Through the Bible: JobSample
Our Anchor, Our Hope
Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands…but now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed. Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?
Job 4:3, 5-6 (ESV)
Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
James 5:11 (ESV)
Although Eliphaz condemns Job with a wrong assumption that suffering is the result of sin, as we continue in reading the story, it is still worth asking ourselves, “Do we get impatient as soon as trials hit us?” After all, where is our anchor? Is it the treasures, pursuits of this world, or something far more precious that withstand the turbulent winds of change, the heat of the scorching sun, or the cold wintry season, a hope that cannot be shaken? God called Job a man blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. Even in the midst of losing all his immense possessions, his beloved children, and suffering physically, his heart was grieved, but his gaze anchored upon the Lord. He knew God was not the problem. Satan was. As believers in Christ, do we allow the fear of the unknown to encroach in, stealing away His truth over our lives? There may be circumstances incomprehensible with human understanding. Still, we must respond in His ways, knowing God’s Sovereignty and goodness prevails over all, our victory rooted in the finished work of the Cross. Jesus, our Advocate, justifies and intercedes for us in the midst of the fiercest storms in life. God’s faithfulness remains unchanging. His steadfast love endures.
Prayer
Loving Father, thank You for Your Covenantal love and compassion. With hearts surrendered, resolute to You, may You strengthen us that our trials are transformed to testimonies for Christ is above All. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
About this Plan
Job demands a confrontation with God to know why He allows suffering, but finds himself only to receive condemnation from his three friends who conclude that suffering is the result of sins. Elihu rebukes them all by stressing the value in suffering instead. Finally, God speaks and assures His sovereignty amidst man’s suffering. Though the question “why” remains unanswered, Job’s repentance and restoration signify that victory over suffering will come.
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