11/17/2011 8:28:27 PM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: Three Bitter Complaints
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Job 23-24
Message of the verses: Today’s SD begins the second main point from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on the book of Job which he has entitled “Be Patient.” I have been using Warren Wiersbe’s commentaries to aid me in my study of the Word of God for many years because he makes the Bible come alive with his great insight and wisdom, but always puts it in terms that can be understood. His commentaries begin with “Be” and in the title of Job it is “Be Patient” as I stated above. The “Be” book for the book of Philippians is entitled “Be Joyful,” and this is just another example of how he uses the word “Be” in his commentaries.
It was just last year about this time that I discovered that I had a kidney stone; in fact I had three of them at one time, two on the left side and one on the right side. Kidney stones are very painful and the pain comes when they begin to move as they are very sharp. I went to a doctor who was to use sound waves to break up the stone. The problem was that he did not realize that there were two stones and when he broke up the small one the large one moved and it caused me a tremendous amount of pain. I had to go through another procedure to get rid of the large stone and the remains of the other one and this too was very painful. When I got home there was some friends and family that came to visit and I was in no shape to talk to them as I did not really want them around because of dealing with the pain. I write this to say that I have a great deal of respect for Job as he was not only able to speak to these men, but he kept his integrity not giving in to the stories that they were telling him that were not true of his situation.
We will begin this SD looking at three complaints that Job had against God, not against the men that were speaking to him. Job had answered their charges before and it does not seem that they had any new things to talk to Job about anyway. We will begin with Job’s first complaint against God: God is hiding from me: (Job 23:1-12): “ 1 ¶ Then Job replied, 2 "Even today my complaint is rebellion; His hand is heavy despite my groaning. 3 "Oh that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat! 4 "I would present my case before Him And fill my mouth with arguments. 5 "I would learn the words which He would answer, And perceive what He would say to me. 6 "Would He contend with me by the greatness of His power? No, surely He would pay attention to me. 7 "There the upright would reason with Him; And I would be delivered forever from my Judge.
“8 ¶ "Behold, I go forward but He is not there, And backward, but I cannot perceive Him; 9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him. 10 "But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 11 "My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. 12 "I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
(NASB)
“1 ¶ Job replied: 2 "I’m not letting up—I’m standing my ground. My complaint is legitimate. God has no right to treat me like this—it isn’t fair! 3 If I knew where on earth to find him, I’d go straight to him. 4 I’d lay my case before him face-to-face, give him all my arguments firsthand. 5 I’d find out exactly what he’s thinking, discover what’s going on in his head. 6 Do you think he’d dismiss me or bully me? No, he’d take me seriously. 7 He’d see a straight-living man standing before him; my Judge would acquit me for good of all charges.
“8 ¶ "I travel East looking for him—I find no one; then West, but not a trace; 9 I go North, but he’s hidden his tracks; then South, but not even a glimpse. 10 "But he knows where I am and what I’ve done. He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors. 11 I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints, not once swerving from his way. 12 I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken, and not just obeyed his advice—I’ve treasured it.” (Message)
We see in this section that Job is looking for God, but in verse ten we see that Job knows that God knows where he is at, but even so Job has stated that he wanted to find Him and that he had looked all over for Job but could not find Him. Verse ten in the NASB is a verse that many people have memorized or at least when they hear it know that it is from the book of Job. Job is saying that God has put him into a furnace and this analogy is used in several other places in Scripture, for instance we see it in the book of Deuteronomy speaking about the children of Israel being in a furnace in Egypt (Deu. 4:20) In Psalm 66:10 we see it again and also in 1Peter 1:6-7 and also 4:12 we see it again. For many years I worked in a foundry and one of my jobs was to melt cast iron. We use to melt 3000 tons of cast iron a day and so whenever I look at passages like those mentioned above I have some knowledge as to what the author is talking about. When the cast iron is being melted there is also a lot of slag that is melted with it and that has to be separated from the iron in order to use the iron to produce the products that we made there. There were times when the process got out of control and the slag and the iron were mixed together and this was one of the most difficult parts of my job when that happened. For most of the time the slag went where it was suppose to and the iron went where it was suppose to and the result was great castings.
One thing we must remember that when the Lord puts us in His furnace that he controls the thermostat and we too, like Job will be refined like gold. We must remember that Job’s life was pleasing with the Lord before he went into the furnace, and not he will be more refined after spending time in the furnace. We see that while Job was in the furnace that God’s Word was precious to him and it was his guide, something that Eliphaz wanted Job to obey, but Job was already obeying God and His Word.
Dr. Wiersbe points out that some get burned when they are in God’s furnace, but some are purified and the difference is their attitude toward the Word of God and also the will of God. We need to be nourished by God’s Word and we also need to submit to His will. The furnace will still be painful, but while we are in there we should take that opportunity to learn and be refined by it.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I want to be able to say like Job 10 "But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Having the right attitude when going through trials and tribulations is key along with submitting to God’s will and to be nourished by His Word.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Proverbs 3:5-6.
2. Romans 12:1-2.
3. Philippians 4:1b.
11/17/2011 9:15:30 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment