OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 14

Job 14:1-22

14:1-5 Unaware that God was not exacting harsh judgement on him, Job felt too fiercely scrutinized. He felt that life was too short and humans too weak to measure up to the perfection of God. But God does not require perfection and Job was wrong to assume that He does. 

14:6 Job requested an unimportant, routine life but such a dull life is never chosen for a righteous child of God. God's children's lives are orchestrated by Him to be important, impactful, both planned and spontaneously unique. Had Job received a yes to that particular prayer, he would not have been able to exemplify to Satan that a soul's connection with God can be true and steadfast. 

14:7-9 Job contemplated that even trees have more continuity than the human body. Even fallen, trees reform, rejuvenate, re-bloom. The resilience and eternal life of nature is a reflection of our soul but Job did not feel connected to spirit; Satan had succeeded at almost totally isolating Job.

14:10-12 Humans, Job lamented, lose their wisp of existence. That's true for the body of humans, but not for the soul. Because Job felt dejected, his soul separate from the spirit of God, he felt the finite nature of his body. He was wrong to do so, to focus so intently on termination, because the life of our soul does not culminate in death. 

14:13-17 Desperate as he was, Job committed himself to God. He promised to be receptive to God's voice, should he hear it once again. He trusted that God remained intently aware of the circumstances of his life. He also trusted that if there was a possibility God could revive his spirit, he would welcome it. 

14:18-22 However, Job's relationship with God needed a lot of work. Job forgot the compassionate and fair judgement of God. He mis-assigned Satan's work to God. As God's children, it is imperative that we are able to distinguish God's fingerprints from anyone else's. 

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 13

Job 13:1-28

13:1-2 Job had his own relationship with God, is own understanding of the word of God. He did not need others to interpret it for him, especially when their motivations and ability to do so were so off-course. It is so important to have your own grasp on the word of God, your own intimate relationship with Him. So many people and ideas and institutions will try to define God and everything else for us. Like Job, we cannot let them; we must be able to discern God's word and communicate with Him ourselves.

13:4-12 Job pointed out to his friends that they would be wiser to stay quiet. Their advice was wrong. When we do not know the right answers, we should not speak anyway. We should meditate on the word of God, we should listen for His quiet voice. In fact, Job reminded his friends that it was dangerous to speak false claims in God's name. 

13:13-19 Even though he did not understand the harsh circumstances of his life, Job chose to trust God. Job had no false illusions about his reality: he still believed it was unfair and wrong. He did not pretend everything was okay but he did cling to God. He held onto the truth that God would be his salvation. The quality of our state of mind, status of soul, is dependent on our ability to trust God. Job was confident in God's ultimate justice, confident in God's promise to protect and defend His innocent and faithful children.

13:20-21 Job made two specific pleas to God: [do not] withdraw Your hand from me, and let not the dread of You make me afraid. Job did not want to lose God or his relationship with God. He wanted the open communication he had grown used to, and learned to rely upon. The only prospect for his life worse than his dreadful situation was to also lose God. Job held tightly to God because ultimately, God was the one thing he absolutely could not survive without. 

13:22 He promised to answer God, to be present, vocal and contentious in the relationship. He asked the same of God. Even though there was so much he wanted to beg for from God, Job remained himself. He made an honest supplication to God. Job remembered the promises of God and proclaimed that he had adhered to the commandments of God. He was eligible for God's promises to be fulfilled in his life. 

God fully planned and prepared to fulfill those promises.

13:23-28 Job was right to trust God's future plan but wrong to think that God was absent from his present. God does not poke and prod at people. Satan, the force of corruption in the world is the one that pokes and prods. It benefits our lives greatly to remember that. 

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 12

Job 12:1-25

12:1-3 Exasperated with his friends arrogant and unhelpful advice, Job tried once again to explain that he already knew everything they were telling him. It wasn't that Job was not receptive to constructive criticism, it's that his friends' criticism was off-point and not constructive at all to his situation. Indeed Job's life had deconstructed; they did not work to construct it but to dance on the ashes and tell their friend how much he deserved it. 

