The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Job 13:15-16, 14:1-2, 14-17 (day four)

We have to stand in admiration of Job…facing all of the trials and suffering that he did, he continued to trust in God.  Job said even if God slays me, I will hope in Him.  What faith!  Job lived generations before Jesus came to walk among us.  He had a mature faith that trusted God, no matter what.  We have a very different perspective.  Living in AD instead of BC, we have the benefit of Scripture.  Scripture reveals to us God’s plan for the world.  We have seen how He has worked in history…we have learned from the prophets, from the apostles, from servants like Paul…we have the truth of Scripture.

We also have the gospel story of the work of Christ.  We can know the gift of forgiveness of sin, we can know the power of the Holy Spirit, and we can know the glory of the Father.  Job’s faith had none of these to build his foundation on, yet he remained faithful and obedient to the Lord.  How can we not believe?

Re:Verse passage – Job 13:15-16, 14:1-2, 14-17 (day three)

So far in this study, Job has taught us that God can handle every part of our human condition. He can handle our fear, anger, sadness, and confusion, – all with great unending patience. Job lets open the floodgates of his heart towards God, and God patiently hears every word.

Here, Job seems to turn a corner. He recognizes that while God has allowed this suffering in his life, God is also his only hope. The tone of his voice changes a bit – he adopts a tone of determination. “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” In the same breath, Job both laments and expresses his hope. His circumstances are bad, and he will cry out to God in his anguish, but he also knows that God is his hope, and he longs to see His goodness again.

In His grace, God allows us to do the same thing. We can come boldly to the throne of God in lament, expressing our fear, anger, sadness and confusion. Yet in the same breath, we can boldly state where our hope comes from. And how much more hope we have than Job! We know how the story ends. We know that our mediator came, died, and rose again! If you’re lamenting this week, remember that in the same breath, there is also hope.

Re:Verse passage – Job 13:15-16; 14:1-2, 14-17 (day two) 

If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my struggle I will wait until my relief comes. 4:14

Job asks several rhetorical questions throughout his responses to his friends. In Job’s frame of reference the obvious answer to the question of will a man live again is no. This is the perfect week to study this portion of Job’s story as we also consider Jesus’ journey to the cross. We know that because of Jesus we can have new, abundant, and eternal life because of the sacrifice on our behalf. Take time this week to spend time in the Word focusing on how you can confidently answer Job’s question because of the resurrection. How can you share that truth with a friend or family member who has never trusted Jesus? We have new life because of Jesus.

 

Re:Verse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day seven)

If you haven’t read the entire context of our passage, go and start at the beginning of chapter 9 and read through the end.  Look at how he began this poem. It is clear that Job has a very healthy fear of the Lord. The first 24 verses are all about God. Here are a few of my favorites:

“It is God who removes the mountains”

“It is He who shakes the earth from its place”

“It is He who does great things, the unfathomable”

Do you start your pryers like this? Most of us don’t. We tend to cut to the chase and thank God for what He has done, or we skip straight to supplication and ask Him to do things for us. Starting with praise or adoration isn’t for God, it is for us. Spending time telling God who He is to us, helps our heart and minds understand more clearly the gravity of the thanks and requests that we are bringing to Him. Give it a try. Spend the next few minutes just filling in this sentence; God, You are _________.

ReVerse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day six)

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. John 3:30

It seems to me that Job’s view of God only increases. Even at his lowest point or his loudest complaint, his perspective of God doesn’t seem to diminish. Often in our suffering, the world seems to shrink around our sorrow and pain; it is hard for us to see beyond our looming fear.

Not so with Job, his increasing view of God leads him to make some insightful conclusions and revelations about God and himself.

It got me wondering, what if it is my diminished view of God that keeps me from fully realizing my identity in Jesus, or bearing the kind of fruit he desires for me? Seems to me, he must increase, and I must decrease.

ReVerse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day five)

“Then I could speak to him without fear,
but I cannot do that in my own strength.”

In the midst of Job’s suffering and lamenting, he understood the chasm that separated him from God. This chapter of Job incredibly points out our need for Jesus and the importance of why He would come. Without Jesus, there is fear of judgment and fear of getting what we deserve. But with Jesus, there is freedom to trust and believe in the grace, love, and compassion of the Father. Without Jesus, there is a chasm between us and God. But with Jesus, He bridged the chasm for us and we get to have a relationship with Him. Because Jesus took our punishment, we have the privilege and honor of speaking directly with the Creator of all things, and that should cause us to stop and be thankful all the more. We are able to speak to the Lord, the Most High, without fear of death and punishment because of Jesus. I am so grateful for Him. Aren’t you?

Re:Verse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day four)

There is no one like God!  Who can stand before Him as His equal, much less His superior?  Job is saying that there is no one to arbitrate with God.  For an arbitrator to resolve a conflict between two parties, he must hold some level of authority over both of them.  Job says there is no one who can arbitrate with God because no one has any authority over God.

Knowing this truth, Job is in despair as to what to do.  He wants to put aside his sufferings as if they were not happening.  He cannot understand what is going on or why God has turned His face from him.  Job says that it is fear that keeps him from trusting God.  Fear of the unknown has paralyzed Job’s spirit.

How often are we paralyzed with fear?  Fear of uncomfortable circumstances, fear of mounting bills and debts, fear of health challenges, fear of relationships gone bad…we can be consumed with fear.  What if we prayed first? …what a novel idea!  Since God is God and has no equal, why don’t we ask Him for His perspective, for His provision, or for His power?  Job eventually got there but why don’t we start there?

Re:Verse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day three)

“There is no umpire between us,
Who may lay his hand upon us both.”

From time to time in his long articulation of his plight, Job says something that begs the question – at least as his words reach our ears in the year of our Lord 2022. Job says, “If only there were a mediator between God and me.” (The translation “umpire” seems kind of humorous, but it gets the job done.) The question Job’s utterance begs is this: Is there no mediator? Job takes it as a given that there is not. But that was then; this is now. And what a “now” it is. Jesus is that mediator – the only one between God and man, as Hebrews teaches us. This mediator, though, is no neutral party, but a fellow sufferer with us, that we might also know his resurrection.

Re:Verse passage – Job 9:32-35 (day two) “Then I would speak and not fear Him; But I am not like that in myself. vs. 35

This short passage is better understood in the context of the entire chapter. In verse 1 Job asks “But how can a man be in the right before God?” The verses that follow lay out the clear distinctions between a man and the awesome powerful God. What is interesting to me is Job is not asking for equality with the Lord. He is not trying to level the playing field so that his complaints will carry more weight. He is simply acknowledging the chasm. It is difficult to imagine a more dire situation than Job is currently in, but it is important for us to note his recognition of God’s authority. This doesn’t stop job’s complaint, but it also doesn’t ask God to stop being sovereign. Cry out, make your hurts known to the Lord, but give space to remember his ways are not ours.