Job 29

“Job again took up his discourse and said, ‘Oh that I were as in months gone by, As in the days when God watched over me; When His lamp shone over my head, And by His light I walked through darkness; Just as I was in the days of my youth, When the protection of God was over my tent; When the Almighty was still with me, And my children were around me; When my steps were bathed in cream, And the rock poured out streams of oil for me!’”  Job 29:1-6 (NASB)

When I was a new believer, young in the faith, I was blessed to be invited to join a group of fiery young men bent on building the Kingdom through Bible study, fellowship, and personal evangelism. I’ll never forget the closeness of that community and how it seemed to come together organically without much effort on anyone’s part. Later in my life, I was involved in several ministry efforts that seemed forced and unnatural, but those early discipleship days for me were truly amazing. Each of us went on to pursue full-time ministry, and we have all been highly successful. That group of guys was a gift from the Lord to each of us, but as naturally as it came together, it fell apart. Each one of us heeded the Lord’s calling to other places, much like friends in Army boot camp must eventually be deployed to their areas of specialty for the good of the Army’s greater mission.  

I miss those early Christian days when heeding God’s call was more rooted in “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) than “You will be hated by everyone because of Me.” (Matthew 10:22; John 15:15-18; Mark 13:13) In today’s chapter, Job is lamenting bygone days when “God watched over me…”.  But Job had a lesson to learn: God was as close as He had ever been or ever could be.  It is just that Job’s personal theology placed Job in the center of the world, not God.  God does not exist to accomplish our purposes; we exist to accomplish His through the power of His Spirit and to the glory of His Son, Messiah Jesus. How can I say that?  Because God’s Word teaches it.  In that idea, we share Job’s struggle to cling to God’s Word when the road ahead is dark and uncertain.

“Through Your precepts, I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments”.  Psalm 119:104-106 (NKJV)

We serve a God who never leaves or forsakes us, even when the valley darkens with the shadow of death.  (Hebrews 13:5 - Deuteronomy 31:6;8 - Joshua 1:5 – Psalm 23:4)  And our “job” (pun intended) is to take Him at His Word. Job may not have possessed a copy of the Bible as we know it, but God made His Word abundantly clear to Job, as He has to us, through His Spirit when we read the Bible. Not only did God have a lesson for Job, but He also used Job (as He sometimes uses us) to teach lessons to onlookers. Does your faith have the capacity to be used as a lesson on faithfulness?

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit—the Father will send Him in My name—will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.”  John 14:26 (HCSB)