Devotional on Job

2019 – North Central PA

Where on earth is Uz?
Job 1: Job was a man who lived in Uz.
So begins the ancient story of Job. The land of Uz was likely in today’s northern Saudi Arabia. No other information is given us, and that doesnā€™t matter much because the location of the story is pretty much irrelevant. Some folks get all wrapped up in proving that Job is a historical figure but that doesn’t matter very much either. As they say, “there are bigger fish to fry” here. While I lean toward the ā€œhistoricalā€ side of the debate, Iā€™m much more interested in learning the God-lessons that are taught here than I am in the silly ā€œJob has to be real or the whole Bibleā€™s not trueā€ debate. Hereā€™s a story about suffering; and not just suffering in general, but undeserved suffering. Job doesn’t suffer quietly and he doesn’t just go along with the conventional wisdom of his friends. He complains persistently and loudly: to God! If I spend my time debating the location of Ur or whether or not Satan has face to face consultations with God I miss the whole point of this story. If Iā€™m willing to just let the story be told without my attaching some personal agenda to it, I find myself in some pretty challenging material, dealing with big issues of undeserved suffering and life and death.
Take Away: Every story in the Bible is, ultimately a God-story. To make a story into something else will cause us to miss the point.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

One of Godā€™s friends
Job 1: Have you noticed my friend Job?
I’ll leave the discussion about how all this fits together theologically to others (although I will add that I have the deepest respect and appreciation for scholars who take on such issues) and stay in the devotional mode. The question asked by the Lord resonates with me. “My friend Job” is an awesome phrase to hear the Lord utter. This is the Almighty, the Creator of the Universe whoā€™s talking. Heā€™s speaking of a man; flesh and blood with human frailties and failings. But that man is a friend of God and God is a friend to him. When I consider the fact that this story is told long before Jesus, God Incarnate, walks this earth Iā€™m blown away. We don’t know the identity of the writer of this book of the Bible, but he or she has an understanding of God and his relationship with us that ought to thrill us. It ought to challenge us too. Today, I have more reason than ever to aspire to and achieve friendship with God. I can not only be a servant of the Lord who worships him in his holiness, I can be his friend too. What a wonderful possibility!
Take Away: Itā€™s an amazing privilege to be invited to be a friend with our Creator.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Is it about what Iā€™m getting out of it?
Job 1: So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart?
While the audience Satan has with the Almighty is challenging from a theological viewpoint, I think it, and this question in particular, is the absolute key to the whole book. We tend to think that the book of Job focuses in undeserved suffering and how Job responds to it, but even more basic is the issue here. The Lord points out Jobā€™s righteousness to Satan, says that Job is his friend, and is an outstanding servant. Satan, that old accuser, replies that the only reason Job lives right and loves God is for what he gets out of it. Certainly, God has blessed Job, delighting in bringing good things into his life. Is Job a righteous man simply because itā€™s good business, the smart thing to do, or is he righteous because he loves the Lord and chooses to serve him? What if Job wasn’t getting anything out of his service of God? What if, instead of blessings, curses are brought to his life? Will Job then turn his back on God and curse him? While the issue of undeserved suffering is a basic one I think this issue is even more basic. Why do I serve the Lord? Is it to escape hell and go to heaven? Is it so I won’t be plagued with guilt over my sin? What if all the “perks” are removed? Again, this is about as basic a question as there is.
Take Away: Why do you serve the Lord?

