I’ve been thinking about Job lately. You know, the guy from the bible whom God allowed Satan to test, and afflict, and put through sore trials.
There’s two famous verses that are always quoted from Job.
Job 13:15 “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.”
Job 23:10 “When he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
These are always quoted rather triumphantly, but if I’m reading the context right, Job is saying them as a defense of his own righteousness; his own insistence that he’d done nothing wrong. In the first one, he declares his hope in the Lord while also saying he’d continue to argue his ways before Him. And a little farther down Job declares that he knows he’ll be vindicated. He challenges God to show him his sin while maintaining wholly that he. had. not. sinned.
Then 10 chapters later, it’s the same thing. Again, this is usually quoted as a victorious thing, but Job is essentially saying ‘while I can’t see God or know what He’s doing, He can see me; and when He’s done trying and testing me, I’ll come forth as gold because I’m righteous and I’ve kept to His ways and treasured His words’.
We quote it as triumphant, but if you think about it, it’s actually bordering on the arrogant.
Trust me….. oh, do trust me, when I say I don’t want to be another of Job’s accusing ‘friends’. I know full well that in the throes of suffering and trials, and the tryings to understand, that you often land in places of thought and words that you wouldn’t ordinarily touch. God isn’t condemning in such. He’s a loving Father. He isn’t one of Job’s friends. He knew Job’s heart was desiring to be obedient. He understands our flesh, that we are but dust, and He has mercy on us especially when things are rough. Yes, I know, He was hard on Job, challenging him and his thinking, and His expectations were high (He is the God of the universe after all), but He never, ever condemned Job in his struggling. Not once.
But with that said, it’s not the trials I’m thinking about. It’s the whole “I’m righteous” thing. For Job, as well as Job’s friends, it was all about whether he was righteous or not; whether he’d sinned or not. To his friends, there must be some sin somewhere or God wouldn’t have allowed his trial. To Job, there wasn’t any sin anywhere.
To God, it wasn’t about either one….
Life’s not about us and “our righteousness”; it’s not about us and our perceived lack of righteousness. It’s all about Himself. The revealing of Himself to His beloved.
That I may know Him….. (Phil 3:10)
THIS was the place GOD stood in Job’s situation. THIS was it’s purpose. It’s where He always stands in everything in our lives.
Life’s about God revealing Himself; His SON; and us SEEing HIM. Everything’s out from the SEEing of JESUS.
All of Job’s “goodness” was as nothing. But, all of his “badness” was nothing too. It’s the same for us. If we’re truly in Christ, then God’s not looking at whether we’re doing good or have done bad (and no, i’m not saying sins are okay). He’s looking to reveal Himself to us. He wants to live in our life and out from our life so that we and others He might SEE HIM. That’s His heart in all that we go through in our daily situations, be that long term difficulty or itty bitty trial or big humongous face plant failure. He wants to show us Himself and He wants others to be able to see Him too.
That means it’s pretty useless to pat ourselves on the back for our ‘righteousness’. It also means we don’t have to crumple in utter defeat and dismay over our failures. This Life in Him isn’t about those things. He’s not looking there, and we shouldn’t be either.
Are you righteous? Good. See CHRIST and not yourself. And stop judging those who are going thru trials as if they’ve sinned and deserve it. Have you failed? Do you keep failing? Good. SEE CHRIST and not yourself. It’s about Him showing you Himself and you SEEing HIM. Dig into that. Yes, do confess and repent. But don’t live there and make it about “you” (and your failures) in any direction.
“You” are not what Life in Him is all about.
This Life in Him is about Him. Have the eyes of your heart there. Job SAW and found Him wonderful.
<3
mary