Job 23:1-4 and 10-11 - Then Job replied: "Even today my complaint is
bitter; his hand is heavy in spite of
my groaning. If only I
knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! I would state my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments. I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say.
But he knows the way that I take; when he has
tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.
Job replied to his friend’s harsh words with the resolve to
stay faithful to God. He knew deep in
his heart that nothing they said was going to help him…he needed some 1-1 time
with God himself. He wanted to just go
to his feet and plead with him face to face.
He wanted to hear what God had to say in person….cause he knew it would
explain why he was being tested in such a bitter way.
.
What Job wanted most was for God to confirm his
innocence. He was going to hold on to
the faith he had built in God until his last breath. Job was not going to give in…no matter how
many times his friends insisted that he had sinned. He knew God was watching
him….even though he could not find him in this moment of his pain and
suffering.
Perhaps Job was thinking of Moses…and how he met face to
face with God on that mountain. Even though the scriptures taught that you would die if you ever saw the
presence of God…even though he was very scared….terrified… he knew it was
possible, He longed to be able to sit in
the cleft of the rock….and speak with him…and plead with him like Moses did for
the people of God.
Perhaps he had heard the story of Jacob in Genesis 32…..and
how he wrestled with God the night before he returned to ask his brother’s
forgiveness. Jacob would not let go of
God until he blessed him….and assured him that all was going to be okay. Perhaps Job drew strength from the persistence
of Jacob.
Job knew in his heart that he would be refined to the
perfect person God wanted him to be if he just held on through the refining
process God was asking him to endure. He
likened his present life to that of a piece of gold. In its raw state…it is never pure. It is mixed with silver…copper…and is embedded
into a piece of rock or quartz. Pressure
might cause some to break away from the mother rock and be washed into a
river. It is tumbled by the water and
polished into a beautiful yellow color…its weight so heavy that the lighter
rocks wash away when rinsed. It is very
soft….pliable….bending with very little effort. It has to be mixed once again
with a stronger metal…to keep its strength and be useful.
Job knew that God could take his humanness...mixed with the
world’s many flaws…and refine it into something he could use. He knew deep in
his heart that the trials and pain he was being asked to endure was like that piece
of gold. God was breaking him away from
the world….tumbling him in the living water of God’s love….and mixing him with
the things God needed him to have to be useful in ministry. Oh how it gives
this old woman peace an comfort to know that all the pain and trials I have
been asked to endure were a part of God’s great refining process….he is getting
me ready to be used in some great plan to help others.
Father…thank you for always being there for me…even when I
don’t see you or feel you at my side. Help me to be like Job…and long to see you
face to face…and ask you the hard questions.
Place in my spirit a sense of purpose for the pain you have asked me to
endure…and give it new meaning. Show me
how to use what you are teaching me every day to help others who are hurting
and lonely. Thank you for not leaving me
in a raw form…but calling out my name and saving my soul…and continuing to
refine the world out of my life…so I can be closer to your will for my life.
Amen.
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