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Story or real?
Job 1: God replied, “We’ll see. Go ahead.”
Iā€™ve heard some say that the fact that God gives permission for Job to be tested brings comfort to them. They tie it in to Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; heā€™ll never let you be pushed past your limit; heā€™ll always be there to help you come through it.” I see what they see in this. In the midst of the pain and suffering thereā€™s some consolation in remembering that God is allowing this and he wouldn’t allow it if he didn’t know I can take it. However, this also troubles me. To think that the Lord grants permission for a life to be devastated (not to mention the very lives of Job’s children) is hard to take. I think this is why some people have decided that this is a parable-like story rather than a historical one. If this is fiction based on fact I can relax and focus on learning the lessons I can learn here. If, though, this is the real deal then I find myself struggling. If you think I am about to come up with some profound answer I fear youā€™re going to be disappointed. Beyond that, if you decide to skip ahead of me and read how the story of Job ends to find an answer there, well, you won’t find it there either.
Take Away: Sometimes we just have to trust the Lord, especially when we have more questions than answers.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Taking it to the next level
Job 2: A human would do anything to save his life.
Everything of value has been taken from Job in one breathtaking, horrible day, yet Job continues in his relationship with God. Now the adversary suggests that the reason for this is that Job is still playing the game of serving God because heā€™s still getting something out of it; that is, his very life. The stakes are incredibly high. Itā€™s been proven that Job isn’t serving God because he gets wealth and possessions out of it. Satan suggests that Jobā€™s hanging in there because he gets out of it life itself. The Lord doesn’t hand his servant completely over to this accuser, but he does grant permission for Job to be afflicted physically. What Satan does to Job is intended to be “a fate worse than death.” This is all intended to answer the fundamental question of this book of the Bible: “Does Job serve God for nothing?” Will Job continue in faithfulness when heā€™s getting nothing out of it? Will he serve God when all the blessings are turned to curses and his very life is a living death? The remainder of this book answers this question.
Take Away: All else can be stripped away but nothing can rob us of our faith.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Mrs. Job
Job 2: Curse God and be done with it!
I’m not sure how far one can go in thinking about Mrs. Job. Obviously this story isnā€™t about her. Itā€™s Job’s faithfulness to God even when heā€™s getting nothing out of it that drives this story. Still, I feel sorry for Job’s wife. Sheā€™s suffered all the same losses he has. Sheā€™s lost everything, including her family. Now her husband sits before her, quivering in agony. Her life is ruined. When she advises Job to give up on God itā€™s because she already has. Her response is what Satan predicted Job’s would be: if the blessings of God are withdrawn human beings will no longer serve him. Job’s reply is that this is a foolish approach. God grants us life and we enjoy the good days that come. When things turn sour we go on trusting and serving him. That doesn’t mean weā€™re happy about things or that we don’t change them if we can. It does mean that weā€™ve chosen to trust God with both the good and bad that life brings. Job is angry with God, as we shall see, but he refuses to turn away from Him, even when serving God has resulted in so much pain.
Take Away: Faith is a matter of the will and not a product of circumstances.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Enter the friends
Job 2: They went together to Job to keep him company and comfort him.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, and later on Eliju come to visit poor, miserable Job. I think these guys get a bad rap from most people. The first three, at least, are friends of Job and when they arrive and see the pitiful shape heā€™s in theyā€™re shocked, speechless and broken hearted. They can hardly bear seeing their friend like this. When they do speak, they do so in response to Job’s complaint and the things they say are the same sort of things Job might have said to them had their places been reversed. The debate that follows isnā€™t based on Job believing one thing and them believing another. Instead itā€™s about Job’s insistence that things arenā€™t working as he and his friends always believed they worked. They say, “Bad things don’t happen to good people, therefore, as surprising as it is, Job must be a bad person.” Job says, “I agree that bad things don’t happen to good people, but Iā€™ve remained faithful to God and bad things have happened to me. Therefore, God isn’t following the rules.” The thing about Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar that needs to catch our attention is that they say all the same things weā€™ve said at one time or another.
Take Away: Do we trust God even when we don’t understand him?

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Job one, Satan nothing
Job 1: God gives, God takes. God’s name be ever blessed.
As round one of Jobā€™s trials concludes we find Job a heartbroken man. Everythingā€™s gone, including his children. Jobā€™s in shock and deep mourning. In this midst of his pain, he falls to the ground — and worships! The test is to see if a man will serve God “for nothing” and, as this round of testing ends, we find Job still worshiping God! His worship doesnā€™t consist of his shrugging off all that has happened. After all, the pain is real. His actions declare the depth of his pain yet his words carry a philosophic tone. Job declares, “I entered with world with nothing and that’s how I’ll leave.” Does Job serve God for nothing? Job’s answer is “God gives, God takes. God’s name be ever blessed.”
Take Away: Job trusts in the Lord even when everything falls apart. Does that describe us?

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Telling it like it is
Job 3: Why didn’t I die at birth?
All of my life Iā€™ve heard people speak of the “patience of Job” and, frankly, I don’t get it. Just a quick read through chapter 3 reveals that Job doesnā€™t stoically accept his condition. Heā€™s miserable and he wishes heā€™d never been born. “May those who are ā€˜good at cursingā€™ curse the day of my birth,ā€ he says. As I look at this miserable man I canā€™t help but appreciate his stark honesty. This guy isnā€™t given to platitudes. Instead, he tells it like it is, and at this moment in his life, life isnā€™t worth living. Somehow Christians have gotten the idea that we ought to behave as Job does in chapter one when he sincerely declares “God gives, God takes.” We read that and make it our model for dealing with pain and suffering. However, we need to keep on reading. Soon we find this same man crying out against his own life. Beyond that, to excuse Job as being “out of his mind” in pain is such a horrible put-down of Job. Yes, heā€™s in agony but heā€™s still thinking and the things he says reflect exactly what he believes. When we deny ourselves (and Job) the right to be absolutely honest about how we feel we destine ourselves to continue in a shallow relationship with God. You see, when Iā€™m going through a trial God isnā€™t interested in seeing me put on a brave front and hearing me say all the right things. Itā€™s honesty that he wants and sometimes that includes our telling him, and others, how miserable we are. Such honesty opens the way for God to work in our lives at levels we didn’t even know existed.
Take Away: Thereā€™s never a time to pretend things are different than they are before the Lord.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

