So today I sat in Starbucks to do my quiet time and I started the book of Job. I was only planning on reading 7 chapters, but I just kept reading and reading and ended up reading 42 chapters----which is the entire book. Now, I've read Job probably 5 or 6 times before, but this time I was reading it like it was the first time. I just kept underlining and highlighting, and underlining some more and writing notes ALL over the place! I think I might've even said a couple of times out loud, "This is good stuff!!!!" I literally couldn't sit still because I was getting SO MUCH out of my reading for the day. I ended up having a 2 hour quiet time, but it was much needed. I left Starbucks with so much on my mind that after class I tried to write down a couple of big thoughts that I had while reading Job. This is just one theme/idea that I took away from today---and that's we HAVE to trust God with His discipline and timing for our lives. It seems so cliche, but it's the truth! Job was stripped of everything in his life. He lost ALL of his children, he lost his livestock and he was covered from head to toe with a skin disease. When Job was complaining about everything that was stripped away from him, his friend Eliphaz told him the following,
"But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty when you sin. For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal." -Job 5:17-18
It's a privilege to be disciplined by God. Eliphaz says that it's a JOY! It's hard see God's discipline as a privilege, but how awesome is it to think that God loves us so much that He takes the time to correct us so that we can become better--so that we can become more like Him.
Sometimes when we're going through these times of discipline--when God has taken EVERYTHING away from us, it even feels like God Himself has left us as well. I've heard over and over again that God sometimes strips us of everything in our lives to the point where He's the only thing we have left. This was the case for Job--but even in his circumstance he didn't feel like God was there; he didn't feel like God was listening to him. I've felt that way several times. Elihu, a friend of Job's, was so frustrated at hearing Job complain about God not being there for him that he finally spoke up and told Job how it was. He said,
"But it is wrong to say God doesn't listen, to say the Almighty isn't concerned. You say you can't see him, but he will bring justice if you will only wait." -Job 35:13-14
God does care. He does listen. Just because we don't think so doesn't mean it's true.
Elihu continued to speak to Job and he kept telling him, "Just wait! Just wait and see! God knows what He's doing!!!!" Elihu told him,
"God is leading you away from danger, Job, to a place free from distress. He is setting your table with the best food." -Job 36:16
I just picture Elihu shaking Job telling him to snap out of it and just be patient because God is going to do great things for him before he knows it! He just needs to trust Him!
The book continues with God Himself speaking to Job and challenging him, etc. God put Job in his place and basically told him, "Look...I'm God and you aren't! You just have to deal with it." And although the book of Job seems to be quite depressing, it has a happy ending,
"When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as he had before...So the Lord blessed Job the second half of his life even more than the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen and 1,000 females donkeys. He also gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters."-Job 42:10, 12-13
God knew what He was doing the whole time even though Job felt like he was in the dark. We need to appreciate God's discipline and trust in His timing, because in the end it's all going to work out according to His plan.
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