Devotional writing from Job from The Message

Job

January 4, 2007

I almost timed things so that I finished up the historical books of the Old Testament before the New Year came in, but fell just a bit short.  So here I am, having finished up devotional writing from all the great stories of the first third of the Old Testament and cautiously looking over the landscape of the Wisdom literature before me.  More than once I have thought about just claiming victory and moving on to other things.  In fact, I may do that yet.  After all, I do this devotional writing for my own benefit and, while having a few of you looking over my shoulder does keep a thumb in my back, if I feel I am not getting anything out of this project, it is time to move on.  Still, there is a great deal of devotional material in the books of Job, Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.  Really, they are devotional material in the first place, so it shouldn't be that hard to write devotionally from them.  So I am going to give it a try and see what happens.  I probably will pick up some speed here -- in other words, I don't expect to have 150 entries from the 150 Psalms.  I'll look for stuff that speaks to my heart and not worry about doing an especially good job of covering all the ground in any of this Wisdom Literature.  Time will tell whether this is worth while or not.

January 6, 2007

Job 1: Job was a man who lived in Uz.

So begins the ancient story of Job.  The land of Uz was likely in today's northern Saudi Arabia.  No other information is given us, and, in fact, the location of the story is pretty much irrelevant.  Some folks get all wrapped up in proving that Job is a historical figure and that everything we read in this book is factual.  I tend to think it is historic, but, really, that doesn't matter very much.  As they say, "there are bigger fish to fry" here.  As everyone knows, Job's story is about suffering -- and not just suffering in general, but undeserved suffering.  Job doesn't suffer quietly and he doesn't just go along with the conventional wisdom of his friends.  He complains persistently and loudly -- to God!  If I spend my time debating the location of Ur or whether or not Satan has face to face consultations with God I miss the whole point of this story.  If I am willing to just let the story be told without my attaching some personal agenda to it, I find myself in some pretty challenging material here, dealing with big issues of undeserved suffering and life and death.

January 8, 2007

Job 1: Have you noticed my friend Job?

I'll leave the discussion about how all this fits together theologically to others (although I will add that I have the deepest respect and appreciation for scholars who take on such issues) and stay in the devotional mode.  The question asked by the Lord resonates with me.  "My friend Job" is an awesome phrase to hear the Lord utter.  This is the Almighty, the Creator of the Universe who is talking.  He is speaking of a man - flesh and blood with human frailties and failings.  But he is a friend of God, and God is a friend to him.  When I consider the fact that this story is told long before Jesus, God Incarnate, walked this earth I am blown away.  We don't know the identity of the writer of this book of the Bible, but he or she had an understanding of God and his relationship with us that ought to thrill us.  And, it ought to challenge us too.  Today, we have more reason than ever to aspire to and achieve friendship with God.  Maybe better said, I have reason for to do so.  I can not only be a servant of the Lord, and one of those who worship him in his holiness, I can be his friend too.  What a wonderful possibility!

January 9, 2007

Job 1: So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart?

While the audience Satan has with the Almighty is polemical from a theological viewpoint, I think it, and this question in particular, is the absolute key to the whole book.  We tend to think that the book of Job focuses in undeserved suffering and how Job responds to it, but even more basic is the issue here.  The Lord points Job out to Satan, says that Job is his friend, and is an outstanding servant.  Satan, that old accuser, replies that the only reason Job lives right and loves God is for what he gets out of it.  Clearly, God has blessed Job, delighting in bringing good things into his life.  Is Job a righteous man simply because it is good business, the smart thing to do, or is he righteous because he loves the Lord and chooses to serve him?   What if Job wasn't getting anything out of his service of God?  What if, instead of blessings, curses were brought to his life?  Would Job then turn his back on God and curse him?  While the issue of undeserved suffering is a very basic one, I think this issue is even more basic.  Why do I serve the Lord?  Is it to escape hell and go to heaven?  Is it so I won't be plagued with guilt over my sin?  What if all the "perks" were removed?  Again, this is about as basic a question as there is.

January 11, 2007

Job 1: God replied, "We'll see.  Go ahead."

