Daily PresenceSample

Up to this point, Job has defended his innocence against the trials he’s faced, much to the disapproval of his friends. However, this time around, God gives Job an important rebuke that can teach us something about living our faith.

Have you ever met someone who loved the Lord until things didn’t work out? In Youth Ministry, we called this “missionary dating.” Let me paint the picture for you (forgive my stereotypes): The drug-using rebel guy with purple hair, tattoos at sixteen, and zero desire to walk with Jesus shows up to youth camp. The sweet, innocent, cute deacon's daughter is on the front row worshiping and senses the Spirit prompting her to go to the back row and bring the “bad boy” to the front with her. He raises his hand at the end, falls in love with her, and she compassionately dates him throughout the remainder of summer while they envision their life of sharing their testimony together.

As almost all of them do, they break up. Initially, he continues coming to church, trying to show front row Caroline how he’s still the one, but when his actions don’t change God’s providence, self-destruction ensues. He blames God, rebels from the church, and summarizes his experience by shaking his fist to the sky and saying, “I did everything I was supposed to for four weeks. I quit drugs, read my Bible, and even raised my hands in worship… and this is how You repay me?”

The moral of my (very true) story and the summary of Job 35-38 is this: Our actions don’t always change God’s mind. While obedience can (and does) impact our intimacy and relationship with God, we can also go too far and only expect God to do what we want according to our good works. Job is here. In Job 38 God asks Job, “Who is this that questions my wisdom? Were you here when I laid the foundations of the earth?”

We serve God because of what He’s already done for us, and what is promised for our future. In the middle is our tension. Sometimes that tension doesn’t turn out how we’d like. As we’ll see with Job, when the tension is hard, God should still be trusted. Our resume might not change His mind, but nothing can stop His redemption. Embrace that truth today and watch how it plays out with Job!