Thought for Wednesday 20 April

JOB 19: 25-27

      I know that my redeemer lives,
      and that in the end he will stand on the earth.

      And after my skin has been destroyed,
      yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him
      with my own eyes – I, and not another.
      How my heart yearns within me!

I know I cannot be the only one

who has sometimes felt forgotten by God. Even Jesus felt that His Father had forsaken Him when He was hanging on that cross. It’s the worst feeling in the world but somewhere deep in our hearts we know that God will never abandon us, He is always there when we need Him!

I know a lot of people don’t like the book of Job but I keep thinking there must be a reason why God allows Satan to torment Job in the way he does. One commentary suggests that is may be as an example to the angels, which I must say doesn’t explain anything to me.

What does always impact on me is the way that Job’s faith and reliance on God never fails. No matter what happens, Job KNOWS that God is his redeemer and in the end will stand on earth. Somehow Job knows that one day God will come to earth Himself. How would Job know this? My own thought is that God must have put this in his mind.

Job knows that he will see God with his own eyes one day, ‘after his skin has been destroyed’. Job says that in his flesh he will see God with his own eyes. This must mean that more than 1500 years before Christ was born Job had some kind of awareness of resurrection to eternal life. My own thoughts, as I said before.

If Job can be so faithful and trusting in God in all his troubles, we should be too. Very few of us have been treated the way Job was, but we find ourselves doubting God every time something goes wrong for us.

Job was treated extremely unfairly but not so much as Jesus, we must follow their example in faith and obedience. Job’s existence and appearance in scripture may have been as a lesson to those of us living now. It doesn’t matter how bad we think things are, they could be worse. God is real and is looking after us no matter what else happens.

 

Prayer

Almighty God, we may never know why Job had to suffer as he did, not in this lifetime, but it is enough that You know. We ask that You would help us to nurture a faith like Job had. Some of us may argue and debate with You about some things but You never punish us for it. You seem to recognize this as a way to remind us that You are God and You know what is best for us. May we always be aware of Your presence in our lives. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.