As we dig more deeply into Job we want to keep perspective. It is not as though Job and his friends know nothing, there is just more to learn. Put yourself in Job’s place. Think about what is behind his responses to his friends and to God. If you have ever suffered you know that so many things are tossed into the air. If we can’t “hold our integrity” of beliefs in the storm, then our faith is weak. When we hold fast during adversity, our faith is galvanized. Job’s world has fallen apart and he is reeling from the shock.
What do you learn from each Daystreamer Day this week!?
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Job 3:20-26 Dark Place
“Why is light given to him who suffers, and life to the bitter of soul,
Who long for death, but there is none, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,
Who rejoice greatly, and exult when they find the grave?
“Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in?
For my groaning comes at the sight of my food, and my cries pour out like water.
For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, and I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”
These are the words and feelings of a soul-searching person. What is your great dread? Your great hope? In what ways is there light in your dark places?
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Job 7:19-21 The Depths
“Will You never turn Your gaze away from me, nor let me alone until I swallow my spit?
Have I sinned? What have I done to You, O watcher of men?
Why have You set me as Your target, so that I am a burden to myself?”
“Why then do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust; and You will seek me, but I will not be.”
When we suffer we often question God. “Why me Lord” is part of the anthem of a suffering person. In what ways was Job a target? Does this diminish God or expand His reach? How tough were things for Job at this point?
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Job 12:13-16 Holding Fast
“With Him are wisdom and might; to Him belong counsel and understanding.
Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; He imprisons a man, and there can be no release.
Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up; and He sends them out, and they inundate the earth.
With Him are strength and sound wisdom, the misled and the misleader belong to Him.”
As you can sense, Job is evolving in His perspective. Though he asks God questions, he does not appear to question God. What is the difference? What is Job’s root attitude?
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Job 17:6-9 The Bottom?
“But He has made me a byword of the people, and I am one at whom men spit.
My eye has also grown dim because of grief, and all my members are as a shadow.
The upright will be appalled at this, and the innocent will stir up himself against the godless.
Nevertheless the righteous will hold to his way, and he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.”
How was Job feeling about himself? What crises does he appear to be experiencing? How does Job feel about his circumstances? His state of mind and heart?
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Job 23:8-9 In the Dark
“Behold, I go forward but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.”
Have you ever felt lost? Like God is a million miles away? You have heard His voice previously, but now you feel like a lost soul in the pits of despair. What will get His attention? What will reconnect your soul to His heart?
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Job 24:13 Against the Light
“Others have been with those who rebel against the light; they do not want to know its ways – nor abide in its paths.”
Job addresses the subject of rebellion. How does God feel about rebellion? (1 Samuel 15:23) In what ways do you feel you experience rebellion of heart? How does one “rebel against the light?”
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Job 26:10-14 Holding On
“He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness.
The pillars of heaven tremble and are amazed at His rebuke.
He quieted the sea with His power, and by His understanding He shattered Rahab.
“By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.
Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; and how faint a word we hear of Him!
But His mighty thunder, who can understand?”
In what ways is this a macro picture of what is going on in Job’s heart? How is Job feeling: big or small? Significant or insignificant? What is he trying to hold on to?