"WISDOM: An elusive possession reserved for an elite few … or a simple reality available to all?"

Day #118

Scripture Reading:  Job 27 - 28 …

The book of Job is considered to be part of what some have labeled, "Wisdom literature" … a part of the Bible that includes the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon).  While the books of Moses, the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible, sometimes called the "Book of the Law"), the books of history (Joshua - Esther) and the Prophets (Isaiah - Malachi) certainly contain wisdom from God, they do so in the context of historical circumstances.  The wisdom literature of the Bible was written during a certain historical period as well, but in many ways it transcends history by revealing truth in principles that apply to God's people throughout the ages and to every living being throughout time.

The Greeks and others considered the pursuit of wisdom one of the highest goals of humanity.  The problem is, people without the Spirit of God may be “smart,” being able to discover some of the truth and order God has placed in His creation, but they have no capacity for discovering true wisdom.  True wisdom is what we may call “understanding” the deep things of life … seeing behind the scenes and knowing where we came from, the purpose of life and where we’re going.  Without wisdom life just is; there is no meaning except what you make up.  Surely, we were created for a higher purpose, and the only place to discover that purposed is in knowing our Creator!!

In the context of Job's theological debate with his "friends," God reveals the path of wisdom and contrasts it with the path of foolishness pursued by so many, including Job and his friends.  Like many today, Job and his friends believed in God and knew some true things about God, but they didn't understand God's character or the purpose of their lives in God's plan to make Himself known and to bring glory to His name.  Many are like them, wandering through life with God in the background, but ignorant of His ways.  They want God to serve THEM, but they fail to grasp the reality of their need for a Savior to free them from the guilt and power of sin.  Rejecting God as their King and Jesus as their Lord, they do their own thing and go their own way and then wonder why God isn’t giving them what they want.  They are on the broad road to destruction but don’t realize it.  Their lives have no meaning and they sense there is more, but have no idea where to find it.  That fact that a book like “The Purpose-Driven Life” can become so popular is evidence of mankind’s desperate search for wisdom.

In Chapter 27, we find Job once again holding on to his claim to be righteous, refusing to acknowledge that his friends are right, that God is judging him for some sin.  We know, of course, that Job was right. God was NOT judging Job for some sin he had committed.  But in defending his integrity against the accusations of his friends, Job went too far and proclaimed that he WAS righteous … a claim that distracted him from the truth that even though God was not punishing him for some sin, he WAS a sinner and he deserved God's just judgment.  When he says that God "has denied me justice" (27:2), Job reveals a heart that had forgotten that God is ALWAYS just and that we must all, in humility, approach God's throne of grace and declare, "Your will be done."




Job goes on in Chapter 27 to explain the lot of the wicked and rightly says that they are a breath away from destruction, and in the end, they will face God's judgment.  Then he goes on in Chapter 28 to compare man's search for wisdom to digging a deep mine in the earth searching for treasure.  "Where can wisdom be found?  Where does understanding dwell?  Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living" (28:12-13).  Such is the state of man without the wisdom that only the Spirit of God can bring through the Word He has inspired the authors of Scripture to write down.

The Apostle Paul asked much the same question in I Corinthians 1:  "Where is the wise man?  Where is the scholar?  Where is the philosopher of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" (1:20-21).  Because wisdom means understanding God’s purpose for life, true wisdom cannot be found outside of God Himself.  Only the God who created us has the answers!  As Job struggles with understanding what is going on in his own life, let alone the world around him, he realizes that "God understands the way to it, and He alone knows where it dwells ..." (28:23).

You can't get wisdom from education or books or even other people.  You can get knowledge.  You can learn things.  Job and his friends knew some things and even some truth about God, but they didn't really know GOD and they didn't have wisdom that only comes from God ... a wisdom that leads to faith, to trust, no matter what ... a wisdom that sees beyond the events of life and finds joy and peace in God Himself.  "The fear of the Lord - that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding" (28:28).  True wisdom is found in knowing the God of salvation who sent His Son to point us toward eternity - a new heaven and a new earth where true righteousness dwells.  If all you see is what is in front of you, you have no wisdom!

