just Job.

first off, let me make clear how much I LOVE it when God keep me up half the night teaching me things.

secondly, I'm reading through the One-Year Chronological Bible this year and right now I'm in Job. Can I just share some of God's Word with you and what He's telling me about it?

“But if I were you, I would appeal to God;
I would lay my cause before him.
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed,
miracles that cannot be counted.
He provides rain for the earth;
he sends water on the countryside.
The lowly he sets on high,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety." -Job 5:8-11

so basically in the passage, Job's buddy Eliphaz is talking to Job about the recent misfortune Job has encountered. And though the majority of the time, Job's friends' viewpoints are skewed and helpless to Job, this one part caught my attention. I'm not a Bible scholar or anything, but it sounds to me like even though Job's friends ended up being useless to him during this dark, depressing time, they knew a little bit about the awesomeness of God. They might think weird things about this trial their friend Job is enduring, but they sure know that God is indescribable and merciful, don't they?

now let me skip ahead a chapter.

"Oh, that I might have my request,
that God would grant what I hope for,
that God would be willing to crush me,
to let loose his hand and cut off my life!" -Job 6:8-9

see, God knew what was best for Job. he denied Job's wishes and "beggings" because He had better things down the road for ol' Job. He knew that he was going to do bigger things with this man after he'd endured the fire and been refined than he could do previously or even by letting Job have his wish and die.

another thing this lets me know is this: we all get depressed. I mean, be honest. Who HASN'T ever said "God, please just kill me! I'd rather die than go through this!"? We all get melodramatic and emotional- even Job, the man who "was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1). Even this guy we look up to as a spiritual giant had a hard time and couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel and couldn't seem to find a reason to be alive. and does God ever condemn him for that? Not that I can see. In fact, in the end of all of Job's sufferings, God comments to Job's pals how they displeased him but Job had spoken the truth about Him. Additionally, "The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part." (42:12), so apparently God was pleased with the way he persevered in the trials.

A very famous passage used from Job is 7:17-18, which says:

"What is mankind that you make so much of them,
that you give them so much attention,
that you examine them every morning
and test them every moment?"

These verses were actually used to compose a well-known worship song, Friend of God. "Who am I that you are mindful of me? That you hear me, when I call? Is it true that You are thinking of me? How you love me, it's amazing!" the verse calls out to God. Can I just emphasize how humbling this is? It's true. Who are we, that God pays so much attention to us? I mean, I know we're his creations, his masterpieces. But honestly, if I were God I'm pretty sure I would hate my creations if they screwed up all the time and needed about 325,438,932,348,467,129,433,870,235 second chances & asked for forgiveness all the time. juuuuust sayin.

The good thing is, Job understands the concept of God being awesome and keeping a spirit of humility.

"If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion
and again display your awesome power against me." (Job 10:16)

Another of Job's buddies, Zophar, has some words for Job... and even though, once again, his reasoning behind these thoughts is a little skewed (he was convinced that God was punishing Job for sinning, as I understand it), he has such a beautiful wording of God's process of forgiveness:

“Yet if you devote your heart to him
and stretch out your hands to him,
if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,
then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;
you will stand firm and without fear.
You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.
Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.
You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.
You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor." (Job 11:13-19)

I can't say anything about this, other than how grateful it makes me for God's forgiveness to us when we repent.

Reading Job just makes me realize how little I am and how awesome and holy He is.

“To God belong wisdom and power;
counsel and understanding are his.
What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;
those he imprisons cannot be released.
If he holds back the waters, there is drought;
if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.
To him belong strength and insight;
both deceived and deceiver are his." (Job 12:13-16)

Can it be any better worded than that?

God, thank you for tearing down things so I can't rebuild them. Thank you for holding back the waters when it is time to do so, and for flooding me when I need it. Thank you for your perfect will and for how you remind me that I can do nothing to make my future better than you have planned for it to be. Keep executing your plan in my life- even though it rarely makes sense to me. Remind me that you hold all wisdom and power, and that your ways are higher than mine.