I have heard people say that the fact that God gave permission for Job to be tested brings comfort to them.  They tie it in to Paul's word in 1 Corinthians 10:13: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."  I see that there is truth in that.  In the midst of the pain and suffering there is some consolation in remembering that God allowed this and he wouldn't allow it if he didn't know I can take it.  However, this also troubles me.  To think that the Lord would grant permission for a life to be devastated (not to mention the very lives of Job's children) is hard to take.  I think this is why some people have decided that this is a parable-like story instead of a historical one.  If this is fiction based on fact, I can relax and get into the issue at hand.  If, though, this is the real deal then I find myself struggling here.   And, if you think I am about to come up with some profound answer, I fear you are going to be disappointed.  Beyond that, if you decide to skip ahead of me and read how the story of Job ends to find an answer there, well you won't find it there either.  

January 15, 2007

Job 1: God gives, God takes. God's name be ever blessed.

As round one concludes we find Job a heartbroken man.  Everything is gone, including his children.  Job is in shock and deep mourning.  In this midst of his pain, Job falls to the ground....and worships!  The test is to see if a man will serve God "for nothing" and, as this round of testing ends, we find Job still worshiping God!  His worship does not consist of his shrugging off all that has happened.  The pain is real.  We hear Job speaking philosophically, "I entered with world with nothing and that's how I'll leave," even as his actions display the depth of his pain.  Does Job serve God for nothing?  Job's answer is "God gives, God takes.  God's name be ever blessed.

January 16, 2007

Job 2: A human would do anything to save his life.

Everything Job values has been taken away in one breathtaking horrible day, yet Job continues in his relationship with God.  Now the adversary suggests that the reason for this is that Job is still playing the game of serving God because he is still getting something from him.  The stakes are incredibly high.  It has been proven that Job isn't serving God because he gets wealth and possessions out of it.  Satan suggests that it is because he gets life itself that Job is hanging in there.  The Lord doesn't hand his servant completely over to this accuser, but he grants permission for Job to be afflicted physically.  What Satan does to Job is intended to be "a fate worse than death."  This is all intended to answer the fundamental question of this book of the Bible: "Does Job serve God for nothing?"  Will Job continue in faithfulness when he is getting nothing out of it?  Will he serve God when all the blessings are turned to curses and his very life is a living death?

January 17, 2007

Job 2: Curse God and be done with it!

I'm not sure how far one can go in thinking about Mrs. Job.  Clearly, the story before us isn't focusing on her.  It is Job's faithfulness to God even when he is getting nothing out of it that drives this story.  Still, I must say that I feel sorry for Job's wife.  She has suffered all the same losses he has.  She has lost everything, including her family.  Now her husband sits before her, quivering in agony.  Her life is ruined.  When she advises Job to give up on God it is because she already has.  Her response is what Satan predicted Job's would be: if the blessings of God are withdrawn human beings will no longer serve him.  Job's reply is that this is a foolish approach.  God grants us life and we enjoy the good days that come.  When things turn sour we go on trusting and serving him.  That doesn't mean we are happy about things or that we don't change them if we can.  It does mean that we have chosen to trust God with both the good and bad that life brings.  Job is angry with God, as we shall see, but he refuses to turn away from Him, even when serving God has resulted in so much pain.

January 18, 2007

Job 2: They went together to Job to keep him company and comfort him.

Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, and later on Eliju come to visit poor miserable Job.  I think these guys get a bad rap from most people.  The first three, at least, are friends of Job and when they arrive and see the pitiful shape he is in they are shocked, speechless, and broken hearted.  They can hardly bear to see their friend like this.  When they do speak, they do so in response to Job's complaint and the things they say are the same sort of things Job might have said to them had the places been reversed.  The debate that follows is not based on Job believing one thing and their believing another.  Instead it is about Job's insistence that things are not working as he and his friends always believed they worked.  They say, "Bad things don't happen to good people, therefore, as surprising as it is, Job must be a bad person."   Job says, "I agree that bad things don't happen to good people, but I have remained faithful to God and bad things have happened to me.  Therefore, God isn't following the rules."  The thing about Elipaz, Bildad, and Zophar that needs to catch our attention is that they say all the same things we say.  

January 20, 2007

Job 3: Why didn't I die at birth.