Those who claim to be wise today apart from God are fools.  "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength" (I Corinthians 1:25).  Job revealed the beginning of true wisdom in chapters 1 and 2, but then he was distracted by his friends and began to be as short-sighted as they were.  Don't fall into that trap.  Wisdom is really quite simple:  it is found in knowing God, trusting God, loving God and serving God.  This wisdom gives life meaning and purpose beyond anything this world offers, and it is available to all!

Seek the Lord today.  Read His Word and ask for His Spirit so that true wisdom can be yours through faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to His Word.  In this way you will experience the peace that passes understanding that God promises those who trust in Him and God will use you to point others to Him.

"Heavenly Father, in You and You alone is found true wisdom and understanding.   The things of this world are empty without You and all that is good in this life is temporary without faith in Jesus.  Help me to search Your Scriptures for wisdom and fill me with Your Spirit so that I may know You and give thanks for Your grace in calling me to be one of Your children.  In Jesus' name, Amen"

"Helping the powerless …"

Day #117

Scripture Reading:  Job 25 - 26 …

Today's reading is perhaps the shortest reading we will have all year.  Yet, Job's testimony concerning God's power holds within it an important truth:  God's power CAN be and SHOULD be a comfort to those who trust in Him.  While some people seem to think that doctrine, sound teaching, is optional, it is in knowing that God is the Creator and that there is nothing He cannot do that hope comes to those who are in distress.  But then why is it so often that the trials of life and the suffering that comes to those who claim to believe raise so many questions ... as in the case of Job and his friends?  Perhaps it is precisely because most people do not know the truth or apply it to their present situation.

The fact is that the problem rests not in God or in His power, but in US!  Bildad raises the question again, "How then can a man be righteous before God?" (25:4).  In a theme repeated often by his friends, those who sin deserve God's judgment.  But what they didn't understand is that not all suffering is the direct result of a person's own sin.  We live in a fallen world and all mankind exists in a state of guilt before a holy God. Sin, suffering and death are a result of mankind's rebellion against God.  BUT, suffering comes to those who trust in the Lord and to those who don't ... and who can tell why? This seems to be the quandary that Job and his friends find themselves debating.

Suffering around the world comes in many forms:  hunger, disease, poverty and a host of other social ills plague humanity across the globe.  In one sense, all suffering is the result of sin; but not all suffering is judgment from God on an individual because of their own sin.  God disciplines those He loves in order to call people back to Him who may have wandered, but not all suffering is discipline either.  God may allow His people to suffer in order to testify to their faith in the One who is with us and who never leaves us or forsakes us.  This was true in Job's case and it is true in the lives of many of God's children.

So, Job's statements in Chapter 26, verse 2:  "How you have helped the powerless!  How you have saved the arm that is feeble!"  That's sarcasm - in case you couldn't tell.  Job's friends have offered NO help to the powerless and no salvation to the feeble.  They have piled on accusation after accusation, while Job has tried only to defend himself because he, too, fails to understand why God has allowed this horrible set of calamities to come upon him.

It makes me want to back up to Job 1-2, where Job was dealing with his suffering as a believer should ... trusting in God and not asking a thousand questions.  Remember Job's words after the deaths of his children and the loss of his possessions:  "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I will depart.  The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away, may the name of the LORD be praised" (1:21).  And verse 22:  "In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing."

And after he had been struck with more suffering through painful sores over his body, Job's reply to his wife was, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"  And again, "In all this, Job did not sin in what he said" (2:10).  Job started out so well, but when his friends opened their mouths and questioned Job's integrity and righteousness before the LORD, Job began to question his circumstances and the God whom he knew ruled over them.

