100 Job 10:1-3,7,8 Blessed Ignorance
JMD Devotional 100 Job 10:1-3, 7,8 Blessed Ignorance
I AM weary of my life and loathe it! I will give free expression to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, Do not condemn me [do not make me guilty]! Show me why You contend with me. Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, that You should despise and reject the work of Your hands, and favor the schemes of the wicked?...Although You know that I am not wicked or guilty and that there is none who can deliver me out of Your hand?
Your hands have formed me and made me. Would You turn around and destroy me?
What is Job to think? The cascade of bad events in his life makes the notion of this trouble being 'coincidence' seem ludicrous; he concludes that God is out to get him. Let's extend that thought. Would God create a man only to play in a sad, sadistic game he can't possible win? Are we puppets on strings manipulated to transgress only to be brought to judgment?
I once contemplated the opposite or negative version of a verse intended to give comfort, Romans 8:31b (NIV)*: If God is for us, who can be against us? I turned it around to, "IF GOD BE AGAINST US, WHO CAN BE FOR US?" The implied answer is 'NO ONE, YOU'RE DOOMED!' But that is such a gross distortion of the heart, will and character of God. Job's first mistake is that there were only two players affecting outcomes in his life, he and God. He had no idea that a much greater contest was taking place in Heaven, that in a sense God was on trial, accused by Satan as being unworthy of mankind's love and devotion apart from His blessings. Job's life was a testimony that shined when he found it within himself to trust in God in spite of his thoughts.
Revisit Romans 8 as it is rendered in the Amplified Bible:
Romans 8:31, 32 What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?] He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?
Finite minds can't possibly grasp all of the cosmological details of why life must include suffering; we couldn't comprehend it all without being "all knowing", which treads on God's domain. Our Heavenly Father has shown us enough to earn our trust and faith for what we can't explain; our ignorance should not be despised when it demands reliance on a 'Higher Power' outside of ourselves, even God. God didn't create man to conquer all knowledge but to express faith.
Dear God,
I am ever hungry for knowledge; but that is a diet that puffs up my pride and false sense of control. Feed me on that which is sufficient for my soul; patience, trust, faithfulness, love, endurance, steadfastness, mercy, humility, grace, empathy. Keep me abiding in the True Vine, totally dependent on your Holy Spirit to empower, teach and guide me according to your will. May You not be on trial in my heart; help me not to jump to erroneous conclusions; may my faith bring joy to both of us.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
My Poetry
http://saintjamespoetry.blog.com/
(Some) of my Devotionals
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
I AM weary of my life and loathe it! I will give free expression to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, Do not condemn me [do not make me guilty]! Show me why You contend with me. Does it seem good to You that You should oppress, that You should despise and reject the work of Your hands, and favor the schemes of the wicked?...Although You know that I am not wicked or guilty and that there is none who can deliver me out of Your hand?
Your hands have formed me and made me. Would You turn around and destroy me?
What is Job to think? The cascade of bad events in his life makes the notion of this trouble being 'coincidence' seem ludicrous; he concludes that God is out to get him. Let's extend that thought. Would God create a man only to play in a sad, sadistic game he can't possible win? Are we puppets on strings manipulated to transgress only to be brought to judgment?
I once contemplated the opposite or negative version of a verse intended to give comfort, Romans 8:31b (NIV)*: If God is for us, who can be against us? I turned it around to, "IF GOD BE AGAINST US, WHO CAN BE FOR US?" The implied answer is 'NO ONE, YOU'RE DOOMED!' But that is such a gross distortion of the heart, will and character of God. Job's first mistake is that there were only two players affecting outcomes in his life, he and God. He had no idea that a much greater contest was taking place in Heaven, that in a sense God was on trial, accused by Satan as being unworthy of mankind's love and devotion apart from His blessings. Job's life was a testimony that shined when he found it within himself to trust in God in spite of his thoughts.
Revisit Romans 8 as it is rendered in the Amplified Bible:
Romans 8:31, 32 What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?] He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?
Finite minds can't possibly grasp all of the cosmological details of why life must include suffering; we couldn't comprehend it all without being "all knowing", which treads on God's domain. Our Heavenly Father has shown us enough to earn our trust and faith for what we can't explain; our ignorance should not be despised when it demands reliance on a 'Higher Power' outside of ourselves, even God. God didn't create man to conquer all knowledge but to express faith.
Dear God,
I am ever hungry for knowledge; but that is a diet that puffs up my pride and false sense of control. Feed me on that which is sufficient for my soul; patience, trust, faithfulness, love, endurance, steadfastness, mercy, humility, grace, empathy. Keep me abiding in the True Vine, totally dependent on your Holy Spirit to empower, teach and guide me according to your will. May You not be on trial in my heart; help me not to jump to erroneous conclusions; may my faith bring joy to both of us.
Amen
All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
*New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)
If you know of someone who would like to subscribe to
my daily devotional, please forward.
jamesdinsmore_32907@yahoo.com
Short, concise, thought-provoking.
More features:
My Poetry
http://saintjamespoetry.blog.com/
(Some) of my Devotionals
http://recoverydevotional.blogspot.com/
posted by James M. Dinsmore at 9:06 AM
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