Hello Girlfriends!
I am sharing with you a devotional I submitted for my degree program. The format is nearly the same as I usually write, except I was required to cite some outside sources. Let me know what you think!
I Love You Ladies!
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Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes…And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Job 42:6,10
My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
James 5:10-11 (NKJV)
My Story
“I give up! I quit!”
How many times have I found myself exasperated, hands thrown in the air and tears streaming down my face, impatiently exploding into a fit of rage over my inability to conquer the mountain in front of me? I am embarrassed to say that the answer is more times than I can count. Even more humiliating is the fact that most of those “mountains” were truly “mini molehills”—a computer program I could not operate; a car that kept failing inspection; the third straight batch of cookies I charcoaled; or the tangled strands of a thousand Christmas bulbs that would not light. But then along comes a family member or friend to comfort and aid me: My husband who fixes the computer; my dad who changes the brake pads; my son who says he loves blackened cookies; and my friend who thinks it is fun to say “time me” as she unravels the light cords and finds the burned-out bulb. I seriously thank God for these people in my life and wish that I had their brand of patience and perseverance. But God reminds me that I possess my own sort of endurance for which to be grateful…and I am.
My endurance was birthed in the midst of great personal turmoil and testing, but it came to maturation amid the tragic trauma and trials of my oldest daughter. I am talking about the type of endurance that probes the heart for the faith and strength to patiently persevere, yet calls into question, if only for a brief moment, everything that once towered as true and trustworthy. Trying to hold on when everything is spinning out of control can lead to this need to examine and question the reason for suffering, hoping to find an answer to appease the mind, console the heart and restore the order. When the answers do not come forth, endurance is tested and faith enters the fire—will trust in God’s sovereignty pull it out again, refined and golden? Or will doubt and despair watch it burn into ashes? For guidance, I turn to the Bible.
Job’s Story
A righteous and upright man named Job once faced these faith-in-the-fire questions. For many years, Job was a wealthy, well-respected, married man and father of ten children for whom he prayed and offered sacrifices consistently. Per God’s own admission, Job was blameless, shunning evil and fearing God (see Job 1:1-5). By all appearances, he was living a blessed life until one day when suddenly all was destroyed without cause (2:3). Job’s loss and suffering stretched beyond that which most humans will ever encounter or experience. His devastation included loss of all ten children at once and all of his property, servants, and wealth. Additionally, he was afflicted with intense pain in his body (1:13-2:10). When his family and friends came to call, they offered no comfort. His wife suggested that Job “curse God and die” (2:9). His three friends pushed and prodded him to repent of wickedness, hidden or otherwise, despite Job’s repeated pleas of innocence (4:1-31:40).
Who among us could blame Job for deploring the day he was born (3:1-26), seeking death for respite from God’s wrath (7:9,10; 10:18-22), and appealing to God for an explanation of his suffering (10:1-22)? Job could have easily thrown up his hands, crying out, “I quit! I give up!” But, Job does not die. He does not cave in to his friends’ flawed theology regarding retribution. He does not even collapse under the chastisement of a younger man who calls out Job’s pride and claims God intends to teach Job something through his suffering (36:22). Instead, Job maintains his integrity, endures his misery, and beseeches God for answers (for which he is also scolded by Elihu (3:23)).
God does indeed show up “out of the whirlwind” (38:1) to address Job’s pleas and challenges. The LORD reveals his omnipotence in His speeches, going into great detail describing His vast creative and sustaining power. He then invites Job to teach Him (38:3; 40:7). By issuing this challenge, God is not condemning Job. He is, however, reprimanding him for accusing and judging the LORD according to the retribution principle in order to maintain his own innocence. God’s message to Job is (1) I am here, (2) I am wise and in control; you are not,[1] and (3) “justice is not the sum of human life or the whole of God’s essential being.”[2] In essence, “the God speeches remind us that a Person, not a principle, is Lord.”[3]
Hence, Job’s persistence yields fruit in the end. His faith is strengthened by a higher knowledge of God’s infinite power and absolute sovereignty over creation. His understanding of the retribution principle is qualified by God’s wisdom in governing the universe. Job retains his righteousness but repents of his pride and presumptuousness. Upon repenting and praying for his guilty friends, Job’s prosperity is restored twofold in every area. “The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning” (42:12).
Your Story
So severe was Job’s ordeal that James offers Job’s story of perseverance as an example to the New Testament church. James 5:11 attests that the blessed are those who endure. Notice James does not say blessed are those who have health and wealth, or whose health and wealth is restored (although he does point to the Lord’s compassion and mercy in the end.) Veritably, the focus of consideration for blessed status is endurance and patience through suffering. Job and James’s messages apply as much to us today as they did to the Israelites and the new Christian church.
So, my Girlfriends, what’s your story? We each have one that would fill up this space, and maybe even a few more pages! What malady darkens your doorstep? What are you giving up, going without, or letting go? What is this sacrifice costing you? Are your friends and family supportive and comforting, or are they frustrating your efforts to maintain your relationship with the LORD? Are your lips muttering, “I quit! I give up!” while your arms are in the air displaying your frustration and protest for all to see? Or are your hands lifted high in prayer and praise in the midst of perturbation and pressure while your voice sings of His power, grandeur and supremacy? Is your faith in the fire, or is there fuel and fire in your faith?
I pray, ladies, that you will be encouraged to follow Job “as an example of one whose patience and endurance in adversity ought to be emulated.”[4] I may not comprehend the torment or tribulation of your life, but I do know a God who does. He is reaching out for you today even if you cannot see, hear or feel Him. He wants you to know that He is close by, near at hand, just as He was with Job. The God who “laid the foundations of the earth” (Job 38:4), “who shut in the seas with doors” (38:8), and “caused the dawn to know its place” (38:12) is the same God who knit you together in your mother’s womb (Ps 139:13). Your suffering falls within the sovereignty of God, and while you may not understand the reason or the purpose, you can trust that He does. Bear with Him. Abide in Him. Patiently pray to persevere and claim your own brand of endurance. Indeed we count them blessed who endure (James 5:11).
[1] Longman III, T., “Job 3: History of Interpretation”, in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry& Writings (ed.Tremper Longman III and Peter Enns; Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2008), 374.
[2] Bullock, C. Hassell, An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books, (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1998), 128.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Longman, History of Interpretation, 362.