All of my life I have heard people speak of the "patience of Job" and, frankly, I don't get it.  Just a quick read through chapter 3 reveals that Job is not stoically accepting his condition.  He is miserable and he declares his wish that he had never lived.  "May those who are good at cursing curse" the day of his birth, he says.  Even as I consider Job's misery, I find myself appreciating his stark honesty.  This guy is not given to platitudes.  Instead, he tells it like it is, and at this moment in his life, life is not worth living.  Somehow we Christians have gotten the idea that we ought to behave as Job does in chapter one when he declares "God gives, God takes."  We read that and make it our model for dealing with pain and suffering.  However, we need to keep on reading.  Soon we find this same man crying out against his own life.  Beyond that, to excuse Job as being "out of his mind" in pain is such a horrible put-down of Job.  Yes, Job is in agony -- but he is still thinking and the things he says reflect exactly what he believes.  In some ways when we deny ourselves (and Job) the right to be absolutely honest about how we feel, we destine ourselves to continue in a shallow relationship with God.  You see, God is not interested in hearing how we can put on a brave front and say all the right things in the midst of our trial.  It is honesty that he wants, and sometimes that includes our telling him, and others, how miserable we are.  Such honesty opens the way for God to work in our lives at levels we didn't even know existed.

January 22, 2007

Job 5: What a blessing when God steps in and corrects you!

Were I to work my way through the book of Job and pick out various quotes from Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Eliju and then present them to about any Christian I think they would find the words quite acceptable.  On the other hand, I could pick out many things Job says and those same Christians would shake their heads in dismay.  How can it be that this old book which has been available to God's people for so long be so poorly understood?  Eliphaz says the same kind of stuff that we say.  He reminds Job of his good life and that he draw on that for hope now, in this day of suffering.  He tells Job that everyone knows that for God's people everything will turn out okay.  It's the bad people who need to worry about what the future holds.  He even reminds his friend that human beings are born into trouble -- it's just life.  Job needs to throw himself on the mercy of God who delights in lifting broken people.  So now, Job ought to be thankful that God cares enough about him to discipline him.  If he does that, all will be well.    Eliphaz concludes, "this is the way things are."  The thing that I find spooky here is that if this speech was, for instance, in the Psalms, I would read it and not think anything about it, just accepting it as truth.  It is only as I realize who it is who says this and then skip to the end of the story that I realize I need to do some serious sifting through this kind of thinking if I am to truly know "how things really are."  It isn't that everything Job's friends say is wrong, but it is that not everything they say is right.  This is a book for people who are willing to think about big issues.

January 23, 2007

Job 7: Even suppose I'd sinned -- how would that hurt you?

In this passage Job wonders why it is that God is so serious about sin in the first place.  He has a hard time understanding how a puny man's sins can impact the Almighty.  Now that's an interesting question!  If God is merely sitting on his throne making up rules for us to follow this argument has some merit.  However, if he is living with us and even desires to be in us, then our sin touches him in a direct way.  In thinking about this issue I have one big advantage Job doesn't have.  I can see God being touched by sin as Jesus hangs on a cross.  For God our sin is much more than an academic issue.

January 24, 2007

Job 8: Does God mess up?

We are still at the beginning of the debate that makes up the most of the book of Job, but the battle lines are already clearly drawn.  Job doesn't really disagree with what his friends believe, he just sees himself as an innocent victim of some cosmic mistake.  Bildad's comment that "God doesn't mess up" is at the heart of all this.  They believe that when a person has something bad happen to them that it is because they are being punished by God.  Bildad doesn't need any other evidence of Job's children's sin than the fact that they all died in a tornado.  Since he can't imagine a horrible thing like that "just happening" it has to be that God did it.  And, if God did it, he did it for a reason -- God doesn't make mistakes.  As I have said, the purpose of this book to answer the question, "Will a man serve God for nothing?"  However, there are other issues in play, and the majority of the book is taken up with those issues.  This is one of the big ones: how does the reality of bad things happening to good people fit a theology of a wise and all knowing God?

January 25, 2007

Job 9: I don't understand what's going on.

Job's reply to Bildad's lecture about how bad people have bad things happen to them and good people enjoy good things is not to disagree.  He says, "So what's new?  I know all this."  Again, (and I know I can quit harping on this) Job's complaint is that he has done nothing to deserve all this and that somehow there has been a mistake in heaven.  However, Job is pretty sharp about things.  He understands that the only way a man can be right with God is by God's mercy.  He trusts in God, but he understands that it is only by grace and mercy that he has a standing before God.  The impressive thing about Job, however, is not that he has a firm grasp on spiritual truths that won't be fully revealed until Jesus explains them.  The impressive thing is that even when he feels he is being treated unjustly by God, even when he doesn't understand what is going on, and even as he cries out for a fair hearing on this whole matter, he stands firm in his faith.  In all this, we are reminded that faith trumps even knowledge.  That's not only vital for Job, but for me too.

January 26, 2007

Job 11: Should this kind of loose talk be permitted?

When Job finishes responding to Bildad he addresses the Almighty, Himself.  His words in chapter 10 are that prayer, but it isn't a very pious one.  Job, in his misery, cries out to God, demanding to know why his life has taken such a terrible turn.  He complains that, apparently, he has accidentally missed some step and is being punished for it even though he has no idea of why.  If this is how things are, Job decides, it would be better to never live at all.  Zophar, but not God, responds to this prayer of complaint.  He is scandalized; maybe backing away lest the bolt of lightening he is sure is coming doesn't hit him too.  In his thinking bad things happen to us because we deserve it.  This is no time to complain to God, it is a time to repent and admit wrong doing so God will let up.  Listen, Job's prayer is the right prayer here because it is his heart's cry.  God doesn't want to hear us pray little fake prayers that pretend things about ourselves and our relationship with him.  He would rather hear an honest prayer of complaint than a dishonest prayer of contrition.  It may be that we Christians have so narrowly defined how prayer should sound that we have defused it of much of its power.

January 29, 2007

Job 13: How many sins have been charged against me?

In response to Zophar's counsel, Job replies with some choice insults.  He doesn't need Zophar to lecture him -- in fact he believes all the things his friend has said.  Beyond that, Job assures him that everyone believes that stuff.  Since Zophar and Job both know the same thing: bad things only happen to bad people, Job again turns his attention to God.  He wants to know exactly what sins have been charged against him.  That's the issue he wants to address.  However, even as he pleads with God to tell him what he has done wrong, Job is reminded of the unfairness of life in general.  It may be that Job has never admitted these things to himself before.  It is only as he sits there in absolute misery, listening to his friends saying all the same things he has said many times; that he acknowledges that life isn't so neatly ordered as he has believed.  The good and bad alike live limited lives that have more than their share of troubles.  It seems to Job that even a lowly ditch digger gets a day off once in awhile.  Shouldn't God make life easy for human beings who only have a short life anyway?  And, since our lives are so limited, is there something more, beyond this life?  Job has no Easter to draw from, but even in this distant day, he is considering the possibility of life after death as a way God might "balance the books" of life.

January 30, 2007

Job 14: If we humans die, will we live again?

This is one of the most famous statements in the book of Job and it comes as Job laments the unfairness of life.  A tree can be cut down and yet be the source of new life, but Job hasn't seen that with human beings.  When a person, good or bad, dies and is buried it appears that this is the end for them.  Is there a possibility of resurrection?  Job hopes so.  After all, if God is good and yet people who serve him come to tragic ends and that is that, well, then something is wrong!  This insight doesn't stop Job from his suffering and questioning, but it hits the nail on the head as an answer to human suffering.  We may not always see the full picture of God's justice and goodness now, but the final chapter of his dealings with a human being is not written at the grave anyway.

January 31, 2007

Job 15: If you were truly wise, would you sound so much like a windbag?

Eliphaz's second speech is pretty much a repeat of what has already been said: people who ignore God's rules have nothing but trouble.  It is his response to Job's prayer of complaint that is interesting to me.  Job says that life is unfair and he wonders if there is something beyond this life where wrongs are made right.  As it is, he says, life for both the good and the bad people has way too much pain and sorrow.   Eliphaz hates what Job is saying so he calls him a "windbag," and his words just so much "hot air."  I doubt that Job was all that interested in hearing what Eliphaz had to say after that insult!  This isn't exactly a deep, thoughtful response, but I can't help but hear some exchanges between Christians in this.  Job has raised some valid points, but instead of responding to them, even in disagreement, Eliphaz insults him and then repeats what he has already said on the topic.  That sounds very much like the exchanges I have seen on Internet forums and mail lists.  In person, we are usually a bit more polite, but the end result is the same.  How do I respond when a fellow Christian brings up a point and comes to a conclusion that I hate?  Do I respond by insulting him and repeating what I have already said, or do I attempt to understand why he believes as he does?  Eliphaz never imagined an Internet forum, but his style is alive and flourishing.

February 1, 2007

Job 16: What a bunch of miserable comforters!

