Bend it Like Job

Julie Cosgrove

Take today’s next step: Become a Blog Mentor and you can help people who need to see God in their circumstances today.

“Show me my offense and my sin…You keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet.” (Job 13:23b, 27)

God agreed to let Satan take everything from Job – his family, friends, property, and health – in order to test Job’s faith. But there is one thing Satan could not take away: He could not snatch Job’s free will to choose faith in God.

It was a common belief in Job’s day that God’s wrath came upon us if we did something wrong. His friends figured Job must have committed a heinous sin to have so much misfortune befall him. In fact, Job began to think the same thing. But the One Job did not wonder about was God. Instead of being like Adam, who hid from God and then played the blame-game, Job stood firm, bent a knee, and asked God to forgive him for all his sins. His belief that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and that we are by nature sinful and unworthy to approach His throne resonates throughout the whole book.

Tucked in chapter 13 is this plea from Job, “Show me my offense and my sin . . . . you keep close watch on all my paths by putting marks on the soles of my feet.” (Job 13:23b, 27)

In Babylon, during the time the Israelites were in exile, slaves were marked on their feet. That way they couldn’t escape their owner, because everyone knew to whom they belonged. A thousand years later, Jesus would allow the nails to mark His feet on the cross as He took on our sins. As a result of His sacrifice, unlike Job, believers are no longer under God’s wrath, but His mercy. Our feet are not marked because we are no longer slaves to sin. Instead, our souls are marked as Christ’s own with the seal of the Holy Spirit for all eternity

However, that doesn’t mean we cannot not learn from Job. Like him, we must acknowledge that we are unworthy on our own to approach God or to question His motives. As Paul states in his letter to the Romans, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”(Romans 3:23)

Job understood that, whatever happens to us in this life, good or bad, God is still in control. The word proclaims that, even if we are wronged, God will turn what was intended for evil into good if we do not lose faith. We can be assured of God’s just grace to work things out for us to a good end. And if we do wrong, as long as we humbly acknowledge that we are sinful, imperfect, and in need of a Savior, the gates of Heaven open to pour mercy upon us.

After all, Paul also tells the Roman Christians, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”(Romans 8:31) Job is a prime example of such hope. God was with him through all his tribulations, and in the end, Job was blessed because he held firm in his faith. Even though he complained to God, Job never doubted Him. He bent his will to His holy Father, but he never bent his faith. We need to do the same.

Father God, help me to trust in You in the midst of hardship. Let me not blame You when I am suffering; rather, grant me Your grace to be like Job and to humbly submit myself to You, that I may understand Your will for me. In persevering may I grow evermore in the image and likeness of my precious Savior. I ask these things in the holy and mighty name of Jesus, Amen.

Questions: If you are wronged, how will you act? Will you turn it over to God and trust Him with the outcome?

Comment on this devotional

Join us every week day for Daily Devotional Chat in women’s chatroom at 10:30am Eastern





http://powertochange.com/blogposts/2013/03/28/bend-it-like-job/