More from Job

“How frail is humanity!  How short is life, and how full of trouble!”  Job 14:1 (NLT) 

Could truer words have been said by man?  Job spoke these words in the midst of his pain.  It is my guess however, that these words were far from his thoughts before his time of trial.    When there is much blessing there is the danger that we will begin to assume that all we receive is because of our own worth and hard work.  We see it as our right to have all of life’s good things.  As a result we lose track of the fact that all good things are from God.   

Job, more than any other, probably was more thoughtful of the riches that God gave and grateful to the Giver.  However we get a glimpse that he may have had some thought that these things were his as he laments their loss.   He said “I long for the years gone by when God took care of me, when he lighted the way before me and I walked safely through the darkness” Job 29:1.  And again he said, “In those days my cows produced milk in abundance, and my olive groves poured out streams of olive oil.  Those were the days when I went to the city gate and took my place among the honored leaders.  The young stepped aside when they saw me, and even the aged rose in respect at my coming”.  Job 29:6-7. 

Had he grown fond and accustomed to the greetings and respect of his peers and even his elders? Are there things that we have come to think of as our own?  Job finally learned to surrender all through his journey through the valley of the shadow of death.  And as God greatly blessed him at the end, could not the thought of the loss he suffered be far from his heart and mind?   I believe the blessing at the end was one in which he no longer clung to what was given, but only to God.  This is the hard lesson we must all learn. 

As you explore with us this journey of faith in Job we would encourage you to write down your own Job stories (small or large) and focus on the deep truths you learned through them.  What was your path from reliance on the things of the world, the introspection, the fear, the resentment, and self-centeredness into the presence and grace of God?  What did you learn about God through your times of pain?  I know this may not be easy for some, but if you are willing, post your stories here so that others may be encouraged by your journey.  If not here, then take up your pen and paper and write them down as a reminder of God’s goodness to you. 

Blessings ST for Wellspring © 2007

The Journey of Faith (or beginning to see God)

“I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you” – Job  (Job 42:5) 

 

There is so much to write about in our theme of “Commitment to the Journey of Faith” that it is hard to find a place to begin.  This commitment to the journey of faith is really a call, not to works, but to a life lived by grace, free from the demands of the law and from slavery to sin.  Truly this is a call to a wonderful journey of walking with Jesus that never ends, not even with the ending of our life on this earth.   

So where do I first begin with this journey of faith discussion?  I know this is an odd place to start, but I will start with the book of Job, to a story that started with such blessing and joy and happiness.  Job had abundance beyond what any others had…a good family, wealth, land, cattle, and the greatest respect from all those in the market square.  But we soon find this journey of faith turned very badly for Job.  And interestingly this happened to a man of unparalleled righteousness, one who feared God and turned away from evil.  In fact, God stated that there was no one like him on the earth. 

Satan said, yes but he is this way because you bless him so much.  If you take it all away he will curse you to your face.  We know how the story goes.  First a messenger arrives saying the Sabeans carried off the oxen and donkeys and killed the servants.  Then another says the fire of God burned up the sheep and Job’s servants there.  Another came while they were still speaking saying the Chaldeans made a raid on the camels and killed more servants.  Finally one came and reported that a great wind came and knocked down the house that his sons and daughters were in, killing them all.   

There is no other way to look at this other than it was an absolutely horrendous few hours of his life yet he fell to the ground and worshipped.  He said “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”   Yes, Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord! 

But, things from here take a turn for the worse for Job (if that could be possible to imagine) as Satan asks permission to attack Job’s own body.  This is where the emotional, spiritual and physical pain begins in earnest and the deep and gut wrenching questions pour out of Job’s heart.  How can one who is upright encounter such tremendous trials?  Where is God?  Why would He contend with me?  His three close friends soon jump in this discussion pointing out that God punishes the wicked and surely that must be the case here.   Job experiences not only the pain of loss and illness but of accusation from his friends. 

This life of pain is not unusual or reserved only for the wicked.  We will all likely face some dark days and long sorrowful nights like Job.  Many of us have already had our taste of this, experiencing trials that have brought us down to the depths of depression or have filled us with fear and anxiety.  Some day, if we haven’t already, we may lose what we are afraid we can’t live without or until then we will live in the perpetual fear of losing these things.  Our questions will grow more intense.  How can life be so unfair and unkind when we try our best to please Him?  We may begin to feel God is silent when we most need to hear Him.   