When Job's three friends; Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar; arrived at his side they were overwhelmed with what they found.  They cried out and ripped their clothes.  Then for seven days they sat with him, speechless at the horror of it all.  It appears that it was during those days that they came to a decision to go with the status quo because once they start talking they merely state and restate the "folk wisdom" of the day.  As they do that, Job turns his fevered face toward them and denounces them as "miserable comforters."  I think they were better comforters sitting there for a week, broken and speechless at what they saw than when they started reasoning with Job about all of this.  There is a lesson to be learned here.  People who are suffering pain and grief don't really need our platitudes or our so-called wisdom.  Even when we don't know "why" our presence matters.  The scriptures tell us to "mourn with those who mourn."  We aren't called to explain it all but we are told to care and help the broken-hearted by sharing in their sorrow. 

February 3, 2007

Job 19: Why do you insist on putting me down, using my troubles as a stick to beat me?

I think I can safely pick up speed in my journey through Job because the themes are now pretty well established.  Job insists on his integrity and stubbornly holds to his faith even though he feels God is treating him unfairly.  His friends have become his accusers.  Ever though they can't point to a single act of unrighteousness in his life, they point to his terrible afflictions as proof that there has to be unrighteousness.  Job characterizes this as their using his "troubles as a stick to beat me."  By now we are supposed to understand that the suffering has come to Job precisely because he is righteous, not because he is unrighteous.  It was this righteousness that set this chain of events in motion in the first place.  The question being answered is "does Job serve God out of love and commitment to the Lord or because of the good things he gets from the Lord?"  Is human righteousness a part of some kind of business arraignment between man and God or is there something deeper going on?  Of course, all this is beyond Job's friends and to some extent beyond Job himself.  All they see is the terrible scene of suffering before them and they aren't interested in looking any deeper.  I think we are all in danger of living at that level.  We like the easy way out, the conventional wisdom, and easily held beliefs.  Sooner or later, God will challenge such an approach to life, taking us deeper even, if necessary, over our groans of protest.

February 5, 2007

Job 19: Still, I know that God lives.

There is much that Job doesn't understand.  He doesn't understand why his children died in a terrible storm, or why his considerable wealth was taken away on that same day.  He doesn't understand why he is suffering so and he doesn't understand why he was ever born in the first place.  One biggie is that he doesn't understand why God won't answer his plea for a hearing to straighten this whole mess out.  There isn't much solid ground for Job these days.  So much of what he has thought of as firm has slipped away, including what he has believed about God and how he works in the world.  In fact, there remains just one slim, small, but solid rock in his life.  It is there that he takes his stand: "I know that God lives."  Thankfully, few people in the history of the world have faced the tragedy and loss Job did.  However, for all of us, the day comes as we near our last breath and we are left with only the bare essentials.  On that day, I pray that I, too, will find that one remaining firm place where I too can take my stand: "I know that God lives."

February 6, 2007

Job 21: They're given fancy funerals with all the trimmings.

Zophar admits that, for awhile, evil people get away with it.  However, he says, their good times are always short-lived and then everything falls apart for them.  Job is having none of it.  He replies that he has watched things too, and it isn't very often that such people get their just deserts.  In fact, he's attended their funerals and heard the lies said about them even as their bodies were lowered into the ground.  The big theme of Job's story is "will a man serve God for nothing."  Then, as things play out, we are confronted with the issue of human suffering.  Is it possible that people suffer and it isn't because God is angry with them?  Now, we meet yet another theme.  It is the opposite side of the coin.  If it is true, as Job contends, that sometimes people suffer through no fault of their own, is it also true that sometimes evil people get away with it?  Is it possible that some enjoy all the pleasures of sin all the way to old age and never hit the brick wall of God's judgment?  I think that before this ordeal that Job was fairly comfortable with Zophar's philosophy...or at least, he had not given it much thought.  Now, he finds himself dealing with the issue of how unjust life can be.  Yet God remains silent, allowing Job and his friends to grapple with all this.  For most of us, reading through these discussions is more philosophical than anything else.  Once in awhile though, these issues become deadly serious and they did for Job so long ago.

February 7, 2007

Job 22: Give in to God...and everything will turn out just fine.

