The One Year Bible - Day 243

One of the things that is quite hard to understand is passages like this in Job 37 which imply that the weather is actually directly related to God's activity, an almost medieval idea that thunder is God getting angry. It is hard because we know of physical reasons why these things happen although it is challenging to be reminded that just because God is spirit, doesn't mean he is not intricately and inexplicably linked to the physical world in a way that might just cause these things to happen!?
I remember reading once about particles that seem to move freely through time and space on a sub-atomic level that exist in all physical matter. I can't remember if this is the Higgs-Boson (God particle) that has been mentioned more recently but it made me think that these particles might well be pure spiritual energy that "sustains all things by his powerful Word". Amazing really.

The One Year Bible - Day 242

Elihu points out the fault in Job's line of thinking. Job has assumed that since he is righteous, God must be unjustly punishing him although he realises he can't do anything about that. Elihu shows him that God by definition is righteous, all other theology must be built up from this. We know reading the book that Satan was tempting Job to sin so it wasn't related to Job's sin but in the absence of that possibility, Job has compromised his theology and made God the weak link. In the same way that "neither this man sinned nor his parents, but this happened for the glory of God". We don't need to understand why things happen (although it is sometimes nice) so we simply need to ask sometimes, "God, if this is my fault then point it out so I can sort it otherwise Your will be done!".

The One Year Bible - Day 241

Need to catchup, catchup, catchup....
Today, Job decrees that if he has done certain things, then he invites punishment. For instance, "If I have strayed from his pathway, or if my heart has lusted for what my eyes have seen, or if I am guilty of any other sin, then let someone else eat the crops I have planted. Let all that I have planted be uprooted"
I wonder if you could say that about your own life? I couldn't. I should though, if I am contrite about my lifestyle, I should honestly be able to say the same thing. I can't.

The One Year Bible - Day 240

Job speaks about wisdom and again it is something that is so important a principle and in some ways very obvious but yet something which we easily forget. True wisdom is not found despite God, it is only found in God. Although the chapter uses a long analogy of mining and how good men are at examining all things, it reminds us that we cannot find wisdom outside of God. This is interesting because there are many people who would claim to have wisdom despite God but if wisdom is proved right by her actions, how many of these people really stand the test of time? How many of their decisions are so incisive, so profound that they make whole families or communities improve? None, I would suggest unless some of their wisdom is 'borrowed' from God. To forgive people graciously is a Godly concept frequently borrowed, to reduce someone's loan interest, to love our neighbours as ourself are all Godly pearls of wisdom that are borrowed.

The One Year Bible - Day 239

There is something interesting about the way that Job struggles. It is hard to imagine quite how much he suffered emotionally, physically and spiritually but the significant thing was that he never doubted God. He was operating in a place of "I don't know why this is happening but I trust God" rather than his so-called friends who have distorted the truth to try and make it fit in with what they know (or think they know). This is a human trait because we like to think we have a good understanding of life but we need to be quicker to say, "I don't know" when we don't know so that God can teach us the truth in His own time.

The One Year Bible - Day 238

There is a theme that comes out a lot in Job which should be a challenge to us. How many times have we thought that our life was really tough (whether spiritually or just physically) and then looked at others and wondered how they've done so well? How comes I work hard and struggle to pay the bills but John over there bought his house from the council for pennies and doesn't have a mortgage? How is it that at work, I am very skilled and able but I get paid half of what some idiot gets paid in senior management? It is easy to think like that and of course sometimes it is true but also there is much we don't see in these situations. If we knew all there was to know about someone, would we swap our life for theirs? Probably not. Would you take more money at work if you had to have the divorce or the mistakes from their youth? Their criminal record perhaps or a family who hate them? I wouldn't.
We need to learn to be content and to work hard and provide for our families despite what we think other people are enjoying!

The One Year Bible - Day 237

Job in many ways is a challenge about being judgemental. When you see someone suffering, is your instinct that they must have done something wrong, or they chose their path? Sometimes this is true but do we think that they deserve their fate when we accept grace from God instead of our fate? Job challenges his listeners to encourage people out of suffering rather than to judge them. That is not to say that we shouldn't expect people to take a stand and be responsible for themselves but it does mean that we should understand people from a perspective of love.