How things really are
Job 5: What a blessing when God steps in and corrects you!
If I work my way through the book of Job and pick out various quotes from Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Eliju and then present them to about any Christian I think theyā€™d find the words quite acceptable. On the other hand, I could pick out many things Job says and those same Christians would shake their heads in dismay. How can it be that this old book which has been available to God’s people for so long be so poorly understood? Eliphaz says the same kind of stuff that we say. He reminds Job of his good life and suggests that he draw on that for hope now, in this day of suffering. He tells Job that everyone knows that for God’s people everything will turn out okay. It’s the bad people who need to worry about what the future holds. He even reminds his friend that human beings are born into trouble. In other words, ā€œthatā€™s life.ā€ Job needs to throw himself on the mercy of God who delights in lifting broken people. So now, Job ought to be thankful that God cares enough about him to discipline him. If Job does that everything will be just fine. Eliphaz concludes, “This is the way things are.” The thing that I find spooky here is that if this speech was, for instance, in the Psalms, Iā€™d read it and not think anything about it, just accepting it as truth. Itā€™s only as I realize who it is who says this and then skip to the end of the story that I realize I need to do some serious sifting through this kind of thinking if Iā€™m to actually know “how things really are.” It isn’t that everything Job’s friends say is wrong. Instead itā€™s that not everything they say is right. This is a book for people who are willing to think about big issues.
Take Away: Beware of things youā€™ve easily believed.

Devotional on Job

2019 ā€“ Watkins Glen, NY State Park

B-Bā€™s and Battleships
Job 7: Even suppose I’d sinned — how would that hurt you?
In this passage Job wonders why it is that God is so serious about sin in the first place. He has a hard time understanding how a puny man’s sins can impact the Almighty. Now that’s an interesting question! If God is merely sitting on his throne making up rules for me to follow this argument has some merit. Job, though, underestimates the relational intimacy the Lord wants to have with us. He doesnā€™t want to be far above me, looking down from heavenly realms, keeping his distance. Rather, he wants to live in me and through me. When he created me, he made me in his own image. Now, even though that image is marred, there remains something of God in me. If this is true, and the Lord has connected me to his life then my sin will touch him in a direct way. Sin not only destroys my relationship with God but it actually wounds him. Now, I donā€™t intend to be too hard on Job at this point. After all, I have one big advantage Job doesn’t have. I can turn to the New Testament Gospels and watch God being touched by sin as Jesus hangs on a cross. For God our sin is more than our firing B-Bā€™s at a Battleship and itā€™s more than an academic issue.
Take Away: Because the Lord connects us directly to his life, we actually have the ability to cause him pain or bring him pleasure.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Caution: big issues in play
Job 8: Does God mess up?
Weā€™re still at the beginning of the debate that makes up the most of the book of Job but the battle lines are already drawn. Job doesn’t really disagree with what his friends believe; he just sees himself as an innocent victim of some cosmic mistake. Bildad’s comment that “God doesn’t mess up” is at the heart of all this. Job and his friends believe that when a person has something bad happen to them that itā€™s because theyā€™re being punished by God. Bildad doesn’t need any other evidence of Job’s children’s sin than the fact that they all died in a tornado. Since he can’t imagine a horrible thing like that “just happening” it has to be that God did it. And, if God did it, he did it for a reason. After all, everyone knows God doesn’t make mistakes. As Iā€™ve said, the purpose of this book to answer the question, “Will a man serve God for nothing?” However, there are other issues in play and the majority of the book is taken up with those issues. This is one of the big ones: how does the reality of bad things happening to good people fit a theology of a wise, loving, and all knowing God?
Take Away: One result of reading this book of the Bible is that the reader has to think about big issues.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

