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the heart of God

January 4, 2010 6 comments Article devos

i’m reading in job right now and am trying to approach it as though i’ve never heard the story before in order to gain insight about it i’ve never had or view an ‘old’ insight through a new lens.

it struck me that job would get up early in the morning after their week of feasts and offer sacrifices on behalf of all his children in the event they had sinned or cursed God in their hearts.

what an act of sacrifice for his beloved ones. he loved them with the heart of God.

then in later chapters he is victim (yes! victim!) to all kinds of pain and evil: his children die, his servants die, his fields are destroyed, his livestock are gone, and then he is covered with a painful disease. and his friends decide to visit him to offer sympathy and to comfort him.

for a while they say nothing then finally one of his friends speaks up and first reproves him for not maintaining his integrity with God. then seems to assert that he is merely reaping what he has sown.

i know sometimes and in some circumstances that is wise council. but was it appropriate for job? if they felt he had sinned, why not do as job had done and offer sacrifices on his behalf? would it work that way or can only a parent do that for their children?

i’m not saying i know the answer, i’m just wondering out loud. because the scripture seems clear that by making offerings for his children, that is just what a man who is blameless and upright does for those he loves.

but his friends, they came to offer sympathy and comfort, not offerings and sacrifices. where is the heart of God for their friend job? perhaps their sacrifice was in leaving their homes and families to see their friend and stay awhile. that would sure be a sacrifice for me! but does it take care of the sins they think he may have committed to end up in this situation? are they willing to bear that penalty? i wonder.

today is day one of 21 days of prayer – an event at my church. the reading for today talked about praying for people who don’t know Christ and desiring to gain God’s heart for others. i didn’t realize it at the time, but when i was honing in on who in job’s story was acting out of a heart aligned with God or not, that it would have anything to do with the direction of prayer we would be taking today in 21DOP. i love it when God makes connections like that.

and so it is my prayer that i would gain God’s heart – that his heart would beat within my own chest – and i would see others the way he would see them and love them with his love. and that i would be willing to go beyond offering sympathy and comfort (although they are important and coveted, i’m sure) but that i would be willing to go the extra mile and bring offerings and sacrifices on behalf of others. that i would travel whatever distance to get to someone who was in pain and that i would seek God for them, with them.

and that everything in my own life would point others to Christ.

i was also struck in job by the fact that things just happen in the heavenly realm we know nothing about and yet they can affect our lives. we may face challenges where our behavior through it is meant to be an example for the sons of God to witness. are we living up to those challenges? are we pointing to Christ even when whatever it is we treasure is being threatened? what if we lack sleep or food? would we praise the Almighty? what if every single one of our friends deserted us or died? would our hearts still burn for the Lord? what if our jobs, our family, our health were all… gone. would we still love and honor and worship God?

oh it is my prayer that we would. and that we would still love with the heart of God so that we bring others to love and honor and worship Him.

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6 comments

  • Brian Considine January 4, 2010 at 2:19 pm - Reply

    Great thoughts, Trace. Good point with respect to offering sacrifices for friends. Prayer, as intercession, is a sacrifice – see Isaiah 56:7. The problem with Job’s friends however is there understanding of God, and there judgmental spirit, which is why God rebuked them later in the story. We would do well to remember that when we pray for our friends and family.

  • Mel January 4, 2010 at 5:51 pm - Reply

    Thanks for sharing. I’m reading through YouVersion’s Chronological reading plan and found your blog. I had just read Job back in the summer and it was really crazy that my reading plan flips to it right at the beginning! I needed help with a little perspective on Job….thanks for your thoughts and it will definitely give me more to think about!!

  • Anonymous January 5, 2010 at 4:22 pm - Reply

    5/1/10 10:21 AM

    Love your depth of knowledge at such a young age. I have prayed with you and know your heart for the lost. I read thru your thoughts on Job and it became difficult to read thru the tears.

  • ~Jenn~ April 16, 2010 at 3:36 am - Reply

    What’s amazing to me in the midst of all that Job is going through is that he falls down and worships God without having had the advantage of the Bible or the prophecies.

    Job is the oldest book in the Bible, chronologically it was written first. He had nothing to fall back on but experience.

    Today we have the advantage of referring to the prophecies of old. We can counter Satan the way Jesus did in the desert and say, “IT IS WRITTEN …”

    That was one of several points made in my church this past week and one that struck me hard that I hadn’t realized that point of view before. Thought I’d share.

  • frokey May 8, 2010 at 8:16 am - Reply

    Trace, thanks for taking the time to journal and allow your thoughts to be seen. It’s 2:49am where I am and I’m up because of being awakened by a leaky roof which, at this point, seems to be the hand of God in disguise! Lol! I was drawn to the Word and found your contribution (I rarely look at the contributions) in the Youversion mobile app. The second to last paragraph of your post really blessed me. I’m going through a divorce and there are so many questions as to why…I was reminded today by other events and finally, by your post, that this life is so often not about us. Sometimes, as you said, God allows us to go through things just so others can see our walk. I’m amazed and awed yet again by God’s love and sovereignty. When life seems so out of control and left looks the same as right, praise the Lord that the steps of a righteous man are truly ordered by the Lord! Thanks again and may God’s blessings chase after you!!!

  • Anonymous June 28, 2010 at 4:10 am - Reply

    I’ve been reading through Job recently too. Actually my reason for reading it initially was to satisfy a world literature requirement. Instead, I’ve found it to be very helpful for direction. I especially am reached by Gods condemnation of the three “friends.” They all have different views of how Job should get past his struggles. It appears that Jobs choice is to be real with God, sharing his true feelings of hatred towards the situation. I’m with Jenn that it’d be tough to struggle without the Bible to turn to for answers. Job wants the truth from Gods lips and not some fake pat on the back. I’ve been challenged by God to seek similar prayer.

    I need help understanding Job 1:7. God asks Satan “Where have you come from?” Can someone help me understand why the all knowing God would ask Satan this, something he already knows?

    -Mitchel

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