As I took my flashlight and journeyed through the book of
Job, I realized that as important as the beginning and the ending was, the
middle was what I needed to stay focused.
Often times when we reference the book of Job we reference God’s
selection of Job and God’s rewarding of Job at the end. I think we even do this in life. We know how we want something to start we
even know the ending, but it is the middle part that gets us lost and off
course. We want to be the chosen and we
want the reward, but we don’t realize what it will take to get from one point
to the other, the faith journey.
I was thinking, wow, Lord, this is a good post to end out
the year. When the Lord led me into
this book I was kicking and screaming. I
was ready for the reward. I have been
fighting this medical negligence battle too long. I am oh, so tired of it. This is pretty much what I had been telling
God. Lord why do you have me in the
midst of these criminals? What have I
done that you have placed me here? How
do I move on from here? How does it all
end? I feel like you have forsaken me or
turned away from me, what now?
Don’t we all feel this way sometimes? If the journey lasts too long, or the
situation does not workout according to how
we planned for God to work it out. I highlighted that for a reason. We cannot plan for God, and to try and figure
it out is frustrating. So stop. The only way to God is by faith. The only way
to move him is by faith. So I figure He
lead me to read Job in its entirety because I was having a tantrum. Years ago, one of my nieces shared with her
little sister, “Daddy does not do tantrums.”
So let me share this with you all, our Father God does not do tantrums,
but he is merciful. He does know that as
humans we are subject to get weary and to even fail sometimes.
Before I started my present journey, I often read the
beginning of Job and was moved by how God trusted Job, and even more motivated
by the reward. But now, in the midst of
what looks to be a long journey, the beginning and the end is not helping
me. As a matter of fact, it proves to be
more of a hindrance because I am thinking, Lord, I know you. I know how
faithful you have been. Why is this so
difficult and then my guilt sets in and makes it worse. Guess what, as I read through Jobs journey
this time, I realized he had the same issue I am having. That helped me.
I find the conversations from Job 3-32 quite helpful. In these chapters we see Job responding to
his situation, and his three friends who accused him of sinning. He had to have done something awful for this
turmoil to fall upon him. His friends were unrelenting in their accusations.
They suggested that Job repent of his sins in order to be restored. Well, Job had not sinned. As I meditated on this part, I considered all
those who have walked the halls of injustice.
Those who have reached out for help from an unjust justice
department. Those who know they were set
up and unjustly convicted. Some have
even sat at the table with and looked into the eyes of these sick spirited men. They watched as they destroyed evidence and
then falsely accused them, taking away their basic human right to live.
Can I tell you that when you have been that close to
discrimination and injustice it changes you.
When you’ve watched the perpetrators set you up and attempt to destroy
you and your family’s life, it does something to you. Only the God in you will keep you from self-destructing
or causing harm to someone else. When I
watched the riots on TV after the verdicts in the police shootings, and I
listened to the commentators and reporters, I said to myself they don’t
know. There is an unexplainable anguish
that comes with watching your child or loved one destroyed. Compound that with injustice and you have a
time bomb, and only God can diffuse it.
I can only imagine Job’s frustration levels with these individuals
and their unfounded accusations. He
honestly had done nothing until he opened his mouth to defend himself. I can see the enemy now working through Job’s
thoughts. Yeah, you did nothing. Yet, look where you are. You were a just upright man. Where is your God? In Job’s quest to defend himself he did
sin. In response to their accusations,
Job paints himself as a righteous man and even paints God as somewhat perverted
to allow this in his life. Yet in all of
Job’s rambling, he said yet will I trust
him (faith). Job had enough sense to
know that for whatever reason he was in that state, he was still trusting God
and looking to God to step in.
Regardless to how bad it got and how hopeless, he felt his hope was still
in God.
It gets really difficult at times to stay focused especially
when the storm does not cease. Unjust
practices, family destroyed, finances wiped out, and now in bad health, Job was
inconsolable. His friends had no
clue. He now was at the mercy of those
he had given counsel too. They wanted to
know why he wasn't able to find comfort in the advice he had given to others.
His response was that if they only knew the weight of his burden.
I think the worst
situation to find yourself in, is Job’s situation. He needed sound counseling and what he
received was judgment and condemnation.
There are those who lay in wait for the faithful to fall short. They have a
need to bounce on the shortcomings of Christians. This somehow makes them feel more secure and justified
in their sin sick ways. Oh, but thank
God for Jesus, who has already atoned for our shortcomings. So when you fall, seek Jesus, get up, and get
back on the wagon. As for those who
condemned you, pray for them and move on.
As I conclude my walk through Job, I want to stress this
point, even the best of us fail but God does not count how many times we fall,
he just wants us to get back up and keep moving towards him. God finally answered Job. While he corrected Job for calling him out,
he made the others pay Job for their false accusations.
My conclusion of my journey through Job, some journeys are
longer and more challenging than others. As I said earlier, it is the middle part of
the journey that so often causes us to stray from God’s plan. The goal for 2015, stay focused on this faith
journey.
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