Faithful God

Job: A Summary of Reflections

~ Heather Davis ~ 2 Comments

A brief walk-through of a few of my reflections through my latest reading of the book of Job:

JOB 1:6 – Why do most English translations grant the accuser a proper name when the original language is merely a noun with a definite article roughly translating to “the accuser?”

JOB 1:8 – Imagine the honor of being showcased by the Almighty as an exemplary servant! I mean, yeah, the temporal consequences stunk, but still…

JOB 4:12-16 – Job’s buddy Eliphaz seems to confuse either nightmares or demonic visitation with a word from God.

JOB 8:4 – Bildad isn’t the most comforting, either. I can’t do better than the paraphrase of this verse I heard on Wednesday night: “Sorry your kids are dead, but they probably deserved it.”

JOB 11:6b – And his pal Zophar tends more toward condemning than comforting, too. The title of this section in the ESV says it all.

JOB 13:5 (NIV) – Nice one, Job. Silence would indeed suit these guys well.

MOST OF JOB – Lord, help me not to be like Job’s fair-weather friends. Teach me how to shut my mouth and listen more. Also, I hope Job got some better friends after this crisis.

JOB 38 – What is it about the human race (yours truly included) that makes us believe we are actually entitled to know things? We are created things yet we somehow think all our whys should be indulged by an answer, as if we could possibly grasp the vast and ancient wisdom of the Ancient of Days. How like a small child we are, sulking when our Father doesn’t provide us with an answer we can come to terms with and not realizing we aren’t even capable or understanding even if He deigned to tell us (see also Genesis 2:16-17; 3:6).

JOB 41 – What in the sweet summer sunshine is Leviathan and how can I avoid ever meeting one??

My overall takeaway from this past reading of Job is to stay in my lane and trust my God even when nothing around me makes any sense. Lord, help us to remember who we are and who You are, amen!

What If?

~ Heather Davis ~ 10 Comments

Reading through one of my (admittedly many) favorite biblical stories today – the story of Joseph – caused me to reflect on my own selfishness. Too often in my walk with the Lord, I’ve asked the wrong questions, particularly when things don’t go the way I think they ought. But what if instead of placing myself at the center of the story, I accepted all events as part of the unfolding plan of the Faithful God?

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations…

Deuteronomy 7:9

What if I recognized that I am only one of billions of elements incorporated into His composition – a design so intricate and far-reaching, the first stroke was laid ages before my birth; a masterpiece encompassing more details than my mind can fathom spanning the breadth of eternity? What if I simply trusted the Almighty’s sure hand instead of wrapping myself in faithless despair at the first glimpse of a speck of darkness?

In fact, what if all of us who claim Yeshua Messiah (Christ Jesus) as our Lord laid down our limited understanding and trusted in His limitless sovereignty?

Now that would be something indeed.

So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

Genesis 45:4-5

I’m reminded by Joseph’s words that my story isn’t really mine. The little length of my life is less than a fleck of paint in the Creator’s magnum opus.

I can make myself miserable by questioning events so far beyond my purview, I wouldn’t understand them fully even if the Eternal One let me in on the wheres, whys, and hows. Or I can be at peace, resting in the goodness of the One who does know, and humbly performing the tasks, no matter how trivial, He gives me to do each day.

Keeping my eyes on my troubles and inviting doubt and misery, or fixing my eyes on the Lord and embracing trust and peace.

It’s not a difficult choice when broken down into the simplest elements.