| “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.” |
| —Job 23:10-11 |
When your world turns upside down, what do you do? I scream out for help. I’m not ashamed of it either. I scream out for help. I also cling tightly to what I sincerely believe is true. But, sometimes, we need to learn from the experience of others:
More than thirty years ago, I heard a report about a man who had walked with God almost all the years of his life. He had proven himself a faithful steward in the past. Then, a great tragedy struck in his life. His wife became gravely ill and, after three years of intensive and excruciating treatment, she died.
During her treatment, this man held tightly to his faith. He believed God was going to heal his wife. After all, the man reasoned, he had served God faithfully all his adult life. He had even sacrificed to do so. And, besides all that, his wife was a lovely lady, faithful to God in her own right. But, things did not turn out as this man expected. So, in response to his wife’s death, he turned away from God in a subtle, but deadly way. He pursued a new definition of God—as if God can be defined in human terms—and in so doing, he lost nearly everything that mattered.
In pulling away from God, this man influenced his only son to do the same. Several years later, they both drowned in a fishing accident—a very sad ending to this true story.
And, that, you see, is the fundamental problem: expectations. Things do not always turn out the way we expect. When that happens, we are always surprised. I wonder, though, whether we really should be surprised at all.
You see God is simply beyond our comprehension. It is also true that God’s plan for our lives and the lives of those we love, can also seem beyond our compreshension. Oh, I realize that we study the Bible in order to know as much about God as He chooses to reveal to us. And, it’s very important that we do that. We also have the person of Jesus, God in human flesh. By studying Jesus, we can learn much about how “God-with-us,” Immanuel, thinks, acts, and lives. By faithfully studying God’s written Word and by trusting the in-dwelling Holy Spirit to guide and comfort us along the road of life, we can gain confidence in God’s faithfulness and have an assurance of His divine presence in our lives.
In addition, hundreds, if not thousands, of books have been written about God to help us understand who He really is. Two of my favorites are Knowing God by J. I. Packer and Your God Is Too Small: A Guide for Believers and Skeptics Alike by J. B. Phillips. Both of these authors have pristine credentials as deeply committed believers in the life-transforming power of the living Lord Jesus Christ.
John Bertram Phillips was an Englishman and a friend of C. S. Lewis. He pastored several churches and is best known for writing a translation of the New Testament that he hoped would help the young adults in his congregation learn to read, study, meditate on, and understand the Scriptures. James Innell Packer was a British-born Canadian theologian who has contributed much to the scholarship of the Evangelical (Reformed) understanding of Scripture. I heartily commend both of these excellent books.
However, without meaning even a twinkle of disrespect, neither of these great men can possibly begin to comprehend the enormous greatness of God—nor do they claim to do so. For God is so far beyond human comprehension that it boggles the mind.
So, you see, we can never predict the outcome of anything that might befall us here on earth. It was as logical that this man’s wife would die, as it was that she would be healed. The key to living out our lives in the face of the difficulties of life is to trust that whatever happens, God’s hand will never leave us. He will provide exactly what we need. And, He will do so whenever He knows the time is right for us.
No man in all of history has suffered more for his faith in God than the Patriarch Job. Bible scholars don’t know exactly where Job fits in to the timeline of history. But, most agree that Job falls into the story somewhere after the Fall in the Garden of Eden and the arrival on the scene of Abraham. If you want to know more about Job, I urge you to read the first chapter of the Book that bears his name. In giving testimony after Job’s great loss, he still spoke these words about God, as recorded in Job 23:10-11:
But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.
Job knew he was being tested. He also knew that he would remain steadfast in his faith. He trusted God in a way that most of us will never have to trust Him. Job’s testimony of faithfulness proved true. God made a new way for Job. God didn’t reverse what had happened to Job. But, God gave Job a new life that was even better than the life he had once had.
No, we can never even come close to truly comprehending God. But, we can learn about Him by observing what He has done down through the ages with the people He has called to Himself. Job was one of those people. Job remained faithful. God remained faithful—not because Job was faithful—because God is God, and that’s who He is.
As we begin another day, let’s remember that our God is faithful. He will never leave us and never forsake us. He holds all the power and might of the universe in His mighty hand—the same hand that He offers to us whenever we turn to Him.
Based on a blog originally posted on Wednesday, June 14, 2017
