Job 31: 1-7, 35-37, 38: 1-11 Devo

June 7th, 2020

June 28th

“Job” 

Job 31: 1-7, 35-37, 38: 1-11

   

Keep the sermon topic and Biblical text preaching all week by following Pastor Michelle on twitter @tinypastor and reading her sermon blog www.revmichelle.blogspot.com

Monday: “Unrighteous” - Job 31: 1-4

In some ways, Job is facing an impossible delemmia on top of the calamity that has befallen his household. Job lives in a day and time when the common belief is that you get what you deserve. In other words, good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Only they put a bit of a religious gloss over the top, saying that you would be blessed if you were good and cursed if you were bad. 

Yet, here is Job, a righteous man who is suffering in deep and real ways.

Job’s friends are not helpful, as they believe that Job must have brought this upon himself with some unconfessed sin. But Job knows his own heart. So Job is asking God why this is happening to him and asking God to see him in his suffering.

Job is one of the first people that leads us to ask the question that we still have today, ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’ Which speaks to the theology we still carry around today about good and bad things happening to people. 

  Why do you think good and bad things happen to people?

Prayer: God, we thank you that we can turn to you in every moment of our lives. Both, O Lord, when things are going smoothly, and when we are in times of trial. See us and walk with us, Lord, we pray. Amen. 

Tuesday: “Let” - Job 31: 5-7

Job knows the state of his own heart, but he still essentially says to God, if there is some sin that is hidden in my heart - just let me know. If others know a way that he has sinned, they should let God know. 

Job is not someone who deceives himself into thinking that a sin that he has committed is not really a sin. He is not someone who has blind spots in his heart and life. He knows that there is nothing to be known.

While some may read this as Job starting to doubt whether he does have anything he has to confess before God, it is really a reminder that Job is blameless. I wonder how many of us would be able to say the same thing. How many of us would be able to claim that we are truly without unconfessed sin in our lives or places that we keep hidden. Probably not many.

Take time today to ask God to examine your heart and point out to you any unconfessed sin.

Prayer: Lord, we know ourselves well enough to know that we are not as righteous or blameless as Job. We have strayed this week. We have carried sin in our hearts. We have not been faithful to your ways. Point this out to us, O Lord, so we can renew our hearts and lives before you, we pray. Amen. 

Wednesday: “Hear Me” - Job 31: 35-37

  Have you ever been in a place like Job where you simply cry out “Hear me, Lord!”?

I was recently talking to a friend about how we sometimes miss the point. When we think that God is the most distant is actually when he is so close to us that we are cannot see or perceive. 

Think of it this way: One of my nieces is far-sighted. That means that see cannot clearly see that which is closest to her. Even when she squints, without her glasses, words and pictures in the books she loves are just blurry. 

So it is with our lives. Sometimes our hearts are a little far-sighted. When God is the closet to us, it is the hardest for us to see, 

When do you notice God’s presence the most in your life?

Prayer: God, let my heart clearly see you and my ears clearly hear you. Remind me, that even when you feel distant you are truly present and near to me. Amen. 

Thursday: “Answered” -Job 38: 1-7

  God finally answers Job, but it isn’t as a judge, speaking harsh words. Instead, God meets Job and starts to speak in what sounds like poetry. God reminds Job of the vastness of the knowledge and love of God. God speaks of all of the ways that God dazzles Job, but also the sovereignty of God. 

Do not miss the point, brothers and sisters. The point is that the God who made the whole world loved Job enough to come and meet him in his distress. To come and answer his cries. God loves us enough that God wants to have a relationship with us. Even when we fail. Even when we do not understand. That is how big the love of our God is. 

  How do you know that God loves you?

Prayer: Lord, there are times when it is hard to feel loved, until we stop and remember that you, the Creator of the whole universe, take time to be in relationship with us. O Lord, let us feel your love and share it freely with the world, we pray. Amen. 

Friday: “When I” - Job 38: 8-11

  God speaks to Job of all of the things that God had done over time. When I read these statements I think of the power and mystery of God. 

The problem is that it is really hard for our human brains to wrap our mind around the mystery of God, so we break it down into pithy sayings, that are not scripturally based. The result is that we look right past what God is doing. Or we sound like Job’s friends with our empty sayings.

We, as humans, want everything to have a reason and a place, and here is God reminding Job that there are going to be some things that we simply will not understand, because mystery is a real and regular part of our lives. 

How do you live into the mystery of God?

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the things that we do not understand. We marvel at how big and wondrous your ways are. Let us live into the gift of the mystery, we pray. Amen. 

Saturday: Preparing for the Word

You are invited to read and pray this week’s text and topic: “Job”- Job 41: 1-8, 42: 1-17