GOD’S WORD FOR DECEMBER 7 ~ ~ Acts 6:7 ~ ~ “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

From the book by Dr. Michael Youssef, “How to Read the Bible”  Chapter 7  “Job’s Kingdom Faith:  Accepting God’s Sovereignty”

Section, “My Redeemer Lives”

Job went through far more pain and suffering than you and I are ever likely to know.  Satan was against him, Job’s circumstances were against him, and his friends were against him.  Even his wife told him to curse God and die.  But Job persevered with God.  Because of his faithfulness, God honored him and not only restored everything Job had lost, but doubled it.

Whatever your sufferings, persevere with God.  Have faith that He is working behind the scenes of your life to restore you and lead you safely into His kingdom.  Look forward to that glorious day when he will reveal everything to you that is now a mystery.

Meanwhile, we should never treat anyone’s pain lightly.  Everyone asks Job-like questions at some point.  We must treat the painful questioning of suffering people with respect.

At the same time, we should let go of the notion that God owes us an explanation.  God speaks to Job from a whirlwind, contrasting his limited understanding with His own omnipotence and wisdom.  God does not defend Himself.  He does not answer Job’s questions or explain Job’s sufferings.  Instead, He says, “where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?  Tell me, if you understand (Job 38:4).

Some people find this response frustrating.  But I submit to you that it is fitting and right that God chooses not to answer all our questions in this life,.  To be candid, I would refuse to worship a God who was so weak that He had to explain Himself to me.  That is what Heaven is for.  One day, all our questions will be answered.  But for now, as Paul says, we see through a glass darkly.

There is a fascinating passage in Job 19 that every believer should know.  There are some who claim that people in Old Testament times had no concept of an afterlife, and that the idea of Heaven was invented or borrowed from other cultures.  This is clearly not true.  After all, Genesis 5:24 tells us about the righteous man named Enoch who never saw death, because God took him straight to heaven.  And 2 Kings 2:11 tells us that the prophet Elijah did not die but God took him to heaven in a whirlwind.  And here in Job 19:23-27 Job says:

“Oh that my words were written!

Oh that they were recorded in a book!

That with an iron stylus and lead

They were engraved in the rock forever!

Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,

And at the last, He will take His stand on the earth.

Even after my skin is destroyed,

Yet from my flesh I will see God,

Whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself,

And whom my eyes will see, and not another.

My heart faints within me!”

Job fully expects to be resurrected in a glorified body.  He anticipates seeing God face to face.  That is one of the strongest, clearest expressions of faith in Heaven you will ever read – and it comes from one of the oldest books in the Old Testament!!!

Job is a book of questions, not a book of answers.  It is the greatest book ever written on the subject of evil, suffering and the injustice of this life – yet God ultimately doesn’t defend or explain Himself.  Job’s conclusion is essentially this: God created the heavens and the earth; we didn’t.  God understands the complexities of the moral, spiritual, and physical universe; we don’t.  God knows the past, present, and future; we don’t.

So before you accuse Him of unfairness, remember this:  God the Father laid all the punishment of sinful, wicked humanity upon our mediator, Jesus the Son.  When Job said, “I know that my Redeemer lives,”  he was prophesying about Jesus.

We tend to feel that our sufferings are unjust, but in fact we deserve nothing but punishment for sin.  It was Jesus who endured undeserved sufferings on our behalf.  With his wounds we are healed.  Somehow, Job seemed to glimpse that truth while he was still in the depths of his sufferings.  Whatever our trials, may you and I live daily in the light of that truth.

***************  **************

Ps 46:2

Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.

Psalm 37:6, 18, 29, 34

He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,

And your justice as the noonday.

The LORD knows the days of the upright,

And their inheritance shall be forever.

The righteous shall inherit the land,

And dwell in it forever.

Wait on the LORD,

And keep His way,

And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;

When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

John 14:2

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

2Corinthians 5:6-8

 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.  For we walk by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Published by liveinthelightofourlord

View all posts by liveinthelightofourlord