On Job - pt.1

The story of Job is so familiar to many of us, and yet it still speaks to us. It spoke to me in a new clarity recently, thanks in part to the book The Answers of Jesus to Job and some trying life circumstances.

Job looks like he has the perfect life - blessed with a good family, friends, wealth - what more could he ask for? He is known for being honest and upright, a man of integrity. How often do we lust after such a lifestyle? There certainly must be trials for people who live like this as well, but we blind ourselves to the bad so that the grass looks greener still on the other side. We want it all, but we want it from somebody else so that we do not have to work or to sacrifice anything that we do or have in order to get it. And therein lies our selfish pride. Surely we deserve to be blessed like that. After all, we say that we're Christians. We go to church from time to time. We even give our money, even occasionally our time. But let's be honest with ourselves and with each other - we are not owed anything. Perhaps my greatest problem with the so-called "health and wealth gospel" is in this sense of entitlement. For it is by grace - not by works - that you have been saved. If works cannot affect the status of our souls either granting us entrance to heaven or condemning us to hell, why do we assume that we should be blessed based on that type of system? Let us examine Job's change of circumstances to better illustrate this point.

Job is told in an instant that pretty much all that he had - family, possessions, servants - was utterly destroyed. Did he commit some egregious sin to lose the material blessing of God? Surely, his friends tirelessly argued, this must have been the case. Job is a witness to these friends. He explains that though he did not sin, he still cannot come before God as he is. Job cries out for a mediator between himself and God, one who can hear his plea, one who just, one who has authority in heaven and on earth, one who is approachable by mortals. In short, Job cries out in need for the Messiah. If only we were humbled so earnestly that we would see and know this need in our lives and in others' lives continuously. Do you know this in your heart and in your mind? Have you thought about it lately? Why isn't this affecting the way you live your life?

Why Are Our Necks Too Stiff for Servanthood?

Why is it so difficult for us, as members of the body of Christ, to be servants? We don't want to be troubled with doing more than is required of us, yet we fill our lives with other activities. We are members of sports teams, social clubs and humanitarian groups. We fill our lives with idols that requiare so much of our precious time and attention.

We are selfish and prideful. We cannot fathom that we are wrong in our hearts, and we are therefore completely unrepentant. The worst "problem" that we often notice with our pride and selfishness is our indignation when we have been offended. Even then, however, it is not a matter (from our deluded perspective) of our pride or our sin, but of this perceived sin by the offender. How blind we are to our own sin! How blind we are because of our own pride!
Often our selfishness keeps us from seeing the needs of our neighbors, our brothers and sisters. We are too busy focusing on ourselves, and we ignore the opportunities to serve anyone other than ourselves.

The Bible is replete with wonderful examples of servanthood. Joseph was sold into slavery and became a servant in Potifar's house. But God used those circumstances for His good will. Joseph's position of service was used to provide wisdom to his neighbors and mercy to his brethren. God placed him in that time and position for His will, for His glory.

Nehemiah was cup bearer to King Artaxerxes; his career was one of service. When he heard about the state of Jerusalem, he asked permission to go and help his fellow believers. He left the comfort of his position in the King's court to do what needed to be done - to raise up a work force in the midst of his enemies and to rebuild. He rose to meet the need of a servant before the people of Jerusalem.

Esther and Mordecai served King Ahasuerus and the Israelites. Jonah eventually went to Nineveh and proclaimed God's message to the people so that they could repent. Numerous others also were raised up as servants. Jesus washed the disciples' feet. Christ submitted to death to free humankind of its bondage to sin. How then can we refuse servanthood if even the One whom we proclaim as our Lord and Master showed us how to be servants? It is time for us to return to humility, to let the Spirit wash over us and cleanse us. It is time for repentance. Christ calls us to be servants. We must not refuse.

Teach Us to Pray

When I was young, I thought like a child, I spoke like a child, I acted like a child, I prayed like a child. As I grew, it became apparent that I needed to change. This monologue while kneeling at my bed was not working. Surely there had to be more to prayer than this. How else could believers do this for years and years? It was so utterly unfulfilling. When I earnestly asked others, those whom I thought would be able to bestow wisdom, I had less-than-inspirational assurances that God would make known to me what to do in the right time and to just keep up with the uncertain monotony that typified my days.

It's only been over the last year and a half that God has helped me to understand even a speck of the mystery of prayer. Indeed prayer is powerful. But we must not continue this monologue before the Almighty. Truly He seeks to have a relationship with us, and He wants that relationship to grow into maturity through sanctification. How do we break through our lens of selfishness, our lens of sinfulness? How do we bare ourselves before our Lord? For me, that freedom has been revealed by those who taught me to write. It is possible to write that which my spirit cries out to God in earnestness. I do not fully understand this mystery, but I shall glorify my God. I can write in prayer that which I would not even think to say when praying. I am not encumbered by my tongue. Nor am I encumbered by this self-centered vale. There is freedom in the Spirit by Christ Jesus for any who truly seek it!

In prayer, we ought to refine our focus. We must not be focused on ourselves or the world, for that is idolatry. We must focus in Him who called us to Himself, called us to freedom, called us to repentance, called us to faith, called us to new life, called us to holiness. When we focus on what we are doing, on what the world is doing, we are choosing not the focus on Christ. We are making a decision that this is more important to us. God does not love the prayers of the long-winded or of the eloquent for their many words or the beauty of those words. God hears the prayers of the meek and the humble, of those whose focus is set solely in Him.

Do not pray to yourselves, as you have no power apart from God, from whom all power is given. Instead set your gaze toward heaven and set your hope in Him. Be defined by your Savior. Live in Him, walk in His ways, pray as He teaches you. Not to us, but to Your name be the glory.