THOUGHTS ON JOB

The book of Job precedes the Law, and cannot be deleted or ignored. It can only be reconciled into our understanding of the outworking of God’s sovereignty, His purposefulness in all our circumstances. We are hedged about, and the “roaring lion”, who has been defeated from day one, can only attack with divine permission. “But now my eyes see You”: Job, who was blameless until he questioned God’s sovereignty, repented and “seen God.” It was in this “deepening” of Job’s personal relationship with and knowledge of God, moving from hearing of God “by the hearing of the ear” to “seeing” God, that we see God’s goodness overwhelm all the adversity Job experienced. Some of us need to repent likewise, so that we can see God... “So that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”  

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord…Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong." Job recognized nothing is outside the purview of God’s sovereignty, nothing!  “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity.” Only God has the power to “Give and Take”, the power to give good and allow adversity... only God, and He does so with intentional purposefulness, growing us into Kingdom children. Lordship expects submission without complaint, and thankfulness even in adversity. For it is in adversity that the Great Physician does His most critical heart surgery: Self must be surgically removed, what the Apostle Paul called co-crucifixion with Christ… Self must die to make room for Christlikeness to emerge. Our mandate is thankfulness: “giving thanks always for all things.” We must learn to kneel down and kiss the hand that sometimes hurts.

AND THOSE WHO ARE CHRIST’S

HAVE CRUCIFIED THE FLESH

WITH ITS PASSIONS AND DESIRES

(Job Ch. 1 and 2; Job 42:5-6; Acts 3:19; Rom.8:28; Eph. 5:20; Gal. 2:20, 5:24)