12:4-6 It frustrated Job that as a righteous man, he seemed to suffer more persecution than the unrighteous. It was not the only person to ever feel that way: 

Psalm 73:1-3; 16-17

Truly God is good to Israel,

To such as are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;

My steps had nearly slipped.

For I was envious of the boastful,

When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

When I thought how to understand this,

It was too painful for me—

Until I went into the sanctuary of God;

Then I understood their end.

The psalmist and millions of others throughout generations, also experienced consternation at was seemed like a broken, illogical formula. But the balm for such frustrations is to re-enter the sanctuary of God, to allow Him to remind you of His ultimate plan. 

12:7-12 To drive the point home that his friends words made no beneficial impact, Job explained that the whole natural world easily understood God's power. Job knew that his plight was not random; he knew that in some way, God was involved and in all ways aware. Job was not an existentialist, he knew the world had a creator and he know God was the creator. He just did not know the reason behind the events that transpired in his life. 

Awareness and acknowledgement of God gives a person the opportunity to consult Him. It allows us to understand that life is not random or chaotic or pointless. It has order and intention. We might not always understand what it is, but we know it is there. And that is a saving grace.

12:13-25 Job spoke of God's unchallenged omnipotence and full arsenal of wisdom and authority. Job knew God well and loved God for all that He is. He agreed with and submitted to God's will. He spoke ten verses full of God's almighty power. He knew God well.

His friends were trying to explain God to him but he already knew. Much of the book of Job serves as an opportunity for us to learn how to give helpful advice and how to resist unhelpful advice. From them we learn that anyone who relentlessly insists that God is punishing us, is someone who's advice is not worth taking. That viewpoint was completely off base for Job and it is for you too. 

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 11

Job 11:1-20

11:1-6 Job's friends remained unhelpful. It seems their single determination was to convince Job that he was a bad person. We all need people in our lives who are not afraid to compassionately provide constructive criticism. But when we are hurt and confused, it is not helpful to have our imperfection targeted and relentlessly pressed. Job was not perfect but he was good. He did not deserve for his friends to be so cruel.

11:7-12 Zophar thought it was haughty of Job to profess innocence. Zophar felt that God was clearly announcing Job's sin... yet his interpretation was wrong. He did not listen to Job he merely waited until it was his turn to speak. Job did not pretend to be perfect; he was an honest man. If anything, Job was speaking as frankly as anyone ever had.

11:13-20 Job's friends' advice would have been constructive to an actually-wicked person. But as Job was not actually wicked, they were pointless to him. In the start of the book we learned that Job was righteous. He was joyful. Fair. Devout. Yet his friends seized the opportunity to pounce on their friend as if he were not so. They neglected to remember that he was a good man. They did not comfort him, they punished him. They insisted that God was against him, rather than for him. That drove a good man into depression. 

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 10

Job 10:1-22

10:1-2 Job confessed that he loathed his life. His life was awful, but not necessarily because of what he lost. Job's life was awful because of what he allowed to slip away: his trust in God.

Ultimately we must establish God as our source of life and joy and hope. Without God, even if everything else was restored to Job, his life still would have been awful. It would have been an equally depressing life because God is the One who makes us wise and joyful and grateful and blessed.

10:3-7 God has declared us His masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10) which he put together intricately in the womb, in Jesus. He does not destroy his beloved. Job had a dangerous, incorrect mindset and he is our example never to adopt it for ourselves.

10:8-12 Job acknowledged God's craftsmanship of his body and soul but somehow thought that God would disregard or hate his creation. Our God is The proponent of love. Not hate. Not harm. He is intentionally good.