The most important thing
Job 9: I don’t understand what’s going on.
Job’s reply to Bildad’s lecture about how bad people have bad things happen to them and good people enjoy good things is not to disagree. He says, “So what’s new? I know all this.” Again, (and I know I can quit harping on this) Job’s complaint is that heā€™s done nothing to deserve all this and that somehow thereā€™s been a mistake in heaven. However, Job is a clear thinker. He understands that the only way a man can be right with God is by God’s mercy. He trusts in God, but he understands that itā€™s only by grace and mercy that he has a standing before the Lord. The impressive thing about Job, however, isnā€™t that he has a firm grasp on spiritual truths that won’t be fully revealed until Jesus explains them. The impressive thing is that even when he feels heā€™s being treated unjustly by God, even when he doesn’t understand whatā€™s going on, and even as he cries out for a fair hearing on this whole matter, he stands firm in his faith. In all this, weā€™re reminded that faith trumps even knowledge. That’s not only vital for Job, but itā€™s vital for me too.
Take Away: Faith trumps even knowledge.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Not a very pious prayer
Job 11: Should this kind of loose talk be permitted?
When Job finishes responding to Bildad he addresses the Almighty, Himself. His words in chapter 10 are that prayer, but it isn’t a very pious one. Job, in his misery, cries out to God, demanding to know why his life has taken such a terrible turn. He complains that, apparently, heā€™s accidentally missed some step and is being punished for it even though he has no idea of why. If this is how things are, Job decides, it would be better to never live at all. Zophar, but not God, responds to this prayer of complaint. Heā€™s scandalized; maybe backing away lest the bolt of lightning heā€™s sure is coming doesn’t hit him too. In his thinking bad things happen to us because we deserve it. This is no time to complain to God, itā€™s a time to repent and admit wrong doing so God will let up. Listen, Job’s prayer is the right prayer here because itā€™s his heart’s cry. God doesn’t want to hear us pray little fake prayers that pretend things about ourselves and our relationship with him. Heā€™d rather hear an honest prayer of complaint than a dishonest prayer of contrition. It may be that we Christians have so narrowly defined how prayer should sound that weā€™ve defused it of much of its power.
Take Away: A dishonest prayer is more posturing than it is praying.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Watkins Glen, NY State Park

Life after death?
Job 13: How many sins have been charged against me?
In response to Zophar’s counsel, Job replies with some choice insults. He doesn’t need Zophar to lecture him. In fact Job already believes all the things his friend has said. Beyond that, Job assures him that everyone believes that stuff. Since Zophar and Job believe the same thing (that bad things only happen to bad people) Job again turns his attention to God. He wants to know exactly what sins have been charged against him. Perhaps there needs to be an audit of Godā€™s bookkeeping system so the error against Job can be found. Still, even as he pleads with God to tell him what heā€™s done wrong, Job’s reminded of the uncomfortable fact of the unfairness of life in general. It may be that Job has never admitted this to himself before. Itā€™s only as he sits here in absolute misery listening to his friends saying all the same things heā€™s said many times that he acknowledges that life isn’t as neatly ordered as he has believed. Both good and bad people alike have plenty of trouble come to their lives. It seems to Job that even a lowly ditch digger gets a day off once in a while. Shouldn’t God make life easy for human beings who only have a short life anyway? And, since our lives are so limited, is there something more, beyond this life? Job has no Easter story to draw from, but even in this distant day, heā€™s considering the possibility of life after death as a way God might “balance the books” of life.
Take Away: We know more about this than Job does; that ultimately the Lord will set all things right.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Tompkins Corps of Engineers Campground – Lawrenceburg, PA

Looking for justice
Job 14: If we humans die, will we live again?
This is one of the most famous statements in the book of Job and it comes as Job laments the unfairness of life. A tree can be cut down and yet be the source of new life, but Job hasn’t seen that with human beings. When a person, good or bad, dies and is buried it appears that itā€™s the end for them. Is there a possibility of resurrection? Job hopes so. After all, if God is good and yet people who serve him come to tragic ends and that is that, well, something is wrong! This insight doesn’t stop Job from his suffering and questioning, but itā€™s a brilliant insight concerning human suffering. We may not always see the full picture of God’s justice and goodness now, but the final chapter of his dealings with human beings isnā€™t written at the grave. If Godā€™s justice isnā€™t seen this side of the grave, it must be seen beyond it.
Take Away: Without Easter Job has arrived at a theology of a resurrection. Isnā€™t that neat!