In the end, God would do what God does for His children:  He would turn all of this to Job's good.  But what about Job's statement:  "How you have helped the powerless!"?  What do the powerless need?  What do those facing suffering require to persevere, to endure?  HOPE!  They need to know that God is with them, that He has not forgotten them, that He will strengthen them and raise them up.  I think of a couple who has just lost their child to cancer.  So many prayers were offered ... prayers for healing, for strength ... prayers for a miracle ... but none came ... ... ... ... ... or did it?

For those who believe in the God Job talks about in Chapter 26, death is not the end!  Suffering never "wins" in the life of those who believe and who come to God in the way He has provided:  through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.  Because Jesus paid the penalty for our sin on the cross, all who believe now stand truly righteous before our holy God.  The good news of the Gospel declares that we are righteous by faith ... that in God's sight we actually receive the righteousness of Christ!!

THIS is what the powerless need to hear!  They need to hear that the God who holds all power in His hands ... the One who could remove all the suffering from their lives and from this world ... will do exactly that when Jesus returns.  Until then He calls us to live by faith, trusting Him and serving Him.  And what of those whose lives end in death before their suffering ends?  The words of Isaiah bring comfort:  "The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.  Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death" (Isaiah 57:1-2).

Not all suffering is judgment or discipline.  Suffering is part of life in this world and our Father in heaven is able to strengthen us in the midst of it and to use it for His glory.  That is enough for us to know.  This is the way to help the powerless ... offer them the hope YOU have by trusting in the LORD, the Creator of the heavens and the earth.  And when you are tempted to question, to doubt or to fear, remember these words from the Apostle Paul:

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it!" (I Corinthians 10:13).

"O Lord, You ARE faithful to those who know You and who call on Your name.  Help me to trust You when trials and suffering come, knowing that nothing happens by chance and that You are at work in everything.  Fill me with Your Spirit that I may be joyful always, pray without ceasing and in every circumstance give thanks ... for this is Your will for those who know Your Son as Savior and Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen"

"Oh, God, where are you?"

Day #116

Scripture Reading:  Job 23 - 24 …

The human heart and mind react together to the circumstances intertwined throughout our lives in this world.  Our thinking and our feeling interact to such an extent that one affects the other.  Either your thinking controls your emotions or your emotions control your thinking.  Job’s words reveal the turmoil that is going on in his heart and mind.  Because his friends have accused him of wrongdoing, Job is found trying to foolishly defend himself by declaring his "innocence" before the Lord.  He wants to state his case before the Almighty and believes that he would be acquitted (23:3-7).  We know, of course, that no one is innocent in the Lord's courtroom.  All stand "guilty" before the Judge of all the earth!  While Job is aware of his sin, he begins to question God’s compassion, mercy and love.  He is not the first or the last to do so.  Had God forgotten him?

Chapters 23-24 offer no hope and no comfort.  Such is the state of Job's mind.  A symptom of Job's despair is found in verses 8 and 9 of chapter 23:

"But if I go to the east, He is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find Him. When He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him."  God is everywhere, but Job confesses his spiritual blindness.  His darkness is that of people throughout all the ages who look at the waves and hear the wind and who take their eyes off of their Savior, their God!  Job confesses at the end of chapter 23 that he is terrified of the Lord (vss. 15-16).  What a horrible state in which to find yourself , yet millions are in the same place Job finds himself.  Apart from God's grace, this is where you and I would find ourselves, too.

Chapter 24 reveals where such thinking leads.  When you think God is far away and you can't "find" Him, you begin to look at the wicked and it appears that they have no struggles or problems.  Why doesn't God slay the wicked?  Why do the trials and sufferings of believers often seem worse than those of unbelievers?  Isn’t God a righteous Judge?  We know He is and Job knew He was, but his emotions were controlling his thinking at this point.  In today’s vocabulary we would say that Job was depressed.  His trials were overwhelming him and he couldn’t “see” how God was at work in his present circumstances.

Job speaks of the ruthless activities of the wicked (24:1-4), and compares the way of the poor (24:5-12).  The wicked do whatever they want and "the groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help … But God charges no one with wrongdoing."  In essence, Job is charging GOD with wrongdoing, because Job thinks He is doing nothing!  He declares that "those who rebel against the light" (24:13) do what they want in the darkness (24:14-16).  Still, Job believes that God will destroy them with His power … Job just wants Him to do it NOW!!!