I keep thinking I will hit the fast forward button and finish up my devotional writing on Job, but then I find a thought provoking gem like this one upon which to comment.  Today, I am considering Eliphaz's third speech.  He has hardened during the exchanges with Job.  Now, to justify his position, he is telling outright lies about Job.  According to this latest version of Job's life, he has crushed orphans and exploited the homeless.  Had Job not been in such misery this would be downright silly.  Old Eliphaz isn't above rewriting the facts if it helps him keep his religious views on track.  He even goes so far as to suggest that if a person gives their life to God that everything will turn out just fine!  How overboard is that!  Wait a minute.  I've heard people say that.  In fact, I have said similar things myself.  I know that if I skip over a few pages I will find that it turns out okay for Job, although he will live with the memory of his departed children the rest of his days.  Since the book of Job is about asking big questions we might as well ask the one before us today.  If a person "gives in to God" will "everything turn out just fine?"  Since I believe in the existence of heaven, I can answer "yes" in the broadest of terms.  However, I don't think that is what Eliphaz is thinking about.  He says that people who give their lives to God will have a better here and now.  Is that always true?  When I think of those who have been martyred for their faith, those who have been imprisoned and tortured, or those who suffered as Job did I know it isn't necessarily so.  Living for the Lord is a wonderful way to live and the benefits are, well, eternal.  However, it is false advertising to tell people that if they give their hearts to the Lord that everything will be fine this side of eternity. 

February 8, 2007

Job 24: If Judgment Day isn't hidden from the Almighty, why are we kept in the dark?

One topic that surfaces often in the book of Job is that of "inequity."  Job considers how often it is that the innocent suffer while the wicked get away with their evil.  However, he is sure of this: God knows what is going on.  Job doesn't understand why it is that God doesn't make things right right now (he says "God does nothing, acts like nothing's wrong") but he fully believes God is a God of justice and that sooner or later he will act.  This is a huge statement of faith for a man who is experiencing his own "fate worse than death."   Even though the wicked appear to have gotten away with it all Job says that "God has his eye on them."  And even as Job suffers his own personal torment, he still trusts that, in the end, God will make things right.  This is a powerful understanding of the nature of God.

February 10, 2007

Job 25: Even the stars aren't perfect in God's eyes.

The final statement from one of Job's three friends (although the fourth speaker, Elihu is still to come), is a short one and it causes us to wonder if maybe Job has argued them to a standstill.  However, Bildad does take us down a bit different track. He argues that only God is truly perfect, and next to him, everything else comes up short.  Even the stars of the sky are lacking in God's eyes.  And since that is true (according to Bildad) God is justified in bringing calamity on anybody, including Job.  After all, we are all less than insects when compared to God.  That's his argument, but it isn't a very good one.  Job replies that he maintains his integrity even in the midst of what he sees as an unjust trial.  His argument is not that he is perfect -- it is that he is just.  Job understands something that many modern Christians have failed to grasp.  There is a difference between imperfection and unrighteousness.  God looks, not on our performance, but on our intent.  Our humanity guarantees that we will have a sub-par performance.  However, by God's grace, we can live fully for God and maintain our integrity before him even in the worst of times.  Samuel learned this truth before anointing David King of Israel: "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)  Job may be struggling with several theological concepts, but he has this one down pat.

February 12, 2007

Job 30: How I long for the good old days.

Job's longest speech comes after his three friends have had their say.  His comments range from direct replies to their statements to his view of the world and the inequities he sees in it.  A portion of those thoughts are focused on how things have changed for him.  There was a time, he remembers, when he was wonderfully blessed by the Lord, and, he says, "Everything was going my way."  Job had handled his blessings well.  Instead of it all going to his head, he became a friend to those who were going through loss or who needed help along the way.  Those were good days, but remembering them is not a source of comfort to Job.  Instead, the memories add to his pain as he realizes he has lost more than wealth and health.  As I read Job's story I note that loss comes in a wide variety of forms.  Job is unique because he lost it all at once, but it is painful to have even a small portion stripped away.  That includes loss of influence, which often comes with the passing of years.  Those who have given their lives in full time ministry are not exempt from this.  The day comes when our ideas are no longer sought after and younger voices dominate the conversation about what God is doing "now."  Like Job, it is natural to "long for the good old days."

February 13, 2007

Job 30: What did I do to deserve this?

