Suffering Job: The Result of Obedience

Job 23:12 "I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food."

The word of God had been Job's life and for this reason he seeks to "present his case before God" (Job 23:4) and to argue for his vindication. Job's obedience to God's word, he feels, should not result in such profound suffering. Job feels that such obedience should result in prosperity: "How blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord...in whatever he does he prospers" (Psalm 1:2,3). 

Job is in such distress that he cannot see the good purpose of God in his suffering. This wasn't supposed to be the result of his obedience, he thought. Yet Job hints that he knows what is coming, as much as his soul cries out in complaint, "when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10). Job can't see that it is because of his obedience to God's word that God has ordained his current sufferings! After all, it was God who commended Job to Satan: "The Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job?'" (Job 1:8) and thus the evil one brought much evil upon Job and his family on account of Job's righteousness. "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12). In a world of darkness and evil, obedience to God's word doesn't spare us from suffering, it leads us into suffering. Not in futility, but in hope!

So I must ask myself, is there any call to obedience that I am disobeying in order to avoid suffering?


(6/17/2011)

Suffering Job: Redemption

Job 19:25 "As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth."

A redeemer is one who buys back; One who at great cost to himself buys back a field that once belonged to his family for instance, or buys a person out of slavery. To redeem, in a sense, is to pay the appointed price to liberate and restore proper ownership.

Job, having lost everything in this life, even his health and his peace, his hideous body covered in painful boils, has only one possession remaining: his hope in God. "In hope against hope he believed" (Romans 4:18). Job wonders in despair why "the hand of God has struck me" (Job 19:21), yet he clings to the hope that God is still his God, and that his God will redeem him. But what does Job need to be redeemed from?

First, the curse of creation. "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now." (Romans 8:20-22)

Job looks to be set free from a world corrupted by sin, where death and pain roam free, looking for someone to devour. As a child of God, Job senses in his heart that his world is not operating in its natural state, and that he belongs in another world, one where death does not reign with terror. Job's cry echoes Romans 8:23 "we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body." Job looks to the Lord to redeem his body from suffering and decay.

Lastly, Job looks to the Lord to redeem from the curse of disobeying God's law. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us - for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree'" (Galatians 3:13) Job is a righteous man in God's sight, yet he knows: "How can a man be in the right before God?" (Job 9:1) So Job looks to the Lord to redeem him from the curse of sin.

I also know that my redeemer lives today; He did stand on the earth, He did hang on a tree, and He will stand on the earth at last! Jesus Christ purchased me with His own blood from slavery to sin. With a costly price He transferred ownership of my soul from darkness to light. He redeemed me from the curse of the law and He will redeem my body someday from the curse of corrupted creation. Praise God!

What does this mean for me today to have an Almighty Redeemer who lives? Hope. Hope in God, rejoice in the Lord always, don't hope in your circumstances, your emotions, your friends and family. None of these can redeem, only Christ. Don't look to your own righteousness either, for no one can redeem themselves, only Christ.

(6/16/2011)

Suffering Job: Not all is Lost

Job 17:11 "My days are past, my plans are torn apart, even the wishes of my heart."

Job did not anticipate the destruction of his property, the death of his family, the removal of his health. Job had different plans for his life that did not involve the sudden demise of his children. It seems as though the scroll of Job's life had been torn to pieces, yet the scroll of our life which God has written is surely never torn apart.

Do you have plans for your life or wishes in your heart that are so dear to you that you would be destroyed by their undoing? Let there be only one ultimate desire in your heart: to be united with Jesus Christ at last. Then you will say with sincerity, "Father, Your will be done".

Everything in this life can be taken from me. My job, my family, my home, my ministry, my health, yet one thing will always remain: the love of God in Christ Jesus. He promises, "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18) "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you" (John 14:27) and "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?" (Rom 8:35)

Therefore be bold with joy and risk all for the kingdom's sake, because whatever you lose for Christ will be gain and you cannot lose Christ.

(6/15/2011)

Suffering Job: The Righteous are Slain

Job 13:15 "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him."

Job is in such grief and pain that he laments the day he was born, yet he will not give up his hope in God. It is as if the hope of the Lord is permanently etched into his heart, so firmly established that it would be easier to carve his heart out of his chest than to remove his hope in God. Here righteousness is displayed as an untarnished, brilliant bronze breastplate, though its inhabitant may appear frail with decay and wounded to the point of death.

(6/12/2011)

The Life of a Soldier

2 Timothy 2:3-4 "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier."

Paul exhorts Timothy, his "beloved child", to join him in willingly, joyfully embracing ongoing suffering for the sake of Savior Jesus. The reasoning and motivation for this lifestyle is because they are not employees of Jesus, but soldiers of Jesus.

All soldiers are trained to fight and expect to do so should there be war. Therefore, Paul pleads with Timothy to live with a soldier's mindset. That means not allowing oneself to become occupied in civilian activities which make a soldier less effective or even useless in battle. A good soldier doesn't use his idle time to play golf, he runs to keep his body fit. Even as he relaxes his rifle is near and he waits for his instructions.

