A New Vision Of God

As we come to the end of Black History month, I am once again struck by the faith, courage and resilience of a people who have experienced and endured so much hatred, oppression, injustice and unrighteousness at the hands of their fellow man. We come from a people who had no way of knowing what their prayers and sacrifices would manifest into. But they held on through their trials with a steadfast faith. I believe that if our ancestors were to see the progress that we have made, even in the face of the trials we still face, they would praise God for His grace, His mercy and His faithfulness. We may not understand why we are going through what we go through, but we can trust that God sees all, He knows all and He cares about us. Having gone through his trial, Job began to see God differently. In Job 42:1-6; 10-17, Job realized that while he didn’t get answers to his questions of why he suffered, he did receive a deeper faith and a closer relationship with God that resulted in a new appreciation of God. I pray that you will receive a new vision of God that will allow you to see Him more clearly, walk with Him more nearly and love Him more dearly. Amen.

Then Job replied to the LORD:

“I know that you can do all things;

no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me to know. (Job 42:1-3) God had just conducted a withering examination of Job, in which He asked Job some 70 questions (see Job ch 38-41), none of which Job could answer. Now, here in chapter 42, Job finally responded to God’s confrontation of him with a spirit of contrition. He had come to a deeper appreciation that he (God’s creation) was not capable of understanding God (The Creator) and His purposes for the things that He allows to happen. Job confessed that only God possessed the omnipotence (“you can do all things”) and omniscience (“things too wonderful for me to know”) necessary to create and order the universe in a righteous and just way. Reverence for God is the beginning of wisdom and understanding.

“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.’

My ears had heard of you

but now my eyes have seen you.

Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:4-6) God had indeed questioned Job, but Job had not been able to muster a single answer in response. Yet, Job experienced a revelation of insight that through this ordeal and his encounter with God, he knew God better as one who is intimately concerned with the affairs of His creation. It is one thing to read about God in the Bible or for the preacher to tell you about God, but it is quite another to go through our trials with Him. When we have cried out to Him, totally submitted to Him and put our hope in Him, we come to new levels in our relationship with Him. So that what we thought we knew about God is expanded and deepened and we love and trust Him even more than before. Job ended by repenting of his sins (i.e. questioning the justice of God’s actions and thinking he knew better than God). I don’t want to just know about God…I want to know God!

After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. (Job 42:10-11). God had instructed Job’s 3 friends to make sacrifices to atone for their actions toward Job. He told them to go to Job to pray for them (vv 7-9). One important principle of the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, was that God’s forgiveness of us is tied to our forgiveness of others. After Job had prayed for his 3 friends, God blessed Job with restoration (note: KJV reads “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends”). God blessed Job even beyond what he had before. His family and friends comforted and consoled him. They gave him silver and gold as tokens of reconciliation and peace. Unforgiveness traps us in the bondage and captivity of hurt, anger and pain. Forgiveness opens the way for us to receive peace, reconciliation and the blessings God has for us.

The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years. (Job 42:12-17)

The words that Elihu and Bildad had spoken to Job earlier proved prophetic and God blessed the latter years of Job’s life even more than his former years. God restored and doubled Job’s possessions. He restored Job’s relations with his wife and restored his family lineage, blessing him with another 10 children. God blessed Job’s daughters with exceptional beauty and He restored Job’s health so that he lived another 140 years (he is believed to have been between 50-70 years old at the time). Restoration follows repentance and forgiveness. Don’t block your blessing…

The book of Job ends with Satan’s defeat as God proved him wrong and triumphed. Even in his anger and despair, Job held on to his hope in God. Job never cursed or abandoned God. In the process, Job learned that God had never abandoned him either. Job learned that God is less interested in answering the questions we pose to Him, than in encouraging the kind of faith in us that doesn’t demand answers. In the end, Job exited his trial with a new vision of the God he served. He came to the understanding that we are not capable of fathoming God’s purposes for how He does or why He does what He does. But, through Job's suffering and subsequent encounter with God, he provides us with the insight to see that God is not some distant, unjust entity. In our suffering, we can be assured that God cares…deeply. And maybe that will give you a new vision of God, that draws you closer to Him in midst of your trial, to serve Him in a greater way than you ever have before.

Blessings,

Rev. Glenn