Insight:
When someone is suffering, it's easy to see that person's need for comfort and help. It's not so easy to see that person's need to be confronted or corrected. Who would rebuke a person who is suffering?
It's important to remember that suffering presents unique and intense challenges and temptations. There are some sins to which we are only susceptible during times of suffering. We are tempted to reject God or blame him. We are tempted to think everything is meaningless. Subsequently, we begin to live in self-centered, bitter, or careless ways. Suffering can produce its own peculiar kind of arrogance that finds its root in a sense of unjust victimization.
When confronted by God, Job wisely recognized the subtle arrogance at work in his suffering heart. He stopped shaking his fist at God, and came to the startling epiphany: "I am suffering for reasons too awesome and mysterious for me to know." Job humbled himself in repentance and entrusted his suffering to God. This kind of trust and humility is perhaps the deepest and most profound expression of faith any human can offer to God.
Response and Action:
I will entrust my suffering and hardship to God. I choose to believe that my life—including my suffering--has meaning, even if that meaning is too wonderful for me to comprehend. I will examine my heart in times of trial and guard against the unique sins suffering can provoke in me. I will humble myself before God.
O God, forgive me when trials and problems get the best of me. Help me to draw near to you, and to trust you with my sorrows and difficulties. Help me to have a thankful heart, and as I lift up my requests to you, guard my heart and mind with the peace of Christ Jesus. Amen.
Proverb for Today: Prov. 20:27
"The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being."
New Testament for Today: Phil. 4:6-7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
In Context: Phil. 4:4-9
Recommended Reading:
Waiting: Finding Hope When God Seems Silent
by Ben Patterson