10:13-17 Job felt that God's silence was an undeserved punishment. Sometimes silence is what constructs resilience in us. Trust in God. God had not yet revealed to Job the reason and purpose for his situation. But we have to wonder, was Job listening? Was Job searching? Perhaps he was. Maybe he was not. We must endeavor to trust and to listen and contemplate our situation with God in mind. With God in mind, we can rule out cruelty. We can rule our senselessness. We can rule out randomness. Our God is compassionate, purposeful and intentional.

10:18-22 Job no longer valued his life. He reached the depth of desperation. He felt he had no purpose, no meaning. We live in a generation where hundreds of thousands, maybe millions, of people live in such a place. Allow God to show you who you are and why you are important to Him and the world. Because He created each of us intricately and apportioned each of us purpose and meaning. We do not always see our value, but He never forgets.

Persist. Resist the darkness. Insist on the light. Had Job had conviction, firm belief and faith in God, he would have been confident from the beginning that his life mattered. That he was loved. Job's situation flipped completely by God's hand in the end of this book. God will draw you out of desperation, too. Insist on the light.

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 9

Job 9:1-35

9:1-2 Job understood that he was not perfect, but he did not understand why he suddenly felt he had to be. All his life he had known God to love him despite his imperfection. But Job lost sight of that perfect, magnanimous love of God. God did not expect Job to be perfect; God was not punishing Job for imperfection. God had highlighted Job for his nearness to perfection. To be highlighted by God is to be appointed responsibility; Job was the living representation of a steadfast relationship with God. 

9:3-4 Even though Job felt that his case was strong, he knew that he could not debate with God. In his heart He knew that God was just in all that He did, but his body felt less confident in that because of his suffering.

9:5-13 Job contemplated our almighty Father, His power and wonder: 

He removes the mountains, and they do not know

When He overturns them in His anger;

He shakes the earth out of its place,

And its pillars tremble;

He commands the sun, and it does not rise;

He seals off the stars;

He alone spreads out the heavens,

And treads on the waves of the sea;

He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

And the chambers of the south;

He does great things past finding out,

Yes, wonders without number.

If He goes by me, I do not see Him;

If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;

If He takes away, who can hinder Him?

Who can say to Him, ‘What are You doing?’

God will not withdraw His anger,

The allies of the proud lie prostrate beneath Him.

9:14-20 Job wanted to defend his innocence but knew it was pointless to oppose God. The problem was that Job felt that he and God were on different sides. Never abandon the belief that God is on your side. You do not have to contend with Him, God is not your opposition. 

9:21-24 It is so important to have a deep and familiar relationship with God. Like Job, we also can forget Who He is and begin to accuse Him for things which He is blameless. God does not send the spirit of fear, 2 Timothy 1:7; He is always for not against the meek and righteous. We must be able to see temporary purpose in the parts of life that are hard and hurt. If we are unable to do that, we must be able to rely on the fact that our God is righteous, is for us, and has already mapped the plan for our rescue. 

9:25-31 Job stopped enjoying life. He lost the wonder of breathing on this planet. He delved into hopelessness. He stopped trying. Stopped believing in justice and good. There are times in life when we all will feel the temptation of hopelessness, but we must resist it. We resist it knowing that our God provides a future and a hope for us, Jeremiah 29:11. Just because we cannot see it does not mean that He has not already established it. We must press forward into the fulfillment of hope He has already given to our future.

9:32-35 Job wanted a mediator to speak on his behalf to God. He did not need one. He (and we) have the blessed opportunity to speak to God directly. One-on-one. If you have a fear or complaint or joy or comment, you can speak to Him about it. He will answer you.

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 8

Job 8:1-22

8:1-7 Next to speak was Job's friend Bildad who, like Eliphaz, believed that Job was guilty. Ironically, Job was the most righteous person on the earth, and that was why he was a target to Satan. Bildad felt that Job was behaving obstinately. He thought that if Job would simple admit his sin, God would restore him.

