Back in Job today. Notes follow…
Job 11:4-6 (NIV)
4You say to God, ‘My beliefs are flawless
and I am pure in your sight.’5Oh, how I wish that God would speak,
that he would open his lips against you6and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom,
for true wisdom has two sides.
Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin.
Here, Job’s friend, Zophar, is speaking. I find myself thinking… some friend.
I wonder how well Zophar really knew Job, to basically accuse him of concealing sin from God?
Job 12:7-9 (NIV)
7“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;8or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish of the sea inform you.9Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?
Job’s statement here regarding the sovereignty of God is a difficult one to swallow. The Lord has done this.
God has brought calamity to his life. God is responsible for the death of his children. God has caused the loss of everything of worth to Job. God has even taken his health.
Those statements are appalling to most of us, but somehow they’re part of the sovereignty of God… that he allows horrible things to occur in our lives, and is, perhaps, somehow even involved in such (reflect back to the beginning of Job, where God recommends Job for testing).
I can’t even pretend to understand this aspect of God.
Can you?
Hi John,
I’ve been dealing with my seizures the past week. I had three of them last week. It’s strange because I almost went 2 whole years without having any seizures. I’m glad they aren’t the bad ones, though. My family has been very supportive. I am so grateful for them. I’m not too worried about the seizures, though. God has been real good to us. I am doing better now because we increased the dosage.
Well, it hasn’t been fun having them since I was five years old, but I know they have been very helpful towards my relationship with God. He has shaped me by them. I’m very thankful.
Sorry to hear that you’ve had to deal with those again, Monica. I’m glad to know that you can see some purpose for God allowing them to occur, though. Like I mentioned in this post, this whole thing of God’s sovereignty… that His hand is even involved in the difficult things in some manner… it’s a concept I really don’t understand as much as I’d like to. It is, however, something for which I’m thankful.