The Everyday Prayer

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.

 

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day seven)

Am I the sea, or the sea monster,
That You set a guard over me? vs 12

Why is Job written primarily in poetry as opposed to narrative? Poetry tells a story that narrative cannot. Narrative is fact. Poetry shows us emotions. It becomes a bottomless pit of creativity as each line of the poem takes on its own image that can have a multitude of meanings. Here for example, Job asks God if he is the sea. Why? Because Job feels in this moment “that his suffering is disproportionate to the weight of his being” (ESV Study Bible). He feels that God has given him a burden that is too big for a human to carry. Job is single handedly refuting the modern catchphrase (not from scripture) that says, “God won’t give you more than you can handle?” He feels in this moment that God has given him more than he can handle. He is able to communicate all those feelings to us by simply drawing out a metaphor in one line of one verse of one chapter of his entire lament. Isn’t poetry beautiful?

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day six)

 As the Scriptures say,

One of the most painful parts of Job is the lack of resolution-until the very end of course. Through the suffering, conversations, debate and complaining, we long for just a little bit of resolution along the way, but it is no where to be found. Just silence, or the annoying drip of his friends accusatory words.

In this way Job is intended to remind us of what real life is like. When does everything resolve itself when you want or expect it to? Does everything wrap up nicely at the end of every day? Does every conversation or argument conclude with a story book ending like out of some rom-com?

In an interesting kind of way, Job (the whole story) reminds us that God knows what real life is like, and not only, but he is sympathetic to our weaknesses. And that alone is enough to keep me moving forward, one foot after the other.

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day five)“Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins?”

One of the reasons I love the scriptures is they help us see that the people in these pages and stories are… just like us. When we feel like there is injustice (to us or others) we get angry, we question God.  That’s exactly what’s happening with Job. His experience has convinced him that his sacrifices have been sufficient to reflect his genuine repentance and faith. Except now. Or so he thinks (thanks in part to his friends). But what if in the midst of Job’s questions and anger, God is teaching a longer and larger lesson found in the revelation we have in the New Testament. What if even thousands of years before Christ came, God was showing that Job’s suffering was pointing to the redemptive suffering at the cross. And that in the midst of suffering, the Lord was giving us “language of lament”. First, Job’s words. Then, Jesus’ words. Now, our words.

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day four)

Job was trying to understand.  By his evaluation, he had done nothing wrong.  Job recognized that there was sin and iniquity in his life, but why wasn’t God forgiving him when he confessed before Him?  Even Job’s friends were offering explanations as to what was going on.  The assumption was that bad things only happen to bad people.  Job and his friends were looking at circumstances rather than relationships.

You and I are like that…we want an explanation!  Why did this bad thing happen to me and good came to that other sinful, unregenerate person?  There is a reason why God is God and we are not!  Our finite understanding  and limited knowledge may never know the answers to some of life’s questions.  Often times, our relationship with God comes back to one thing…faith!  Faith in God and faith in His love for us!  We have to trust that God knows best.  We serve an all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present, all-loving, infinite God.  Praise the Lord!

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day three)

“Will You never turn Your gaze away from me,
Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?”

Is it a good thing for God to take notice of you? You might say yes, especially when you think of our Lord’s anguished cry from the Psalms as he suffered: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” But in this passage, Job views God’s attentiveness as an unbearable burden. If you had said to Job, “May God be near you in this time,” he may well have replied, “That’s the problem.” Sometimes individuals develop a view of God that tortures them instead of comforting them. A person can get to the point at which she believes God is disgusted with her no matter what she does. What recourse does she have then? This book keeps getting darker.

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day two) So am I allotted months of vanity, and nights of trouble are appointed me. vs. 3

It is often not the initial shock of grief or pain that can be the most trying, it is when it lingers weeks, months, years that it becomes almost unendurable. Perhaps you know that persistent feeling of loss. When a diagnosis comes, or after a loss there is often an initial outpouring of love, support, and care. What happens a month later? Six months? There is rarely a predictable timetable for grief. Standing beside those who are in loss is a long game endeavor. It doesn’t need to be meals, or hours of sitting in their living rooms, but it may require a phone call on a consistent basis with no expectations.

Re:Verse passage – Job 7:1-21 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Job 7:1-21 in our Spring Re:Verse Series: “JOB – Through the Storm.”

Re:Verse passage – Job 2:11-13, 22:5-6, 9-11 (day seven)

When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him. vs 12

What caused Job to become unrecognizable? We immediately go to verse 7 and blame it on the boils (he was covered from head to toe), but it is probably more than even that. Have you ever walked with someone through an extended season of extreme stress or trauma? This type of emotion takes a toll on the body. Just look at inauguration pictures of presidents compared to their exit. Look at a youth minister before and after an all night lock-in. The weight of stress takes a toll just as much physically as it does emotionally. It is a burden that is being carried even if it is not immediately visible.

How do we help our friends who are carrying immense burdens? How do we find relief for the burdens we are carrying? The apostle Paul says it well in Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. ” We need friends to come along side us. We need to come along side our friends. No one was made to walk through trials alone. We are Better Together!