8:8-10 Bildad wanted Job to consider that many people before him experienced discipline, but repentance always brought resolution. But Job could not apologize for a sin he did not commit; he could not be disciplined for he was not in need of correction. Job had to endure the season of despair as an example to Satan that a relationship with God can be steadfast.

8:11-18 Bildad warned Job that he would never prosper if he evaded God's discipline. This advice would be helpful for most of us, but for Job is was wrongly-accusatory. It did not apply to his situation. Job's friends had a difficult time accepting that Job was innocent. Only God is truly able to determine a person's innocence, but his friends delighted more in reprimanding Job than comforting him. 

It's true that sometimes love comes in the form of tough-love. We have to tell our friends the truth, but we should not delight in doing it. We should not enjoy the sound or eloquence of our own words. Whatever we say should be said to help them.

8:19-22 Assurance from Bildad: God would restore. Indeed, God does. God's innocent children can expect healing and for all things to work out in their favor eventually. Had Job remembered to trust in that piece of advice, this portion of Bildad's speech might have been a comfort. 

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 7

Job 7:1-21

Job descended to the point where he felt that life was not only difficult but also futile. His life and faith's algorithm was out of order and he did not understand. As faithful children of God, we come to rely on His promises: He never punishes unjustly, He never shows partiality, He is merciful, He is compassionate, He is fair... and so many others. Well, all of that was turned upside down for Job by Satan, but this force in the world which tried to negate God established order and justice. 

So, although we might be able to relate to Job's lament at certain periods in our life, we have to remember that we are not in Job's position. The order and justice of God is firmly established within our lives. For us, disruption is temporary and peace is eternal.

7:1 Job compared humankind to hardworking servants, but he no longer viewed it optimistically. We can choose to be servants here, as Jesus did, to God. Or, we can be slaves to the world of corruption and desperation. Job no longer viewed his life as a service to God; he thought of himself as a meaningless and weary worker. 

7:2-3 He desperately wanted rest, but also for his life to mean something again. The suffering felt futile. And it was, but only because Job did not interpret it for what it was: a chance to display the rigorousness of his faith; a chance to exemplify that he had hope and trust that God would secure his future and protect the people of his past. 

We can view every trial as an opportunity to grow, as the level you have to pass to advance into the next. Every level has greater reward but also greater responsibility. The skills we learn during a trial prepare us for the next level. We cannot allow ourselves to mope lethargically (no matter how much good reason we have for doing so) because we will never be able to move on. 

7:4-5 Job suffered insomnia and other physical discomforts. He had every reason to feel as horribly as he felt. But because he did not utilize that pain productively, his emotional discomfort plunged even deeper. 

There is so much God will do with a contrite spirit, Psalm 51:17! He loves, mends, restores, strengthens are reestablishes a broken person who is wise enough to trust Him to. It is good to be emotionally raw with God; He expects and delights in honesty. But the mistake we do not want to make is to wallow in self-pity; worse than unproductive, it's harmful. 

We must own our pain, present it honestly to God and then prepare ourselves to use it in a way that serves His purpose... He is always serving ours. Satan was allowed to temporarily tweak Job's life; God is the only eternal power in this life. Knowing that, trust that all mountains are surmountable; all brokenness able to be healed; all dirt able to be cleansed; every action redeemable and every state of disorder able to be reordered, organized. Because barriers are not permanent. Brokenness is not permanent. Weaknesses is not permanent. Sorrow is not permanent. God is permanent. 

7:6-8 Job worried that his life was short, meaningless and without hope. Those are the characteristics of a life without God, without faith.

Because a child of God has been given a perfectly tailored, allotted amount of time to make a specific impact with their particular God-given purpose, a purpose that results in the fulfillment of hope.

Job was right: he couldn't see. But the problem was with his faith not his eye. He lost his spiritual perspective and without that, life looks bleak. To remove faith, the lens of our reality that God is our creator and savior, is as if to look at life like the negative of a photo. The color is missing. The detail. The passion. The inspiration. 