How many of us have been or are where Job finds himself in these chapters?  The evil and wickedness of the world increase hour by hour, day by day.  We live not only in a world that ignores God's light, but in a nation that rejects the path God has laid out in His Word.  If God is not in control ... if God is somehow "absent" ... if God is sitting idly by and allowing the wicked to do whatever they want ... then there is no hope.  Centuries ago some believed that the Gospel would produce a golden age when most people in the world would believe in Jesus and this world would become a "better" place to live.  After two world wars and the rise of terrorism, few believe in that dream any longer.

Still, those who read and believe God's Word know that the Almighty God who rules over all things has a plan that He has been unfolding since before time began.  From the first sin of mankind in the Garden of Eden until the birth of Jesus Christ God was preparing the world for the coming of a Savior who would deliver His people from the kingdom of darkness of which Job speaks; a darkness that enslaves the hearts and minds of people all over the world and throughout all the centuries.  In the fullness of time God sent His Son to be the only Mediator between God and man.  God determined that through the preaching of the Gospel He would save all who believe.  Because of the spiritual darkness in the heart and mind of every human being ever to walk this earth, only the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross could satisfy God’s just wrath against sin and redeem those whom God had chosen to be His.

And because of that same spiritual darkness, only by the power of the Holy Spirit are those who are spiritually dead born again to new life in Christ.  By His Word and Spirit God will accomplish all that He intends:  the Gospel brings life to those who are born again by the Spirit and who respond by placing their faith in Jesus Christ ... and it declares judgment on those who reject the Savior and go their own way, creating their own gods or making themselves their own god.  FAITH in the one true God means that you trust Him ... no matter what, because you know He is faithful and that in the end, it will be well with your soul.

As we have seen so often, Job needed someone to encourage him to stand firm.  This is one of the great advantages of being part of Christ's body.  As a child once said, "I know God is with me, but sometimes I need somebody with skin on!"  Jesus became God "with skin on!"  We, who believe, have an Advocate, a Brother, a Lord who IS "Immanuel," "God with us" ...  And He will NEVER leave us or forsake us ... EVER!!  Every believer can answer the question, "Oh God, where are you?" by testifying, "The Lord is my Light and my Salvation ... whom shall I fear?!" (Psalm 27:1). "If God is for me, who shall be against me?" (Romans 8:31).  "Nothing shall separate ME from the love of God in Christ Jesus!"  (Romans 8:39).

"Father, in the midst of life's trials, You are God!  With everything in me I thank You for revealing Yourself to me and moving my heart to believe Your Word and to trust Your promises in Christ Jesus.  I know I am Yours; I know You are with Me now and I know that You always do what is right, working ALL things together for good for those who love You and who have been called according to Your purpose. Help me to trust You today and tomorrow and forever!  In Jesus' name, Amen"

"Oh, how we need a Savior!"

Day #115

Scripture Reading:  Job 21 - 22 …

We who know the true God and believe all that He has revealed to us in His Word about Himself and His grace in Jesus Christ are called to live by FAITH in this world and not by sight!  Some would say that is easier said than done, but when you truly KNOW God as the sovereign God who rules over all things, and then know Him as “Abba, Father” through faith in Jesus and the work of His Spirit within you, it IS easier to trust than to doubt.  Through trials and suffering you learn that His grace really is sufficient and His love really does endure forever.  He IS faithful to His children!  Job AND his friends, like so many today, needed to deepen their knowledge of who God was and is.  They needed to arrive at the place of knowing that everything that happens in this world is able to be turned for good for those who know God and who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), and to result in glory to God.  The “how” is the question!