Job's final reply to his friends is his longest speech.  He doesn't summarize so much as restate all he has already said.  He has cried out to God for justice, but can't get an answer from God.  He has lived a just life, avoiding immorality, falsehood, dishonesty, and pride.  He has treated people with respect and honesty, caring for the poor and the stranger.  Now, in the midst of the trial, all he has wanted is an audience with God, an audience which has not been granted.  Job, like his friends, believes that bad things only happen to bad people.  He maintains that he has lived a life pleasing to God, yet bad things are happening.  If he could only sit down with God and work all this out!   Were that to happen, he is sure this mess could be straightened out.  Among all the other losses Job has suffered is the loss of his comfortable understanding of God and life.  However, even with that taken away (and maybe this is the last thing to go) Job continues serving God.  And he does so, yes, for nothing!  At this point, Satan's accusation from the opening paragraphs of this story is proven false.  In spite of the suggestion otherwise, a man will love and serve God even when he is getting nothing out of it -- even when it seems God, himself, is breaking the rules -- even when all else is taken away.  If the book of Job ended with chapter 31, the point of the whole story is made.

February 14, 2007

Job 32: And rest assured, I won't be using your arguments!

I'm not sure what to do with Elihu.  He is the fourth person who comes to speak to Job.  When the first three speak, Job interacts with them, responding to the things they say.  Elihu, however, has a long monologue.  Job doesn't answer him and, at the end of the book, God addresses the three friends but not Elihu.  The experts say that his speech is likely an "add on" to the book of Job, written after the fact.  That, though, is confusing too.  Why would anyone do that?  In spite of the fact that Elihu claims that he won't be using the arguments of Job's friends, he actually doesn't say anything that hasn't already been said to, and refuted by, Job.  As a devotional reader and writer, I will leave these puzzling things to others, but I don't think I want to work my way through his sermon with the same intensity I did with the other speakers.  So what will I do with this?  Maybe it is reasonable to focus in on the fact that Elihu doesn't seem to have been listening very well to what the others said.  Sometimes we are so intent on what we are about to say that we don't hear what others say.  When we do speak, we just restate, in our own words, their thoughts.  Or, I can think about Elihu's waving of the "youth flag" -- thinking he is bringing a fresh perspective, when he is just as bound by the old way of thinking as Job's three friends.  Being a traditionalist who can't handle opposing truth is not necessarily tied to one's age.  Finally, I can see here an example of how, if we start with the wrong premise we are bound to arrive at the wrong conclusion.  Like Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, Eliju starts off thinking that bad things only happen to bad people.  Because of that, they arrive at the wrong conclusion: Job must be a bad person.  Okay, enough of Elihu...on to the appearance of the Lord, Himself!

February 15, 2007

Job 38: And now, finally God answered Job.

Of all the losses Job suffered, his loss of contact with God may have been the most difficult.  In Job's life God has always been close by.  In good times he has praised the Lord and in bad times he has cried out to God.  At all times he has felt his presence.  Then, when a series of disasters comes that could not possibly be coincidence, God goes silent.  Job cries out to God repeatedly; sometimes in pain, sometimes in fear, and even sometimes in anger but God remains distant and unresponsive.  While Job's story is out on the extreme edge of human experience, facing times when God seems to have withdrawn from our lives is not.  David, in the Psalms, often complains that God is unreachable.  Even Jesus, on the cross, says he has been forsaken.  Through the centuries Christians have talked about "the dark night of the soul" or "the winter of the soul."  These are times when God appears to have left us on our own.  Why would our Heavenly Father do this?  I think the answer is that he wants us to learn to seek him rather than seek the feeling we associate with his presence.  Every worshipper likes it when God "feels" close.  When life is hard, we especially want to feel that God is near.  One of the ways in which the Lord helps us grow in our relationship with himself is by removing the emotional props and leaving us with nothing but our faith.  There is a big difference between "feeling" that the Lord is with us and simply "knowing" it is so.  That's the level he wants to take us to.  Job's winter of the soul is about to pass as "finally God answers."  Many thoughtful Christians have found that God puts us through times of darkness that we may learn to focus on him rather than on his blessings.  Then, when the lesson is learned, "finally" God draws close to us once again.

February 17, 2007

Job 38: I have some questions for you.

