Job 29-31:The Canvas

People let other people down.  The same people who loved Job, who hung on to his every word and honored him, turned their backs on him as soon as bad things started happening.  In today’s world, we’d call them fair weather friends.  Job went from a respectable pillar of society to an untouchable seemingly overnight.  That had to hurt.  No wonder he complained! Job blamed God for all his tragedies and repeatedly asked for a hearing to find out what the charges were against him.  He did not see God’s ultimate purpose in allowing all the hurt; all Job could … Continue reading Job 29-31:The Canvas

Job 24-28:Gold Nuggets of Wisdom

Wisdom is a treasure greater than gold, silver, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds and any other precious gem.  That tenet is often found throughout the Proverbs in various places.  But it also shows up in Job. I’ve been sitting here for twenty minutes trying to describe the profound way Job reveals the path to wisdom, but I just can’t improve on his technicolor words. Miners penetrate the earth’s darkness, searching the roots of the mountains for ore, digging away in the suffocating darkness. Far from civilization, far from the traffic, they cut a shaft, and are lowered into it by ropes. Miners … Continue reading Job 24-28:Gold Nuggets of Wisdom

Job 21-23: A Perfect Man?

I can’t blog about Job without delving into one of those “can’t touch this” topics that I usually push to the back burner.  How does a thinking Christian reconcile Romans 3:23 with the book of Job? Romans 3:23 says: 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NIV) And the beginning of Job, which says that Job was perfect: There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name [was] Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. (KJV) Job himself has spent many of the previous … Continue reading Job 21-23: A Perfect Man?

Job 18-20: Knowing that God lives

I’ve reached that point in a bad cold where my nose feels better, but my throat is itchy and on the verge of a cough. Yet this yucky feeling is a mere scratch compared to what Job experienced in the deep valley of his life. Despite the fact that his “friends” kept telling him that he must have been wicked indeed to deserve all the calamity, Job takes comfort from the fact that God still lives. From chapter 18: “Still, I know that God lives—the One who gives me back my life— and eventually he’ll take his stand on earth. … Continue reading Job 18-20: Knowing that God lives

Job 14-17: The Advocate

Yesterday’s blog was petite, to say the least.  I’m still under the weather and camped out on the couch — but thank goodness for wireless laptops! I’m not sure yet just what it is that God wants me to learn about Job.  I see the honesty of his prayers, as I’ve blogged about before, and that really has opened my eyes and ears to listen to the way I pray.  Am I pouring out my heart?  Not on a regular basis…at least not the way Job prays.  I’m still afflicted with the “shoulds.”  Gotta get past that somehow! (Lord, help … Continue reading Job 14-17: The Advocate