2007-10-22 - Job 4: Trust

Truth and Consequences

When it all comes down to the wire, who are you going to put your complete trust in? I mean it, really?!? It's so easy to trust what we can touch or see, & makes logical as well as theological sense. Often times, we are burdened by something that doesn't make sense; nor can we see, much less understand, God's will in it. Going to the Word of God to understand and get a better perspective on things only seems to add to the confusion. Maybe you feel like you should do this, but can't think of one logical reason why. Maybe, everything inside you is yelling out "NO!" You feel completely against it, & it appears to you that God is against it as well. Yet you remain burdened about this. Why?

Turning to your friends and family for advice can be a mishmash of information and wind up simply stumping you more. You want to do what's right, but what if the right thing to do is the hardest thing to do? What if what you feel you should do, you can't explain, or goes against the world's viewpoint, and even your closest Christian friends are against it? You're against it, & theologically God seems to be against it as well. What if the right thing to do seems to be the wrong thing and doesn't seem to match up with the Word? What then?

First of all, wait until you know what God's will is. Now, hear me...I didn't say wait until you know and understand what God's will is. When you trust in God, you don't have to understand His ways. Sometimes, you never will, and sometimes hindsight is 20/20. If you remain diligent and patient (oh, that is a hard one, isn't it?), God will show you exactly what to do, and sometimes, He may even show you why in the beginning (that usually doesn't happen for me, though).

Looking in Job 4, we see that one of Job's trusted friends who obviously cares very much for him - as he stayed with him 7 days and nights in mourning with him in utter silence (2:11-13) - tried to give him advice, and indeed was quite encouraging...in the beginning. Then, he begins to syllogize within himself, seriously contemplating God's Word and its meaning (he's a man, ok? And he wants to fix this for his friend). So, ask yourself these questions and see what you come up with. Be sure to keep in mind the time period.

V7-8

• Think! Has a truly innocent person ever ended up on the scrap heap?
• Do genuinely upright people ever lose out in the end?
• It's my observation that those who plow evil reap evil and trouble.

Comments or Questions?
Cheryl

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