"He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea." ~Job 9:8
My nephew protested to his
mother “IT’S NOT FAIR!” Of course he doesn’t know what “fair” is yet, but
saying “It’s not fair!” somehow gives him a reaction and some leverage. Not
with God however. We may be very unfair on this earth that we rob of justice,
but we can’t accuse God of being unfair. He’s done everything possible to
enable us to make choices that will make a difference on the earth and so many
still reject Him.
If anyone had a right to think “It’s not fair!” it was Job. Job is in a lot of pain. I mean he is in a LOT OF PAIN! And his friends aren’t helping much. They keep encouraging him to repent, and Job is getting frustrated. He can see that to his knowledge He has done everything to keep his relationship with God right, but somehow he thinks he’s missed something.
I guess there are times when I wonder what God is doing. I know He is a loving God but sometimes, like my nephew, I say things like “It’s not fair!” And then I have to come to the conclusion that He knows better than I do, and I just have to trust Him. When I do, I find I have a lot more peace and can think through things much better. But how would I feel if I were in Job’s shoes? Suffering extreme pain and on the edge of death but not dying? Having friends around me who don’t have a clue what is going on but judge me and try to give me simple solutions that just don’t fit to the complex problems I have? They are right, up to a point, in principle, but they don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to what I am going through.
So Job says, “Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight? If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer Him even once in a thousand times? For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged Him successfully? ... If He snatches someone in death, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’ And God does not restrain His anger.
These are such good questions. “Who can be declared innocent in God’s sight?” (Job 9:2) The Bible says we can be declared FORGIVEN because of Christ paying the penalty for our sin, but I can’t recall we are ever declared to be innocent.
Job says, “God does not restrain His anger” (Job 9:13). Of course God doesn’t have to restrain His anger because He is the only One really able to be justly angry.
Job isn’t at all sure God will listen to Him, even when He prays because He thinks God is attacking Him. He can’t understand why. He hasn’t connected with the fact that it is Satan, not God who is attacking him. Nevertheless, God is allowing it to happen.
“For He attacks me with a storm and repeatedly wounds me without cause. He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows.”
“It’s not fair!” He is fed up with living at all. The way He sees it is that God destroys the blameless and the wicked, so what is the use of living. God seems to laugh at innocent people dying and seems to be blind to the fact that wicked people get away with things they do. God is unfair! We may at times make the same accusations against God. Look at Mugabe. Look at innocent children sold into slavery and brothels today. “It’s not fair!”
Job gives up. He is in too much pain to care about the reason why. He doesn’t care if he is innocent or guilty. It doesn’t seem to matter anyway. He says “Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye, You would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and my own filthy clothing would hate me. “God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with Him or take Him to trial. If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together. The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of His punishment. Then I could speak to Him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength” (Job 9:30-35).
HOW PROPHETIC IS THAT? WE HAVE SUCH A MEDIATOR IN CHRIST.
1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.”
If anyone had a right to think “It’s not fair!” it was Job. Job is in a lot of pain. I mean he is in a LOT OF PAIN! And his friends aren’t helping much. They keep encouraging him to repent, and Job is getting frustrated. He can see that to his knowledge He has done everything to keep his relationship with God right, but somehow he thinks he’s missed something.
I guess there are times when I wonder what God is doing. I know He is a loving God but sometimes, like my nephew, I say things like “It’s not fair!” And then I have to come to the conclusion that He knows better than I do, and I just have to trust Him. When I do, I find I have a lot more peace and can think through things much better. But how would I feel if I were in Job’s shoes? Suffering extreme pain and on the edge of death but not dying? Having friends around me who don’t have a clue what is going on but judge me and try to give me simple solutions that just don’t fit to the complex problems I have? They are right, up to a point, in principle, but they don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to what I am going through.
So Job says, “Yes, I know all this is true in principle. But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight? If someone wanted to take God to court, would it be possible to answer Him even once in a thousand times? For God is so wise and so mighty. Who has ever challenged Him successfully? ... If He snatches someone in death, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’ And God does not restrain His anger.
These are such good questions. “Who can be declared innocent in God’s sight?” (Job 9:2) The Bible says we can be declared FORGIVEN because of Christ paying the penalty for our sin, but I can’t recall we are ever declared to be innocent.
Job says, “God does not restrain His anger” (Job 9:13). Of course God doesn’t have to restrain His anger because He is the only One really able to be justly angry.
Job isn’t at all sure God will listen to Him, even when He prays because He thinks God is attacking Him. He can’t understand why. He hasn’t connected with the fact that it is Satan, not God who is attacking him. Nevertheless, God is allowing it to happen.
“For He attacks me with a storm and repeatedly wounds me without cause. He will not let me catch my breath, but fills me instead with bitter sorrows.”
“It’s not fair!” He is fed up with living at all. The way He sees it is that God destroys the blameless and the wicked, so what is the use of living. God seems to laugh at innocent people dying and seems to be blind to the fact that wicked people get away with things they do. God is unfair! We may at times make the same accusations against God. Look at Mugabe. Look at innocent children sold into slavery and brothels today. “It’s not fair!”
Job gives up. He is in too much pain to care about the reason why. He doesn’t care if he is innocent or guilty. It doesn’t seem to matter anyway. He says “Even if I were to wash myself with soap and clean my hands with lye, You would plunge me into a muddy ditch, and my own filthy clothing would hate me. “God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with Him or take Him to trial. If only there were a mediator between us, someone who could bring us together. The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of His punishment. Then I could speak to Him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength” (Job 9:30-35).
HOW PROPHETIC IS THAT? WE HAVE SUCH A MEDIATOR IN CHRIST.
1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.”
Job feels he needs a mediator to arbitrate and to give him some respite from the pain while the case is being heard, but since it is not happening, he says in Job 10:1-22
“I am disgusted with my life. ...“‘You formed me with your hands; you made me, yet now You completely destroy me. Remember that You made me from dust— will You turn me back to dust so soon? You guided my conception and formed me in the womb. You clothed me with skin and flesh, and You knit my bones and sinews together. You gave me life and showed me Your unfailing love. My life was preserved by Your care. ... “‘Why, then, did You deliver me from my mother’s womb? Why didn’t You let me die at birth? It would be as though I had never existed, going directly from the womb to the grave. I have only a few days left, so leave me alone, that I may have a moment of comfort before I leave—never to return— for the land of darkness and utter gloom.”
You get the idea that Job is pretty upset! He really calls it like he sees it when he prays. I think my prayers always become a little more genuine when I am really in pain.
Lord, I am always in need of a mediator, someone who can bring me closer to You. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that You are that mediator. Because you are both God and man, you understand me and my needs and hurts. Thank you that You can help me when I am complaining that I don’t understand what You are doing. Thank you that I can trust in You, that You will accomplish Your purposes in my life today.
God bless you as you trust our One and only mediator, Jesus Christ, today for all your needs, no matter how much the pain.
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Your challenge this week is to create a project using this scripture or another verse that reminds you that Christ is our mediator. When uploading your project, please use keyword ODBDBVT93 and then hop over to Our Daily Bread Designs Forum to share it with us!
Blessings!
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