Job 23 - 25 ; Journey through Job

Hey family, so we’re drawing nearer to end of Job as it would seem and the Holy Spirit is really opening my eyes to what’s in God’s word. When reading these chapters what really became apparent to me was Job’s yearning to find God. Job 23:3 (NIV);

“If only I knew where to find Him, if only I could go to His dwelling”

More often than not, it’s when I’m going through things that God seemingly disappears. I may search and search and search for Him during those times, and think pretty much the same as Job did; “Daddy where are You?” “Will You please rescue me?” “Can You hear me?” “Please don’t hide from me in this moment because this is when I really need You” “Tell me where You are and I will come to You”. Literally all these thoughts come through my mind and more, but I think that that’s the best mind-set to have, even if it does seem a little crazy. During those seasons when I couldn’t find God, the best thing that I could have ever done was search for Him. When I couldn’t see God, I chose to trust His heart towards me and I went straight to His word and read till He spoke to me. Yes these times are so frustrating and it will test your patience but more importantly your faith. I’ve probably said this exact same thing a whole bunch of times during the journey so far but it’s the truth that I will stand on.

Something else that spoke to my heart was Job 23:10-12 (NIV) which says;

“But He knows the way I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept His way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread”

In reading this, the first thing that came to my mind was hearing God say “Well done good and faithful servant” when I finally make it to heaven. In reading these verses I also thought of 2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV);

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

These two bits of scripture are a depiction of the Christian walk in that we have to choose to follow closely behind God’s steps as He guides us through the will that He has for us. In doing this we will have to fight to finish what we have started – along with God’s help of course  - because they’re going to be a lot of people that will start the race and but haven’t lasted through the race. This spoke to me in saying that this walk is not going to be easy but having fought and finished it knowing I kept the faith, will be reward enough. 

Job 19 - 22 ; Journey through Job

Evening family, so in post of my journey through Job, God really opened my eyes to the importance in each of us seeing and seeking to know the heart of God for ourselves. Sometimes we let our troubles or the things we’re going through change our view of God. Because of that, our relationship with God becomes strangled because we’re no longer leaning on the truth of God presented within His word, but we’re going off of what we see/ are going through.

As I was reading through these few chapters, it dawned on me that God takes our battles personally and therefore knowing this, I can begin to think that with every battle and everything thing that I go through, where I might think I’m alone, God is right there with me. In fact in most cases God has gone ahead of me and has sorted many of my problems while I was there stressing for no reason.

Reading through chapters 20-22 the first that dawned on men was when is in Job 20:4 when Zophar says;

“Do you not know this of old,
since man was placed on earth (NKJV)”

Zophar bases his argument on traditions and the sayings of the old. This made me realise the importance of learning the true nature of God. This requires us to not lean on what we hear– the sayings of old – but rather needs us to be open to Him revealing  Himself to us through His Spirit as we read His word.

Job’s reply in chapter 21 hits an important topic; the prosperity of the wicked.
Sometimes when we are going through tough times, it can seem not fair when it feels like our lives are going downhill but someone who isn’t saved is doing more than fine in life. Have you ever thought, well I have a personal relationship with God through Jesus, and I’m actually trying to live right, and they’re clearly not, so why does it seem like they’re living better than me?

1.       God did not promise that every day would be easy. In fact Jesus says that we ought to consider it an HONOUR to be persecuted for the sake of Christ because our reward is in Heaven and not on Earth. Matthew 5:11-12:

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

I am a firm believer that God uses our tests and trials in order to reveal more of His nature to us.

James 1:2-3:

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Here James is saying that the things we go through, the tests and the trials we have to go through PRODUCE something; whether it is patience as in the scripture, or a deeper understanding of God’s mercy, grace or love, or even a fresh revelation of who God is and His character.

tawo
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Job 16-19 ; Journey through Job

In chapters 16 – 17, Job then goes into even more detail about comforters his friends are compared to the previous chapters I read in 12-15. Job 17:3-4(NKJV) raises an even more interesting point in saying;

            “You have closed their minds to understanding”

Here we have another form wisdom and understanding when it comes to comforting a friend. I went through a period in life recently when I was trying to comfort an unsaved friend. Her grandmother was diagnosed with cervical cancer and she didn’t have long left to live. I spent time praying for her and encouraging her and assuring her of God’s plan for her life and then her grandmother died. She was confused and angry and for a split second I was too. I was so sure that God would use her grandmother’s miraculous healing to bring all of the family to him. The point I’m trying to make here is that if I couldn’t understand  why God did what He did, then how was I could I comfort her by reassuring her that God was in control, especially when she didn’t have a relationship with Him. Her mind was closed to understanding and so my words felon deaf ears.

Trying to be comforted by or comfort someone who isn’t saved is kind of like what Job is going through. If someone who is trying to comfort you is not a Christian they may not understand that alcohol won’t solve the problem like it used to, or they won’t get your need to cling closer to God in this moment. The same way, an unbeliever won’t get you if you’re telling them that God is in control and that their struggle is going to bring them closer to him. Here we seem the importance of Godly council when we’re going through hardship and also the importance of simply meeting people where they are.

My prayer in completing these chapters is kind of the same as the previous ones. That I would be quick to listen and slow to speak and that I would be an encourager. I would be someone that lived lift people up and not condemn them but met them where they were and was just real about it. 

tawo
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Job 12-15 ; Journey through Job

Hey family, so I know I’ve been slacking on the blog uploads, and I apologise it’s just that I’m finding Job a bit harder than expected to get a hold of and fully understand. You might ask why considering it’s based on conversations, but that’s exactly the point, I’m kinda finding it hard navigating the poetry in the writing. However, after one of my friends gave me a new method of study which involves listen to audio Bible, GENIUS!, things that were unclear before started to make sense and God started to open my eyes to the meaning behind the conversation.

Within these few chapters, what I received was that sometimes you just need your friends to be quiet when you’re going through trouble because silence is better than a harsh word.

Job 13:5 (NKJV) says

                        “Oh, that you would be silent, and it would be your wisdom”

Have you ever had those friends that just try and council you all the time? As much as I hate to admit it I’m guilty of being one of those friends that sometimes feels that I need to provide an answer for my services to be valid. These few chapters have taught me that yes a kind word is needed but when you don’t fully know what you’re talking about then let your silence be your wisdom. I bet Job’s friends thought that they were right in their own minds, I bet in the harshness of their words they were just begging their friend to listen and see sense, when it fact their unnecessary words just showed their foolishness. What they may have thought to be kind and lovingly rebuking words were actually tearing down their brother and often we may be like that. We may overlook the fact that we don’t actually fully understand the situation and just give our input. I think next time I come across a friend that’s going through hardship I will listen first, just listen with no intention of speaking back unless I really need to.

QUICK to listen, SLOW to speak

tawo
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Job 9 - 11 ; Journey through Job

Evening Family. So the reason I found reading the book of Job hard in the first place was purely because it sounded like a lot of babbling and complaining and since I had started again, that hadn’t been a problem- until today. All I could read was complaining and all I could see was people who feel like their say would solve everything but it didn’t. And then I decided to switch points of view, there must be a reason why God wanted the book of Job to be in the Bible, is it to show us that even the righteous go through tests? That though we may appear blameless there is always something else there? After all we are human, unlike God.

And that’s what actually hit me. Job 9:32 (NLT) says something profound actually;

“God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him, or take him to trial”.

This hit me like POW! When we ask God why He’s making us go through something or doubt Him in anyway, we are making Him out to be like man. God is NOT like man and we need to remember that. This reminded me of Numbers 23:19;

“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

God is not a man and sometimes I feel like we forget that. We forget that He is all knowing, all seeing and that He conceived everything before they came into being. Yes He’s our friend and we were created to live eternally in an intimate relationship with Him, but we cannot forget that He is the head. That means that He makes decisions and plans things for us and in no way is He obligated to inform us of those plans. We are to sit tight and to make the most of what He has given us in that situation.

Another thing that struck me was the entrance of Job’s third friend Zophar who also believed that Job was being punished because of his sin. Here we see the need for logic. God does not follow logic and us trying to figure out why He does what He does will only send us in circles. All three of Job’s friends have made some sort of connection between sin and punishment; I guess that is only logically. However it got me thinking; if we are to have the mind of Christ then we must move past logic because we serve a God that operates on a different scale than we do. By renewing our minds and placing our trust in God and not our problems, only then can we begin to see that maybe God is using this time to shape us for something even greater. 

tawo 
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Job 6-8 ; Journey through Job

Heyy family, so today’s been interesting and I’m so tired in writing this. You know when you’re reading something and as much as you try it’s just not going in? So I went STRAIGHT for AMP, I didn’t even bother with NKJV or NIV, but even then I felt like I was missing something. I ended up going back to chapter 4 and reading Eliphaz’s reply to Job all over again and found something new. Beneath all that I thought was wisdom, Eliphaz came to the conclusion that the bad things that were happening to Job were because he had sinned against God. Hearing Eliphaz’s reply to Job made Job’s argument even more powerful as He defends his cause. It was then interesting to see Bildad’s response in chapter 8 as he suggested that maybe all the bad things that happened to Job were because his children had sinned and that’s why God punished them.

In this no verses in either of the chapters stood out in particular, it was more of the message behind the portion of scripture and the reasoning of Job’s friends. In times of confusion it is very easy to listen to what the people around you have to say especially when God is silent. Each one of Job’s friends make a seemingly important argument on the surface; but knowing the truth of the matter shows the reader how easy it is for people to come up with assumptions, and how easy it is for the person going through trouble to take in the assumptions out of a need to see logic.

One thing that kept coming to my mind in reading this was “When you don’t see the hand of God, trust the heart of God”. Yes Job wouldn’t have had the Bible to go to in his time of suffering, but we do. If we would learn to hang on to God’s promises in times of trouble then we would no longer be pulling our hair out trying to figure out why we go through things. What I’ve learnt over the years is that when God’s silent, that’s when He’s calling us to draw closer to Him and just trust, REST and abide in His truth and the promises within His word. One of my friends was telling me that there are over 3000 promises for us to hold on to in the Bible. If we would strive to hold 12, close to our hearts that’s 1 for each month or 52 is one for each week, or 365 would be one for each day. Then we would know for OURSELVES without a doubt just how awesome our God is. 

tawo
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Job 1 - 5 ; Journey through Job

Good evening family. So I’ve been trying to get to grips with the book of Job and been finding it so hard. I got to chapter 18 and realised that nothing was truly sinking in so after talking to a very good friend, I decided to go back to the beginning. This friend basically reminded me that God’s word is living and though it was written over 2000 years ago, if we open ourselves up to being guided by His Spirit, we should be able to find a way of applying the things within it.

Yesterday I read verse 1 and 2 determined to get something more out of Job and today I committed myself to carrying on. In going through chapters 3-5, I decided I wanted to share this journey with you as I learn better by explaining my thoughts to people, so I thought who better than you guys. Also, I was talking to one of my girls last night and discovered that in a way a lot of us could feel like we have been called to be the Job of our generation based on the things we go through and our determination to find God through it and have our victory. So each day I will be posting what I’ve got from reading the specific chapters and hopefully it will inspire someone else to dive into Job and see what they can get for themselves.  If not, then I’m just hoping that it can touch somebody who feels like they’re going through the hardships of Job and lastly I’m just grateful to be fed by God’s word. For today I’ll be talking about what I’ve learnt over the past 2 days, looking at chapters 1 – 5 and in that, specific verses from within these chapters that stood out for me.

(Job 1- 2)

Chapters 1 and 2 really set the tone for the whole of Job as they are where we see Job faith being tested on 2 occasions and where we also see how he initially deals with them.  Before I talk about Job’s reaction I would just like to talk about the sovereignty of God. Sometimes when we go through problems it’s so easy to think that Satan is bigger than God or that Satan has more authority on Earth than God does. These two verses confirmed that God has authority above all. In Job 1 when Satan approaches God, having asked where he has come from Satan replies “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it”. This showed me that Satan literally roams Earth looking for whoever’s life he’s going to kill and destroy, or whom he’s going to steal from. This for me meant that as the Body of Christ we ought to always cover ourselves with the blood of Christ and constantly be aware of the enemy’s advances; by focusing our attentions on Christ and not giving into temptation, or simply walking in wrong company, or giving up and going back to our lives before Christ. 

Another thing that struck me was the fact that Satan had to have permission to strike Job and his family. If Satan was truly as powerful as we may sometimes give him credit for, then the second God mentioned Job and how much of a blameless and upright man he was, Job’s life would have been finished with no remorse whatsoever. Not meaning to say that God authorises all the bad things that happen to us, most of the times those are down to our decisions and what we do with our freewill or simply to do with biology. But like I said before what stood out for me was the revelation that Satan didn’t have his own authority and was under God’s.  

The second thing I got from chapters 1 and 2 is Job’s initial reaction. Job 1:20 says;

‘At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”’

How many of us are willing to admit that after we grieve as Job did, our probable initial reactions would be something along the lines of ‘God why? I thought you loved me, I thought you cared for me, I trusted you, I thought you had my back so why?’ Well if no one else will admit it, I know I would. However from this we see just how much Job fears and revers God and it’s beautiful. How he’s so willing to praise God even when he’s down to nothing. In chapter 2 we also see a similar reaction when Satan afflicts Job with boils all over his body and his wife tells him to “curse God and die” and he responds saying “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” To me this speaks bounds about Job’s relationship with God and reminds of Romans 12:12 (NIV) ‘Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer’. This verse shows me that we are all called to praise God during hard times and Job’s choice to praise God fills me with the desire to strive towards that kind of relationship.

(Job 3- 5)

 I found reading chapters 3 -5 harder than 1 and 2 and found myself getting frustrated, I was reading the chapters over and over and nothing was sinking in, so I decided to try the amplified version of the 3 verses and sense that I found within those chapters was so beautiful. Everything looked so logical and I began to understand it.

After the realities of what had just happened set in, Job began to feel sorry for himnself and started cursing the day he was born, until one of his friends decided to step in and wake him up a bit. Job 4:7-8(AMP) in particular stood out to me. It reads;

“Is not your [reverent] fear of God your confidence and the integrity and uprightness of your ways your hope?
Think [earnestly], I beg of you: who, being innocent, ever perished? Or where were those upright and in right standing with God cut off?”

Is not your reverent fear of God your confidence? There is something so peaceful about those in words. In this chapter one of Job’s friends, Eliphaz, is basically saying to Job “What are you worrying about? Will not the respect that you have for God keep you?”  We read in Psalms111:10 and Proverbs 9:10 that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Here the fear mentioned homes in on an awe and respect for the majesty of God rather than a negative fear. This encouraged me to be a woman who fears the LORD as there is a confidence that comes with that found in the majesty and the presidency of God. A peace that surpasses all understanding because I would no longer fear the attacks of Satan because I have a God that loves, adores and cherishes me and I know that His will is perfect! It also pushed me more than ever to check my inner court/circle, to re-evaluate those I kept around me because in a moment like this the guy could easily have just kept quite or even brought Job down lower but he didn't, he made him check himself before he wrecked himself ;) Yes it's true that some of the things he says after this are questionable, but in this moment, he offer a great pick me upper :)

tawo
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BEAUTY.