Job has insisted that his ordeal has been the result of some cosmic mistake and that if only he could get an audience with God that he could straighten things out.  The very least that might happen would be that God would explain to Job what it is he has done to deserve these horrible things.  Now Job has gotten what he asked for.  The Lord has shown up.  The thing is, God isn't defensive in the least and he isn't especially interested in explaining things to Job.  Through these tragic events, Job has held in there.  He has remained faithful to the Lord, refusing to "curse God and die" even when he was no longer being blessed in his faithfulness and righteousness.  However, that doesn't mean that Job has been 100% correct in what he has thought about all this.  Several times he has said things that are mistaken.  When God shows up, it is these things that he first concentrates on.  He says to Job, not "I have some answers for you" but "I have some questions for you."  Then, God begins to remind Job of Who He is and who Job is.  This is a humbling experience, but Job will never get a handle on many of the questions he has asked without this first happening.  So it is for us.  We sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus" and that is a wonderful truth.  Still, it has to be balanced against who God is.  His awesome power in Creation, his holiness, and his nature in general must humble us even when we are struggling with issues in life.  When God begins to move in Job's life again, his first move is to bring Job back to these truths.

February 19, 2007

Job 41: I'm in charge of all this -- I run the universe!

The response of the Almighty to Job centers on Who God is, what God does, and what God knows.  I am reminded of the opening words of Genesis in which we are not given a rationale for God's existence, but the story of God's action in creating all things.  Now, after Job has demanded an audience with God in which he could straighten things out, God speaks, not to explain things to Job but to declare himself to him.  Surely the One who runs the universe is not subject to us!  We see here that God is not especially interested in our having answers to all of life's questions.  He is interested though, in our knowing him.  Job's encounter with God is centered on all the mysteries of creation.  Job needs to not only have a better understanding of God, but he needs a clearer understanding of himself and his relationship to the Lord.  Of course, the same is true of us.  As I better understand Who God is and who I am, I realize that my questions are not as important as I first thought.

February 20, 2007

Job 42: I babbled on about things far beyond me.

When Job responds to God it is as a humbled man.  I am reminded that Job is still sitting in the ashes.  His children are still dead.  His wealth is still gone. He is still in the agony caused by his affliction.  Job doesn't become humbly spiritual because God has fixed everything or even explained it all to him.  So far as we know, Job never learns what this is all about -- that it is a test designed to answer the question, "Does Job serve God for nothing?"  Job has proved the Lord's point though.  Through it all, even when he was struggling with the issues at hand, Job has maintained his righteousness and trust in God.  Now, God has spoken, revealing himself to Job, challenging him to respond to the questions asked of him by the Almighty.  Job says, "I babbled on about things far beyond me."  This meeting with God has made all of Job's questions moot.  God is God and, even when life is unfair and perplexing, well, God is still God.  In his trial, Job has tried to state his case; to explain himself to his friends.  More, he has tried to explain God.  In so doing, he now realizes that he was trying to deal with the details of life while losing site of this huge, overpowering truth: God is God.  In my life, even when I struggle with circumstances that don't fit my theology, I must, after all my babbling on about how I think things are remember this: God is God.

February 21, 2007

Job 42: God restored his fortune -- and then doubled it all.

Some people, probably the same ones who question Elihu's contribution to the book of Job, question the conclusion of the book.  They think it is possibly an after-the-fact addition made by someone who felt the book was incomplete without Job's restoration.  Happily, as a devotional writer, I don't have to take a stand on that.  Instead, I can simply read and respond.  I do understand where that is coming from though.  The main question, "will a man serve God for nothing" has been powerfully answered.  The secondary issue, the question of human suffering, has not really been answered, but we have been taken to a deeper response: "God is still God" even in the midst of our trial.  To finish up the story with Job getting everything back does nothing to help us with either of these issues.  But again, I am thinking devotionally here and not dealing so much with this sticky issue.  So, what is going on here?  I believe that the reason Job was fully restored is that all he lost was taken from him for unnatural reasons.  His loss of family, wealth, and health did not "just happen."  They happened because Satan was given permission to take them from him.  Once the test was over, that permission was withdrawn and God acted to return things to how they were.  In other words, these were extraordinary circumstances all the way around.  Most of the bad things that happen to us are not a result of Satan's meddling in our lives.  After all, it rains on the just and the unjust.  We may be tested by those things, but they aren't Satan-designed tests; they are just life.  That means that I can't read the ending of the book of Job and conclude that if I handle my current difficulty of life okay I will get it all back, maybe double!  When life "happens" and the plug is pulled simply because I live in a world where bad things happen to people, there is no guarantee that, if I handle it well, it will all come back to me.