Only through a small but similar Job-like experience of my own have I come to understand some of Job’s journey and my own as well and ultimately discovered more about the God of all mercies.  Strangely enough, suffering and pain can lead to something much more significant.  I can look back on my times of suffering and brokenness and see that God was there all along and that His work through this time was one of bringing me to a deeper and more trusting walk with Him.  This is the journey of faith….not a journey of works, not a journey of looking for a beautiful and easy life, but a purposeful and meaningful one that comes through the hope in Jesus alone. 

So back to Job’s story:  Finally after many rounds of defending himself, hearing his friends’ judgements and struggling to accept the situation, there was a pause.  Chapter 31 closes with these words…“The words of Job are ended”.   Job was at last quieted.  He had exhausted his argument and stopped trying to defend himself.  Perhaps this was the start of being able to see and hear God.  Elihu steps in to the scene and rebukes Job’s friends, then Job, and then he exalts God’s goodness.  Then in an interesting twist, Elihu speaks a deep mystery with his statement about what God has been doing, “He delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity. He also allured you out of distress into a broad place where there was no constraint…” Job 36:15-16.  Job certainly thought God had been quiet all this time, but I believe Elihu is saying that God was speaking through Job’s distress and drawing him to a deeper faith.  In fact I believe Elihu is pointing to a new place where there was healing for Job’s spirit. 

At the end before all had been restored to Job, Job heard directly from God and finally could see the true story.  He now understood God in a new and deeper way.  He had new eyes to see, through his adversity, as he concluded…“I had heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You”. 

Welcome to the Journey of Faith.

 

Scott Toillion for Wellspring © Copyright 2007

Community: Being true to our nature

 “No one has seen God, ever.  But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us-perfect love!”–I John 4:12 from “The Message”

It was those words from John that captured for me what God had recently done in my life.  2 weeks before I found this verse I had been baptized into Jesus and was now beginning a new life with Him.  Immediately as I read these words I knew that God was bringing to light for me an understanding of how he had been moving in my life and ultimately how he had brought me into a relationship with Him.

Growing up my family went to church every Sunday and I learned about God and the many stories from the bible.  I suppose we were no different than most other midwest middle class families.  We celebrated Christmas with silent night candles and Easter with Easter Lilly decorations, and the Ministers always dressed up very holy.  I always knew there was a God, in fact He and I talked often. (Although I didn’t know it was him at the time)  I knew God was real, but what I didn’t know was whether or not He loved me.  I didn’t know for sure if he cared to spend time with me.  Did he really care about the details of my life?  I was searching for a God who really cared about me personally. 

During my second year of college I was introduced to a group of people.  “Christians”.  I had heard of ”Christians” before.  If I thought about it, I probably would have guessed that I was a Christian as well, but these people were different than anyone I had ever seen in church before.  For them being “Christian” seemed to affect the way they looked at life.  Knowing Jesus impacted their decisions and the way they thought about their future.  They worshipped God with a sort of raw honesty that I hadn’t seen before.  They prayed prayers that sounded as though they just made them up on the spot.  (I always wondered if those kinds of prayers were holy enough)  These “Christians” welcomed other people with enthusiasm and what appeared to be genuine care.  But more than all that they seemed sincerely interested in knowing me.  Me!  These “Christians” were contagious with God’s love and because of them God became not just a distant all powerful entity, but He became personal to me.  Through them I was compelled to pursue this Jesus that they were all so on fire about.  I wanted the kind of relationship with Him that they had.  Little did I know, I already did.  When I got baptized, it was the culmination of what God had already been doing in my life. 

God used community to bring me into a “personal” relationship with him!

All that happened over 20 years ago now, but in the years since God has continued to impact me through community. (More of these stories to come) He has also placed in me a passion, such, that I am compelled to be a champion for community for the rest of my life.  At the risk of diminishing the fullness of what community is, I offer a simple statement of explanation:

Community is about being true to the nature God has put within us, namely, that we were designed for relationship.  When God looked at all he had created and said “It is not good for man to be alone”, he was decrying the fact that a solitary figure was ”not good”.  God created all of us with a community gene.

Wellspring is committed to being a “community” in the truest sense of the term.  We believe that when our stories bump up against the stories of others, God does something new, and we find out if what God has worked into us will also be worked out of us:

Before community we learn about God’s grace, but in community we learn if we are gracious people.

Before community we learn about God’s great love, but in community we learn if we are loving people.

Before community we learn to be servants of God, but in community we learn if we are serving people.

Before community we learn to be humble, but in community we learn if we are humble people.

In community we find out what kind of people we are becoming.  In community God’s love is made complete.

When we are in Community we are just being true to our nature.

Dave Gifford for Wellspring © Copyright 2007