And Job again took up his discourse and said,

“Oh that I were as in months gone by,

As in the days when GOD watched over me;

When HIS lamp shone over my head,

And by HIS light I walked through darkness;

As I was in the prime of my days,

When the friendship of GOD was over my tent;

When the ALMIGHTY was yet with me,

And my children were around me;

When my steps were bathed in butter,

And the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

Job 29:1-6

“And now my soul is poured out within me;

Days of affliction have seized me.

“At night it pierces my bones within me,

And my gnawing pains take no rest.

“By a great force my garment is distorted;

It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

“HE has cast me into the mire,

And I have become like dust and ashes.

“I cry out to YOU for help, but YOU do not answer me;

I stand up, and YOU turn YOUR attention against me.

“YOU have become cruel to me;

With the might of YOUR hand YOU persecute me.

“You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride;

And YOU dissolve me in a storm.

“For I know that YOU will bring me to death

And to the house of meeting for all living.

Job 30:16-23

In these two passages of Scripture, Job first talks about how blessed his life was before tragedy and intense suffering befell him. He then describes his intense emotional and physical suffering, which seemed to be met only with silence when he cried to our Beloved LORD GOD for help. This sadly leads him to accusing our precious GOD of indifference, cruelty and persecution. Which leads us into our current lesson from The Book of Job. Do not let your circumstances cause you to lose confidence in our GOD, doubting HIS love and concern for you.

Our prayer is that each one of you would personally and intimately know our Beloved LORD JESUS CHRIST, so that as HE dwells in your hearts by faith, you would know how wide, how long, how high, and how deep HIS love is. And that you would know and experience that love beyond your understanding, so that you would never again doubt HIS love or concern for you despite your circumstances (Eph 3:14-19).

And that from the very depth of your heart and soul, you would understand our LORD’s declaration to each one of us in Romans 8:35-39:

Can anything ever separate us from CHRIST’s love?

Does it mean HE no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?

(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through CHRIST, who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from GOD’s love.

Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow

Not even the powers of hell can separate us from GOD’s love.

No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of GOD that is revealed in CHRIST JESUS our LORD.

New Living Translation

Our brother Paul knew GOD’S love for him and all the other apostles going through intense suffering when he declared in 2 Corinthians 4:7-12:

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.

This makes it clear that our great power is from GOD, not from ourselves.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed.

We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.

We are hunted down, but never abandoned by GOD.

We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of JESUS

So that the life of JESUS may also be seen in our bodies.

 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve JESUS,

So that the life of JESUS will be evident in our dying bodies.

So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

New Living Translation

It is important to stop here and emphasize, you cannot have confidence in someone you do not know. If you do not have a real, personal and intimate relationship with our LORD JESUS CHRIST, you cannot know GOD (Jhn 14:6, Jhn 8:19, Jhn 16:1-3) you will never understand HIS WORD (2 Cor 2:14-16), nor trust in HIS promises (Zep 3:1-2). You can know HIM, by simply accepting HIS free gift of love and salvation (Rom 6:23, Jhn 3:16, Rom 5:8). Ask HIM today to come into your heart and life, HE’s waiting for your invitation (Rev 3:20).

For those of you who have a personal relationship with our Beloved LORD JESUS CHRIST, do not let your circumstances cause you to lose confidence in our Beloved ABBA FATHER. If you know HIM, then trust:

1. HE is causing all things to work together for good (Rom 8:28), as demonstrated in Job’s suffering (Job 3:25-26, Job 9:28, Job 30:15, Job 42:5-6, Jam 5:11―Job 42:10-17).
2. As any good parent HE disciplines those HE loves (Heb 12:5-8, Pro 13:24).
3. HE is creating holiness within us, and causing the fruit of righteousness to be produced through us (Heb 12:9-11, Jhn 15:2, Gal 5:22-23), the more obedient we become the more present The HOLY SPIRIT is in our lives (Acts 5:32, 1 Pet 4:14)

 

HE humbled you and let you be hungry

And fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know

That HE might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone

But man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of The LORD

Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years

Thus you are to know in your heart that The LORD your GOD was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son

Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of The LORD your GOD, to walk in HIS ways and to fear HIM

Deuteronomy 8:3-6