Monday, November 12, 2012

Genesis 41, Job 7, Mark and Romans 11

Job chapter 7 paints a beautifully realistic picture of a prayer life during a time of suffering. Job is hurt...Job is angry...Job is confused...and he also knows that God can handle anything he can dish out. He goes to God in his anger and he questions what God is doing, but he never rejects God. Even as he struggles with why such terrible things have happened in his life, he maintains his faith in God's sovereignty. This is something that we need to remember. Job cannot see the big picture of what God is doing, so he angrily questions God. Suffering, we find out in the book of Job, is not as simple as, "I sinned, so I will suffer." If that were the case, we would all be in brutal agony all the time, right? We find out through Job that God may be doing more through our momentary times of suffering than we could ever understand. We need to trust God and pour our hearts out to Him. Don't be afraid to give God a piece of your mind (Job did!)...just remember that your whole mind doesn't come close to matching the tiniest sliver of God's mind...get whatever you need to get off your chest out, but be ready for the revelation that will come to you when God shows you that He knew what He was doing all along.

This ties in with Romans 11:33 - "how unsearchable are His judgements and how inscrutable are His ways!" To try to figure God out...to try to construct completely error free human theological doctrines is nearly impossible...God is God and we are not. All of creation is working out in an infinitely complex tapestry of decisions, actions, reactions, and so forth...and God is weaving them all towards an end that only He knows. Romans 11 shows us a little glimpse of that complexity. The Jews were called, but when they failed to hold true to their covenant with God (Except for a remnant), He allowed salvation to come to the Gentiles...hoping that the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ for the non-chosen peoples of the world would bring the wayward Israelites back into commitment. Human interactions with God is a never ending dance of rebellion, discipline, forgiveness, idolatry, grace, judgment, mercy, etc. God is calling all people to Him...God has labeled all disobedient (v.32)...paid the price for that disobedience (Jesus)...and is using everything at His disposal (Which is quite a lot) to bring as many of His children (humanity) back into relationship as possible. Trust that He knows what He is doing, and live to honor His relentless love.

No comments: