"But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps;
I have kept His way and not turned aside." //Job 23:10 (NKJV Version) At the end of the book of Job, I thought this was the most touching thing that I read. That in the midst of all his pain and suffering, where he cried out to God but was not heard, he said from his heart, though I do not see God when I go to the different ends of the earth, God knows the way that I take and when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold in His eyes. Job is a difficult book to grapple with. It is not easy to answer the question of why there is senseless human tragedy and even harder, to come to terms with the reasons why God does not always show us the full picture. But there is one important takeaway for me; that there are no simple answers to life's complex questions. And sometimes, asking God to give us a simple answer is to ask the ridiculous. Even before He gives us an answer, he would ask us for our qualifications and we would not meet even one of his standards. But more importantly, I think the last few chapters of Job where God answers him from the storm is God telling us not to argue with Him but to trust in Him instead. To show us that we are His, not the other way around. To show us that a life lived by faith in His goodness is the only life worth living. To remind us that in all things, He works for the good of those who love him. And I think this is something that I need to hear right now. To recognise again that my God is for me, He knows me even when I do not see Him, even when I do not understand what He is bringing me through. All I ask is that I will have the same grace as Job under fire, that I can say, when you have tested me, I will come forth as gold.
"But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps;
I have kept His way and not turned aside." //Job 23:10 (NKJV Version) At the end of the book of Job, I thought this was the most touching thing that I read. That in the midst of all his pain and suffering, where he cried out to God but was not heard, he said from his heart, though I do not see God when I go to the different ends of the earth, God knows the way that I take and when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold in His eyes. Job is a difficult book to grapple with. It is not easy to answer the question of why there is senseless human tragedy and even harder, to come to terms with the reasons why God does not always show us the full picture. But there is one important takeaway for me; that there are no simple answers to life's complex questions. And sometimes, asking God to give us a simple answer is to ask the ridiculous. Even before He gives us an answer, he would ask us for our qualifications and we would not meet even one of his standards. But more importantly, I think the last few chapters of Job where God answers him from the storm is God telling us not to argue with Him but to trust in Him instead. To show us that we are His, not the other way around. To show us that a life lived by faith in His goodness is the only life worth living. To remind us that in all things, He works for the good of those who love him. And I think this is something that I need to hear right now. To recognise again that my God is for me, He knows me even when I do not see Him, even when I do not understand what He is bringing me through. All I ask is that I will have the same grace as Job under fire, that I can say, when you have tested me, I will come forth as gold.