I am not called to comfort and relaxation. I am called to suffer and strive, denying myself even simple, mundane pleasures. Every day, every hour, every choice is an opportunity to live for Jesus and not for myself. I cannot become "entangled in everyday life" so that I will be a good soldier. How do I not become entangled when so much of my life is mundane and does not seem like warfare? How does this work itself out when my "active duty" is playing with Abram and changing diapers?

Perhaps when discerning whether something is "active duty" or "everyday life" I should ask, "Is this what Jesus has chosen for me or is this what I have chosen for myself?". That seems to be the difference between a civilian and a soldier. The civilian decides how to use his own time, but a soldier looks to their commander to decide because the decision is not theirs to make. One is under a higher authority, the other is not.

So how can I live with a soldier's mindset today? What practical things can I do or not do to be a good soldier? I cannot pause and read the Bible before every decision I make today, but I can pause and pray. I will ask and listen to make sure that what I'm doing is Jesus' idea and not my own. Then I must rely on Him, because the One who called me into service is the only One who can sustain my service. The commands He issues are not that of a hard, staunch drill-sergeant but rather a Sovereign, Servant-King who loves me and gave His life for me.

Whiskey and Jesus

Psalm 66:16 "Come and hear, all who fear God, and I will tell of what He has done for my soul."

When I consider what God has done for my soul, I don't know where to begin because He has done so much. I am breathing, I have an amazing wife, and I have a good job with great coworkers. I thank God for all of these, but I would not be able to enjoy them in this capacity if not for the change in my life that occurred when God took an alcoholic and made him a follower of Jesus.

Those who knew me well years ago don't need to be told that I loved to drink. I lived for it. I was good at it, even proud of it. The bottle and I were best friends from the moment we met. We did everything together, so much that I couldn't stand to be sober. I learned to depend on my fermented friend like a cripple does his crutch.

Almost a decade later, the crutch of my alcoholism had become more of a wheel chair. I was quite content to remain in that cozy chair until I realized that chains held me there. This became evident to me when I tried to quit for sanity and safety's sake. A few too many black-outs, hangovers and a night in jail left me with a mind to quit, or at least slow down. But as any addict will tell you, it's not that simple. I never knew how weak-willed I was until I tried to stop drinking. Every trial produced a failure which left me only more trapped. Many failures later I tried something unfamiliar: I prayed.

I had never been big on prayer because honestly, I didn't know who I was supposedly talking to. But I had exhausted all of my options and lost the illusion that I could save myself. So I considered the God who made me, and whether He could save me. I had heard before that this God had sent His Son Jesus to live among us and die in the place of drunks like me. Admittedly, that story had held my attention like an infomercial on cookware. However the night I saw my sinfulness and pleaded with the God of the universe to forgive me and change me, my apathy toward Jesus was killed.

My request was answered, and praise God I have never even desired a drink since. Instead I wanted Jesus. He became the most compelling person in the world to me. He changed my desires. He broke my addictions. He saved me from the consequences of my crimes by taking on my punishment. He became the wheelchair I willingly and happily depend on. Yes I am still a cripple, but now I lean on the God of grace and not an empty bottle. Alcohol promised to satisfy but delivered only a dead life. Jesus also promised to satisfy and, far more than whiskey or beer, I tell you friends: Jesus satisfies.

I don't tell you this to condemn drinking in any way. I tell you this because I want you to know how large the love of Jesus Christ is! However great our shortcomings, His mercy is greater. However badly we have wrecked our lives, He is eager to receive the junk-heap of our souls and rebuild them.

His words to the worst of us: "It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32)
His words to the best of us: "No one is good except God alone." (Luke 18:19)
His words to the rest of us: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

Help for the Helpless

Romans 5:6 "for while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."

There is something scandalous in these words. A man without guilt was placed under the penalty of men with much guilt, and he received their death sentence. It is as if justice was turned on its head, and not a single objection was made. No protests were heard, no pleas for mercy, only the emphatic cries of an angry mob, demanding the death of a man who had never wronged anyone.

The man of perpetual controversy, Jesus, was accused of "making himself equal with God" (John 5:18). And so the mobs, incited by religious rabble rousers, demanded a punishment fit for murderers and mutineers; death on a Roman cross. To many onlookers, his death was a bloody spectacle with no divine purpose or meaning. However the crucified Jesus did not leave us without explanation to the question of his death, but told his friends that he "did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). And so he died..."for the ungodly."

It is not with readiness that men identify themselves with this title. No one is eager to sit in the seat of criminals and convicts and share in their shame. "Ungodly" has such an unflattering ring, it belongs to the worst of the worst and the lowest of low lives, yet these are the very ones Christ died for.

It wasn't until I realized that I was one of them that the death of Jesus became wonderful news to me. I have heard the Biblical indictment of humanity, that we "all like sheep have gone astray" (Isaiah 53:6). I have seen this confirmed daily in my own heart; a cowardly rebellion against the God of love, and I tremble knowing that He is also a God of justice who "will by no means leave the guilty unpunished" (Exodus 34:7). But He is so GOOD! My resistance is shattered when I hear the invitation He makes: "'Come now, and let us reason together' says the Lord, 'though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow'" (Isaiah 1:18).

What can I do but come to Jesus and be forgiven!? Though I am ungodly and indisputably guilty, though I am helpless and incapable of making all my wrongs right, it is for someone like ME that Jesus died, so I count myself among the richest men alive.