“Then Job answered and said, Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.” Job 23:1-6
In this chapter we see Job admitting that his complaints seemed rebellious, but can we blame him after all his suffering? Now he is longing for a personal audience with the Lord if only he knew where to find Him. He knew that he could stand before Him without fear, he could plead his cause, and the Lord would listen, and treat him fairly. Job did not realize that the Lord had been with him all this time, but deep down in his heart, he knew that God had a plan for him (verse 10) and controlled his destiny (vs. 14).
As we consider Job’s story, it is important to remember that he did not have the resources that we have today. If he did have any written scriptures, it would have been just the first few books of our Bible. He did not know the Redemption story that we know today. He had no comforting scriptures to rely upon, or spiritual songs to sing to lift his spirit. No spirit-filled friends to encourage him, only these men who made his suffering worse.
David almost sounded like Job in Psalm 18:20-23 “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.”
Like Job, we cannot meet with the Lord in person, but we are never out of His view. Because of His death, burial, and resurrection, we have His Holy Spirit dwelling within and at any moment we can call out to Him in prayer, and He hears. He knows the way that we take, our times are in His hand. Whatever trial or test we may be going through we have the assurance that He will never leave us nor forsake us. How blessed we are to live in this day.
Have you thanked the Lord today, for salvation, for His Holy Spirit, for the Word of God, and all the other blessings He has bestowed upon you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, this is the day that You have made, and I will be glad and rejoice in it. Thank You for the privilege of knowing you and being able to communicate with you.
Devotion by Anne Johnston
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