7:9-10 Right again, Job. He would not be remembered if he continued on the path he was on. There are enough people in the world living lethargically, apathetically, pessimistically that they do not stand out as individuals to be remembered. It is the people who retain hope and subsequently see its fulfillment that are remembered. 

7:11-16 Job thought he preferred death over his tormented state. As children of God, we really have to grip onto the truth that our life is blessed by God, even when it is not apparent. Our life is an opportunity, a temporary, blessed opportunity. Job's health and family were retained by God, and would be given back to him. 

Life is a course and one worth participating in. It comes with burden but God has offered to claim it. Trade your life burden, for what God trades it for:

Matthew 11:30

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

God is aware that life is hard and heavy. He is aware that we are soft and weak. He does not expect us to handle more than we are able. It is precisely when we are weak that God implements and reinforces His strength in our life, 2 Corinthians 12:9-11. God will go to battle for you as soon as you request His army. 

7:17-21 Job addressed his diatribe to the wrong entity. He accused God of unfair punishment but Satan was the perpetrator. Similarly, people across the world blame God for crimes He did not commit. God generously provided freedom to people, people abuse that freedom, and then God is blamed for His generosity. 

When something awful occurs, we should not ask: "Why didn't God...", we should ask "Why did they?" We should recognize that our spiritual Father is a creator not a destroyer. He establishes precise order rather than random chaos. If something does not look like His handiwork, it isn't His handiwork. Know Who He is to know what He is responsible for. When we realize that a force opposite of God is opposing us, we realize that we are on God's side and therefore it is us and Him against an adversity that will never win, Romans 8:31.

A final point: In Malachi 2:17, God admits that sometimes we weary Him. And one of the ways we do that is by not believing that He is present and powerful with His justice. Learn from Job, do not falsely accuse God. Do do not ask where God is in a desolate situation because He is standing right beside you. If you listen, He is speaking all the time. And what He says are the directions to lead you out of the place you are desperate to leave.

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 6

Job 6:1-30

6:1-3 Job was weighed down by emotional suffering. Suffice to say that Job's friends were unsuccessful in assuaging his pain and interpreting the reason behind his suffering. How could they have been successful, especially on the latter? God is our comfort but He is also the only one who knows us and our situation completely.

6:4 He felt attacked by God: "the arrows of the almighty are within me...". Job neglected to remember that God does not harm His children. God disciplines, surely, when behavioral correction is needed. He disciplines to make us stronger, braver, more emotionally and spiritually intelligent, but he does not harm His children. He does not shoot arrows.

In his moments of soul deep despair, it would have been prudent and a balm for Job to remember that God was always on His side. You cannot shoot an arrow at someone you are next to. And God is with us, within us, we are within Him and remembering that can assuage our grief like no other. 

6:5-7 Job used the example of flavorless food to describe how empty and bland Eliphaz's words had been. They were not a comfort and they did not provide any answers, and truths to Job about his situation. 

6:8-10 He still wanted to die. It's difficult not to sympathize with Job; his life changed tragically and reduced to very little. But what benefit did his lamentation bring to him? His cry for death was unproductive, especially where his spirituality is concerned. We cannot blame Job or accuse him, his reaction was normal, expected. 

Yet if Job had remembered that God is always in control, it would have lightened the weight of his grief. He would have remembered that his family was safe with God. He would have remembered that his home and property were replaceable and would be replaced by God in due time. He might even have recognized his situation as an opportunity to solidify his faith and lean ever more heavily on His God.

6:11-17 Extremely displeased with his friends' version of "counsel," Job ranted. He accused their words (though only one friend had spoken at this point) as being empty. He accused them of being afraid of his situation rubbing off on them. He felt they had accused him rather than comforted him. 

From Job's reaction, we learn that we cannot comfort someone by accusing them of sin. Even if they person has sinned (and Job had not) it is not an effective form of communication, especially not to a person who's emotions are compromised. 

