Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Hello, special ones.

We did our Gospel Sing at Country Meadows this morning along with the two little boys. Thano had to go to work at 9am. Overseeing them in that setting presented an additional challenge. In less than an hour we’ll attempt another sing session at Pheasant Pointe.

Blessings on the rest of your day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

So you think you’ve got trouble? Very likely, your range of trouble is pretty puny by comparison to what Job encountered. And that acknowledgment right there makes the story of Job worth the read. Even if this account contains some fiction, we cannot help but empathize with the emotional storm that Job faced with the four major crises that stripped away everything he had in a single day. We cannot avoid asking the question of ourselves, “How would I respond if I were in Job’s shoes?” If you’ve ever been exposed to a worthy role model for shaping views and perspectives, you have it here in Job’s early responses to his horrendous losses. The FOCUS VERSE captures his first response. Can you say, “Wow!” The following verse melts me—I confess I cried—“In all of this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (1:22).

Is this not one of the most common short-comings of all humanity? Does this not indicate one of the most glaring deceptions of man’s deceitful heart (Jeremiah 17:9)?—the notion that MY LIFE AND EXISTENCE IS ABOUT ME—MY COMFORT, MY PLEASURE, MY HEALTH, MY HAPPINESS, MY STUFF, MY FULFILLMENT, MY IMAGE, etc. With this as the default setting, it only stands to reason that a person will rail and complain against Sovereign God and charge Him with wrongdoing when trouble comes. After all, since He is Sovereign, and since He did not prevent something bad from happening to me that He could have prevented, He has to be flawed in His character—in His use of His Sovereignty. And, of course, that makes Him less than trustworthy. But Job did not take that typical course. Did you catch his first reaction to his avalanche of horrific news?—he worshipped! Are you kidding me?! No—it says it right there—“…he fell to the ground in worship…”

To be sure, Job’s trouble didn’t end with the multiple tragedies of the first chapter. Not only was he made to be emotionally miserable, his condition has now escalated to include being physically miserable. And to make matters even worse, his discouraging wife was not stripped away. She remained to brow-beat him—“Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” (2:9). She may have wondered, “How am I going to face my friends at our Bingo party tomorrow?”

We are wise to get this nailed down as firmly as we can: THE PURPOSE OF MY EXISTENCE IS TO PLEASE MY MAKER. We are wise to not tolerate a FAIR WEATHER version of a HEART AFTER GOD.