That’s why reading through Job a little at a time is like pulling a tooth slowly!  The agony is just about more than you can bear.  If you have read Job before, you know how it ends, but if you haven't, you long for Job and his friends to somehow be "straightened out," corrected in their thinking.  While they speak some true things about God and how things seem to be in the world, they all still miss the point that God is worthy of praise no matter what our circumstances may be.  A contemporary song declares, “I will praise Him in the storm!”  If God is worthy of praise only in the good times, what do we do in the “other” times?  We are called to live by faith and it is that truth that Job and his friends should be talking about!  It is that truth that you and I should be talking about, too, in the midst of our own trials and times of suffering.

Job voices the frustration of the Psalmist in Psalm 73 when he sees the wicked prosper.  “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.  But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.  For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:1-2).  Too many think it does no good to believe in God, to draw near to Him through faith in Jesus, to believe in His love and the power of His Spirit, if we’re still going to have troubles … but that’s not true!  What if our God, the only true God, is wise enough and powerful enough to bring good out of evil?  What if our testimony is even stronger when we persevere through trials and praise Him in the midst of the storm?  What if it is then that we most clearly point to HIS power at work within us?!!

Eventually, Job arrives at the same place, understanding that in the end the wicked perish.  "Their prosperity is not in their own hands" (21:16).  Job observes that the man who is healthy and wealthy dies alongside the man who is neither.  "Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both" (21:26).  Apparently, Job's friends had been jealous of his wealth, of his prosperity.  Job rejects their attempts to convince him that it is because of his own sin that he is suffering.  In fact, Eliphaz lists Job's sins in 22:5-9.  He accuses Job of ignoring the needs of others in the midst of his wealth and THIS is why God is punishing him.  It makes me want to say, "Will you STOP already!"  Was Job blameless?  No!  But he knew that.  He wanted to believe that God had a greater purpose in his suffering, but he was getting NO help from his friends as they continued to press him, to attack him, to accuse him.

Job asks, "Can anyone teach knowledge to God, since He judges even the highest?" (21:22).  Job KNOWS that God is right, no matter what.  He DOES trust God, and with some encouragement he would quite probably be in a much better mental and emotional state.  So why does God allow this to happen and why is the book of Job in the Bible?  What is there that we can continue to learn from this back-and-forth debate between Job and his friends?  The answer may lie in all of Job's questions.

Most people have a lot of questions.  Many people demand that God answer their questions.  Others give up on finding any answers or even believing that there are answers ... Preachers, teachers, Christian leaders of all kinds declare that it is all right to ask questions, it is good to ask questions and God understands our questions.  Here's the problem - and I feel the need to jump ahead just a little to when the LORD finally interrupts and speaks to Job.  What does God think about all the questions people ask, all the while insisting, or at least implying, that what God is doing or the way He is doing it doesn't make sense?  Is that OK with God?

Chapter 38, verses 2-3:  "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?  Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me!"  That's what GOD thinks of such questioning.  Asking questions to increase your knowledge and all that He has revealed about Himself are good questions.  Asking and praying for wisdom and understanding is good and right.  But asking questions that express frustration with God's ways and that demand explanations in order for us to live by faith only reveals a foolish, sinful pride!  Job's friends led him there and Job fell into their trap.  Don't do that!  Don't let anyone make you question what you know of God from His Word.  There are things in life that we cannot explain or understand.  Once again, as Isaiah says, God's ways are higher than our ways and past finding out.

The greatest lesson to be gained from Job is that we are called to live by FAITH!!  Living by faith doesn't require all the answers.  Faith knows God and trusts God and testifies ... as Job did at the beginning ... BEFORE his friends came.  Believe, trust, live in God's presence and KNOW that HE IS WITH YOU ALWAYS!!  Don't let faith be crowded out by anything!  Once you have the knowledge of the Savior, and you testify, "I know that my Redeemer lives," as Job did in Chapter 19, verse 25 ... stay there, and stop asking questions!!

"Heavenly Father, You are GOD!  There is no other.  Help me, O LORD, my God, to find my rest in Your arms as life happens all around me and the floor seems to drop out from under me.  Hold me up and remind me that YOU are my Savior!  In Jesus' name, Amen"