2 Timothy 2:24-26 

And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

6:18-23 Ultimately, Job's friends' advice and opinion was useless to Job (like paths that go nowhere and vanish). If Job was looking for a clear path, he had one in faith. He only had to choose to walk it. God gave us scripture, Jesus and the holy spirit as instruction, example, and support. Faith is the path and it leads directly to God. 

God repeatedly tells us to be strong, to be brave, to love others, and to trust Him. That is how we navigate! 

6:24-30 Job promised his friends that he would be a conscientious listener if they had anything helpful, truthful to say. He wanted to make a point clear to them: he was not rejecting their opinion because it was painful or hard to accept, he rejected it because it was false. He wanted answers and was fully prepared to receive them, but they had none to give.

He was actually furious with his friends. He felt their opinion was not only false but cruel. He hated that they did not listen or believe what he had to say. There is truly no need to take our anger out on our friends, even if their advice is horrible and they do not understand our plight. Bring your fear, doubt, pain, confusion, question, comment and everything else to God.

It is in God's presence that we find the comfort and answers we need. God gives us the relief and understanding we passionately, perhaps desperately, seek. 

It can be difficult to read the book of Job; much of Job's story is bleak. But throughout it we must be aware of the ways his despair was deepened by moments he neglected to trust God. Job stopped representing his faith by his behavior and it extended his suffering much longer than it needed to be.

Still: Job continued to respect God. Job continued to acknowledge God as the almighty power and creator. Job refused to curse God. He retained his faith in God, he just stopped utilizing its power. 

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 5

Job 5:1-27

5:1-7 Eliphaz continued to insist that Job had sinned. He encouraged Job to call out to God and accept punishment; he said that a person who resists discipline is a lost person, a dead person. In a way, he has a point: God wants us to understand discipline as an opportunity for growth, but this was not the case for Job's situation. 

5:8-16 Eliphaz states that if he were in Job's position, he would admit his sins to God. Eliphaz was right in stating that God heals his children and restores light to their life. He was right that God catches the deceitful and holds the unjust to their actions. Again, however, this was not the case for Job. 

We have to be careful when we give advice or encouragement to ourselves or others. We cannot speak because we like to hear ourselves speak or because it sounds good. Only God understands the details of our lives and therefore only He is able to give true encouragement and advice. 

5:17-20 Job's friend thought that if Job just accepted correction, he would be happy. Eliphaz was right: God does bind us up, make us whole, deliver us and redeem us. And such would be the case for Job, though it did not yet seem that way. But he was wrong to continue to assume that Job was guilty of something. 

5:21-27 Eliphaz described the peace that God provides His children. He has not said anything wrong, but what he has said has been wrongly applied. Job's "tent" would be "in peace" but not after he confessed to a sin he did not commit. Job's life would be at peace when he finally accepted and understood God's purpose for Him. 

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 4

Job 4:1-21

4:1-2 Eliphaz attempted to insert his opinion over Job's situation, but Eliphaz was not present in the conversation between the Lord and Satan. Each of Job's friends lob their advice and interpretation over Job's situation but none of it is constructive or true. From Job's friends' intervention we learn that well-meaning advice is not always good or accurate advice. It is from God that we must seek answers to the questions within us. 

4:3-6 Eliphaz recognized that Job was a strong man rendered weak. The friend thought that Job should have improved his countenance as a testimony to his faith in God. It's true that when we handle situations with faith, we encourage others to do so, too. But Job was in deep despair; there was hardly anyone around him anymore to even witness his situation. 

And honestly, Job had a right to be confused. The circumstance of his life did not reflect his faith or righteous lifestyle. Satan had been allowed that one time to change the game for a great purpose. 

4:7-9 Eliphaz assumed that Job must have been guilty and therefore deserving of the punishment. Typically that was the formula: that a guilty person would have to endure a season of discipline, if not punishment. 

4:10-11 Job's friend (wrongly) thought that God was extremely angry with Job. 

