I have been reading in the book of Job recently and have adapted an interesting perception, something I had not taken into account before. Job suffered. That is very clear. According to scripture we know Job to have been a perfect man before the suffering. Not perfect in the sense of being completely sinless because the Bible teaches that every person falls short of God's standard of perfection (Rom 3:23). Job's perfection was without blame of any moral failure from a human point of view. Still this speaks highly of his character, integrity, and standing, plus he was wealthy, so obviously he was on a right track in his life. We also know that God "allowed" Satan to afflict Job to "test" him. Satan, always looking for a way to rub something in God's face, and while some people do fail certain tests and areas of life at times, God still wins! The Bible as well as experience proves such.
Something began to occur to me though as I took a deeper look. Firstly, I wonder what happened in between Job 2:9-10 and Job 3. Job started with hushing his wife's foolish conclusions which were contrary to God's character, as she questioned his continued integrity in the midst of this seemingly ridiculous onset of suffering. After being visited by his friends and days of sitting in silence together he proceeds to curse the day he was born. I found that quite interesting. Satan's attempts are obvious to me, but it was after Job's friends showed up that his language took a different turn. The tragic happenings, physical torment, and pressure from his wife didn't push the beginning of his hostile reactions until his friends came to visit....very curious don't you think? The same friends that then began to advise him on their own assumptions and conclusions of the "Why's" of his sufferings.
That wasn't even the meat of this revelation though...
As Job begins to speak from a place of mental and physical anguish; basically beginning to react; what Job is most faced with, and possibly the reason for the break of silence into the beginning of the reactions, is the shaking of his theology and understanding thus far of God Himself. You see, Job began to examine this situation, these happenings based off of his previous understanding of why one would suffer. It was his own basic presupposition, that God always blesses the righteous and afflicts the wicked, that was proving faulty, given his "on track" life. He thought himself to be in right standing with God, not a wretched sinner deserving of such horrific experiences. Regardless of what he did experience, he had not renounced God, which was the reaction Satan was trying to prove to God would happen. Job must conclude that his theology has to be wrong because he cannot put what he believes to be true of God together with what is happening to him. Job reacts in hostile ways at times, even exaggerating untrue and virtually blasphemous sayings, but always turns back to God and never renounces God. Incredible I might add!
My conclusion to this is: Is it possible that God allowed Job to go through these experiences to break the mold of his presupposed theology of his understanding of God? Was God providing an opportunity for Job's theology and understanding to be enlarged and increased THROUGH his suffering? God always has reasons for everything (Eccl. 3:1). Although Job dealt with all that he did, he was pushed to seek God more. Our fleshly desire is to understand WHY! It is when we do not know the answer to something pertaining to us that we begin to panic, allowing doubt and fear to settle in. God saw through Satan's failed attempts to throw something in His face, instead taking advantage of an opportunity to Enlarge, Increase, and Stretch Job's understanding of Him. It is this very perspective that has refueled me to stop questioning and needing to fulfill my fleshly desire to know WHY! Don't get me wrong...I did not say this would be an easy thing to stop doing, just that it pushes me to push past my fleshly desires..."walking after the spirit and not the flesh".
If God wants to expand my view of Him, it must be in a way so completely opposite of comfortable-to-my-flesh. My flesh is what cannot contain Him, my spirit is what needs to grow stronger in Him, and overcoming the obstacles set before me is what allows for the stretching, increasing, and enlarging to occur.
Break the molds of my understanding Oh God, that I might receive more of who You are. I said I wanted to walk with You as did those who walked with You before me. You graciously make way for that through each and every one of my experiences. I WILL Trust in You Always even though what I see and feel may seem opposite of what I know. I will Trust!!!
~Christina~
Proverbs 3:5
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."
Isaiah 12:2
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation."
Psalms 34:1
"I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth."
Something began to occur to me though as I took a deeper look. Firstly, I wonder what happened in between Job 2:9-10 and Job 3. Job started with hushing his wife's foolish conclusions which were contrary to God's character, as she questioned his continued integrity in the midst of this seemingly ridiculous onset of suffering. After being visited by his friends and days of sitting in silence together he proceeds to curse the day he was born. I found that quite interesting. Satan's attempts are obvious to me, but it was after Job's friends showed up that his language took a different turn. The tragic happenings, physical torment, and pressure from his wife didn't push the beginning of his hostile reactions until his friends came to visit....very curious don't you think? The same friends that then began to advise him on their own assumptions and conclusions of the "Why's" of his sufferings.
That wasn't even the meat of this revelation though...
As Job begins to speak from a place of mental and physical anguish; basically beginning to react; what Job is most faced with, and possibly the reason for the break of silence into the beginning of the reactions, is the shaking of his theology and understanding thus far of God Himself. You see, Job began to examine this situation, these happenings based off of his previous understanding of why one would suffer. It was his own basic presupposition, that God always blesses the righteous and afflicts the wicked, that was proving faulty, given his "on track" life. He thought himself to be in right standing with God, not a wretched sinner deserving of such horrific experiences. Regardless of what he did experience, he had not renounced God, which was the reaction Satan was trying to prove to God would happen. Job must conclude that his theology has to be wrong because he cannot put what he believes to be true of God together with what is happening to him. Job reacts in hostile ways at times, even exaggerating untrue and virtually blasphemous sayings, but always turns back to God and never renounces God. Incredible I might add!
My conclusion to this is: Is it possible that God allowed Job to go through these experiences to break the mold of his presupposed theology of his understanding of God? Was God providing an opportunity for Job's theology and understanding to be enlarged and increased THROUGH his suffering? God always has reasons for everything (Eccl. 3:1). Although Job dealt with all that he did, he was pushed to seek God more. Our fleshly desire is to understand WHY! It is when we do not know the answer to something pertaining to us that we begin to panic, allowing doubt and fear to settle in. God saw through Satan's failed attempts to throw something in His face, instead taking advantage of an opportunity to Enlarge, Increase, and Stretch Job's understanding of Him. It is this very perspective that has refueled me to stop questioning and needing to fulfill my fleshly desire to know WHY! Don't get me wrong...I did not say this would be an easy thing to stop doing, just that it pushes me to push past my fleshly desires..."walking after the spirit and not the flesh".
If God wants to expand my view of Him, it must be in a way so completely opposite of comfortable-to-my-flesh. My flesh is what cannot contain Him, my spirit is what needs to grow stronger in Him, and overcoming the obstacles set before me is what allows for the stretching, increasing, and enlarging to occur.
Break the molds of my understanding Oh God, that I might receive more of who You are. I said I wanted to walk with You as did those who walked with You before me. You graciously make way for that through each and every one of my experiences. I WILL Trust in You Always even though what I see and feel may seem opposite of what I know. I will Trust!!!
~Christina~
Proverbs 3:5
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."
Isaiah 12:2
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation."
Psalms 34:1
"I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth."
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