Title: Dealing with Hidden Obstacles/ Topic: Growing in God
Today’s Reading: Job 3; Job 4; Acts 8; Acts 9
Scripture: Job 3:20-21; 25
20 "Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,
21 to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure,
25 What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.
Observation: Job finally cracks a little under the weight of constant, prolonged suffering. He's depressed and longs for death. Who can blame him? I think any human being would feel the same way. The most interesting verse to me in this passage is verse 25 where Job reveals to his friends that what is happening to him is exactly what he has feared and dreaded. The first time I read Job I thought God was rather cruel for using Job as a pawn in a bet with Satan. Job had to suffer just so God could prove to Satan that there was at least one person on earth who would worship him even without receiving any blessings. But this verse (and later ones) reveal that God allows troubles and pressure to reveal deeply hidden obstacles in us that need to be removed. The Word tells us that perfect love casts out fear. The suffering Job was going through revealed his fears. God wants us to be free from fear (except for the fear of the Lord) and awareness is a key step in gaining freedom.
Application: I need to track down fear in my life and then focus on the love of God for me so that He can help cast it out of me. I want my thought life to be centered on God, not any fear of any kind. When troubles come I need to seek God and let Him reveal to me the deep hidden negatives in my life so that I may become more and more free and confident in the Spirit.
Prayer: Father, I would never invite trouble into my life; I don't like it! But I know that they will come and I know that only as I seek you do they produce something useful and beneficial to me. May I never blame you for trials but seek your face and be changed from glory to glory through every circumstance in life.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
2 Comments:
Cynthia,
I disagree with your conclusion. To interpret Job's statement as the possible cause of his troubles seems like Monday morning quarterbacking to me. The Bible itself records God's own words to Satan that "you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason." If God says that Job was ruined "without any reason," then it seems to me that it is unwise to try to figure out a reason for his calamity. True, Job may have discovered something about himself, but to look at this statement after the fact and to find a possible reason for what happened to him is ill advised, in my opinion. I could be wrong, but that's what I think.
Michael
Michael,
I don't think we disagree that much; maybe not at all. What you say is true. It just seems clear to me from reading through Job that though God let Job be tested for no reason, it did bring out things hidden in Job that he was unaware of. Job begins to make accusations against God's justice as the book goes on; there was no indications of these attitudes in his first responses. I think his fears were probably hidden to him, at least somewhat too. I know God often reveals attitudes in me through trials that I didn't know were there. It's part of what makes troubles "redeemed" and serving some purpose other than just torture.
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