4:12-17 Eliphaz claimed that he experienced a supernatural dream. If he had, it was not from God. If it was from God, he interpreted it wrong. Eliphaz tried to get Job to admit or realize a sin. He told Job that nobody was perfect; even if he had been a great person, it was unlikely that he had not made a single mistake.

4:18-19 Eliphaz continued: even angels make errors. By stating that, he meant to Job was responsible for the loss of everything and everyone in his life. The serious mistake here is that God does not require perfection from us. God expects that we will fall short of his standards and still accepts us. 

Know God well enough to dismiss comments from others about Him that are simply not true. 

4:20-21 Eliphaz' advice ended on a really low note. He believed that people were irrelevant, easily broken and then gone forever. But such are not the characteristics of children of God. Never lend yourself to such depressing, untrue thoughts. Job was the opposite of irrelevant; he was God's example of steadfast faith and righteous on the earth. 

OT: The Book of Job, Chapter 3

Job 3:1-26

3:1-10 Job sunk into a deep depression and disregard for his life. His pain and sadness were so strong that he regretted living. Many people around the world experience the depth of such emotion. So many of us can relate to Job but all of us can benefit from him. Job entered such a bleak place not because of what he lost but because of what he gave away: trust and hope in the Lord. 

Job did not blame God. Job did not curse God. But Job lost his trust that all things work for the good of those who love the Lord, Romans 28:8. Job submitted to hopelessness. When we submit to hopelessness, we neglect opportunities God has placed us in to learn. To grow. To serve. Job did not realize it it but he was a living testimony of God's goodness. Job's life was a direct challenge to Satan.

Job's life have purpose, meaning. Job's family was safe, in heaven with God. Job's riches and land all still belonged to him but was temporarily withheld by the Lord's command. Our life is filled with opportunity. A child of God can confidently know that any place they are in is one they have been positioned in by God. God's grace and righteous strategy has organized your life.

Periodically in life we find ourselves in positions we would (much) rather not be in. Yet a simple but honest conversation with God will reveal the reason for the period of tribulation. We must never allow temporary seasons to destroy our eternal perspective and relationship with God. 

3:6-10 Fatigued by grief, Job had the unhealthy, illogical thought that he could fight darkness with darkness. Instead of the light that was his life, his birth, he wished for night. God never trained us to think that way. When hopelessness grabs at us, we must resist it. He must insist that our God shines brighter than its void. We must believe that hope is worth its effort. 

3:11-13 Job wondered: why am I ever here? His despair made him feel as though he would have preferred a perpetual slumber. But God did not breathe His own breath into our lungs so that we could be irrelevant. God placed His light within us so that we would be a lamp, a sun bursting through the darkness of the world, Matthew 5:14-16. 

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp-stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

Job would have healed himself by interpreting his painful position as an opportunity to shine his God-given light. God built us to shatter darkness, so why would we be consumed by it?

Job asked why he did not die at birth. The answer for him and you is that he/you lived because God has a purpose and a plan for each individual, Jeremiah 29:11.

3:14-19 Job contemplated that death would have been more preferable. God calls us to awake, arise, to be strong, to be brave because we were built to live, to speak, to create, to influence, to impact. Job is among many honorable men and women inside and outside of scripture whose strife resulted in miracle, beauty and revealed purpose. 

3:20-26 Essentially, Job wanted to know why God gave life to the people who do not necessarily understand it as a gift. Job no longer wanted his life. He did not value it. God gave him life because despair was not the end or the purpose of his journey. 

Whenever someone does not value their life, they have lost sight of God's promises. It is a tragic way to live. God values each life any life that strives in accordance with His will, will see purpose revealed. The book of Job is an arduous, emotional, long journey of scripture. It shares characteristics with the arduous, emotional, long journey that can be life... but does not have to be.

Believe that God has purpose. Trust in His ability to bring it about. Hope in the goodness of His plans.