Devotional on Job

2019 – Lake Ontario – Wilson, NY

I wonder which Internet forum Job visited?
Job 15: If you were truly wise, would you sound so much like a windbag?
Eliphaz’s second speech is pretty much a repeat of whatā€™s already been said: people who ignore God’s rules have nothing but trouble. Itā€™s his response to Job’s prayer of complaint thatā€™s interesting to me. Job says that life is unfair and he wonders if thereā€™s something beyond this life where wrongs are made right. As it is, he says, life for both good and bad people has way too much pain and sorrow. Eliphaz hates what Jobā€™s saying so he calls him a “windbag,” and his words just so much “hot air.” I doubt that Job is all that interested in hearing what Eliphaz has to say after that! This isn’t exactly a deep, thoughtful response, but I can’t help but hear some exchanges between Christians in this. Job has raised some valid points, but instead of responding to them, even in disagreement, Eliphaz insults him and then repeats what heā€™s already said on the topic. That sounds very much like the exchanges I’ve seen on the Internet. In person, weā€™re usually a bit more polite, but the end result is the same. How do I respond when a fellow Christian brings up a point and comes to a conclusion that I hate? Do I respond by insulting him and repeating what I’ve already said? Do I attempt to understand why he believes as he does? Eliphaz never imagined an Internet forum, but his style is alive and flourishing today.
Take Away: Learning to really listen to people with whom we disagree is an important part of our spiritual journey.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Niagara Gorge, NY

Better to say nothing
Job 16: What a bunch of miserable comforters!
When Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, arrive at his side theyā€™re overwhelmed with what they find. They cry out and rip their clothes in mourning. Then for seven days they sit with him, speechless at the horror of it all. It appears that itā€™s during these days that they come to a decision to go with the status quo because once they start talking they merely state and restate the “folk wisdom” of the day. As they do that, Job turns his fevered face toward them and denounces them as “miserable comforters.” I think they are better comforters sitting there for a week, broken and speechless at what they see than when they start reasoning with Job about all of this. Thereā€™s a lesson to be learned here. People who are suffering pain and grief don’t really need our platitudes or our so-called wisdom. Even when we don’t know “why” things are as they are our presence matters. The scriptures tell us to “mourn with those who mourn.” We aren’t called to explain it all but we are told to care and help the broken-hearted by sharing in their sorrow.
Take Away: When we donā€™t know what to say or do we donā€™t need to say or do anything ā€“ just be there, sharing in the moment.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Sightseeing along the Niagara Gorge, NY

Paddling around in the shallow end of the pool
Job 19: Why do you insist on putting me down, using my troubles as a stick to beat me?
I think I can safely pick up speed in my journey through Job because the themes are now pretty well established. Job insists on his integrity and stubbornly holds to his faith even though he feels God is treating him unfairly. His friends have become his accusers. Ever though they can’t point to a single act of unrighteousness in his life, they point to his terrible afflictions as proof that there has to be unrighteousness. Job characterizes this as their using his “troubles as a stick to beat me.” By now weā€™re supposed to understand that the suffering has come to Job precisely because he is righteous. Itā€™s this righteousness that sets this chain of events in motion in the first place. The question being answered is “does Job serve God out of love and commitment or is it because of the good things he gets out of it?” Is human righteousness a part of some kind of business arraignment between man and God or is there something deeper going on? Of course, all this is beyond Job’s friends and is beyond Job himself. His friends are so overwhelmed by the terrible scene of suffering before them that they canā€™t see anything else. I think weā€™re all in danger of living at that level. We like the easy way out, the conventional wisdom, and cling to easily held beliefs. Sooner or later, God will challenge such an approach to life, taking us deeper even, if necessary, over our groans of protest.
Take Away: Easily held beliefs are often the hardest ones to let go.

Devotional on Job

2019 – Sightseeing along the Niagara Gorge, NY

Our final refuge
Job 19: Still, I know that God lives.
Thereā€™s much that Job doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand why his children died in a terrible storm, or why his considerable wealth was taken away on that same day. He doesn’t understand why heā€™s suffering so and he doesn’t understand why he was ever born in the first place. One biggie is that he doesn’t understand why God won’t answer his plea for a hearing to straighten out this whole mess. There isn’t much solid ground for Job these days. So much of what he has thought of as firm has slipped away, including what he believes about God and how the Lord works in the world. In fact, there remains just one place of solid footing. Itā€™s here that he takes his stand: “I know that God lives.” Thankfully, few people in history have faced the tragedy and loss Job did. However, for all of us, the day comes as we near our last breath when weā€™re left with only the bare essentials. On that day, I pray that I, too, will find that one remaining firm place to take my stand: “I know that God lives.”
Take Away: When we come to the crucial moments of life we have to decide what is and isnā€™t essential.