Job 28:12-28

Every year I read Job's story and every year I marvel at this man who came at God with his questions and his fear and his cry for mercy and for answers yet still praised Him and knew that the whole universe is in His hands. Many times I have thought that Job didn't understand something - that maybe God was showing him that his faith was based on wrong assumptions or that he was counting himself righteous because of things he did rather than as a state of being. But again and again Job has surprised me with his insight and depth of understanding - Job knew that even his righteousness was no offering to a God who was infinitely holy, infinitely just and who lived in unapproachable light. Job knew that unless God wished to reveal Himself then no man could ever know Him nor stand before Him, yet nonetheless he could do nothing more than speak truth as he understood it and hope that God was not only holy and just but that He was also infinitely merciful and gracious. 

Isn't that really what we think too? We know that God is perfect and holy and righteous and just and true and we know too that if He isn't gracious towards us, if He doesn't show mercy then we are lost and we will be lost for eternity. I cannot tell you how many times I have come on my knees before the Lord and said that same thing - Lord without your grace I am done for, without your mercy and forgiveness I have nowhere to go because even at my best - even the most righteous deed I could ever accomplish would be as filthy rags before you and could never make the way for me to get to You. 

But here is the most amazing thing - it is this understanding, that I am poor in spirit - that I have nothing to bring to a God who deserves everything, this understanding that God calls good - that leads me to fall before Him and not only ask for His mercy but to expect to receive it on the basis of all that He has said to me in Christ Jesus. 

That is the miracle - that is the overwhelming love of God at work - that He would come and pay my price and that He would reveal that to me in words I could understand and then by power of His Spirit give me life - a life that enables me to come boldly to His throne of grace to find help, and mercy and grace and love, and truth and and.. and...in my time of need. 

Job knew this - he knew that he had a Redeemer who would come to him(Job 19:25), he knew that God's word was His covenant promise - knew that no matter what God is always faithful to His Word, to Himself. And so he continued, even when he did not understand, he continued to proclaim the truth. Here in Job 28 we have just one small section of the truth that caught my eye this morning:

But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?.... 

And to man He said, Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding. 

Read these verses this morning, read them and praise your God who was and is and is to come. Praise Him that though you may not understand all that is happening around you - though the circumstances of your life may not be all that you hoped they would be - praise Him that He is God Most High and that He has chosen to be gracious to you - praise Him that your Redeemer lives and that in the end He will stand upon the earth! 

And praise Him too that it is the 'fear' of the Lord that is wisdom - that the healthy reverential fear of the Lord will cause you to come to Him always on the basis of who He is and never with anything of your own. Only as we understand this will we know the complete freedom that Christ Jesus offers, only as we understand that it is not about me - but rather all about the One who is wholly other, who chose to give Himself so that I might come to know Him. Praise Him that the grace and mercy we receive are not simply His gifts, not separate to Him, but rather the outward expression of His character - and that it is His desire that we might understand and lay hold of the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge that we might be filled up to all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:18-19). Praise Him that He promises that it is possible for you and I to be filled up with Him - filled up with grace and mercy and truth and love! Filled up with the One who is the outward expression of God - the One in whom grace and truth were manifested on this planet! 

The fear of the Lord is wisdom - that fear which causes you to marvel at His love which is freely given to you in Christ Jesus, the fear that causes your heart to sing at the wonder of new birth, at the amazing miracle of salvation that is totally and utterly secure in Christ Jesus. 

DT Stuff

I have spent these past few weeks writing for the upcoming events in the DT calendar and in particular the new 6 week course - From Fear to Faith which will start on 15 September. It has been a joy for me to discover the truth that sets us free and to hear the Lord say to me, 'it is I, do not be afraid'.  Over an over again in His Word we are told not to be afraid and over and over again the reason given is that He is with us. 

I have been listening too - wonderful new songs that are so easy to hear online - songs of praise and deliverance, songs that have filled my heart with joy and caused me to lift my voice to the God who chose me and called me His own. 

Through it all the Lord has reminded me that the life I have is a gift from Him, that every moment of every day is to be spent seeking His kingdom and His righteousness. I have heard Him say, don't waste your life, don't be deceived and do not give in to the work of the enemy of your soul. So this is a plug for the new course and indeed for all the seminars and conferences that we have planned. Set your heart on the things of God - fill your mind with His Word, join with us in sweet fellowship around His truth and do all that you can to stand firm as the enemy attacks. 

Sustained by grace, Compelled by love and Knowing Christ Now - each has led me into the next, each one a beautiful piece of the jigsaw of His Word. Every time I sit to write my mind is flooded by His truth and He makes the connections for me, the words flying off my fingers as I type and His truth making me free at every turn. 

And don't forget to come and pray - to pray for the church and our nation. To pray that believers in the Lord Jesus will know the truth and contend earnestly for it. Pray that each one will decide that the glory of God is worth their time, their energy and their talent. Pray unceasingly and pray with us - pray that His glorious, life transforming Word, ministered by His Spirit will have its way in the lives of all who call themselves believers in Christ.

2 Chronicles 31:20 - 32:8

We might ask why it is when King Hezekiah has been doing what was good, right and true before the Lord his God - why every work he did in the service of the house of God in law and commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered - why then in light of such devotion and faithfulness do we read in the very next sentence that the king of Assyria came and invaded Judah? Hadn't Hezekiah done enough to ensure that God protected them from invasion? Didn't he have a right to expect some sort of special protection? Why would God allow this to happen to someone who was faithfully and quite obviously seeking after God's glory and wanting to lead and encourage others to do the same thing?

This is surely the conundrum - why do bad things happen to good people?

And God doesn't really answer this question - He doesn't give an answer to Job and He doesn't give us an answer here. What we do see is that Hezekiah so trusted his God, so knew Him to be the great and awesome, Sovereign God that he took courage and spoke encouragingly to the people: 'Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed ....for the one with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.

It is only those people who have known God - who have experienced a life spent serving Him, loving Him, obeying Him - only those who have walked with Him and understood who He is, that are able encourage others with the Truth, that can be a light shining in a dark place, can be the seeing eye to the blind. Because of Hezekiah's prior relationship he was able to encourage the people - because he knew God and trusted Him the people relied on the words of Hezekiah, stood firm and were victorious.

Do you know God? Have you walked with Him? Have you consecrated yourself to Him, to His service, for His glorious kingdom? Then know this - God will use you to encourage others - He will put you in situations and circumstances that will enable you to shine like a star in the dark sky. You will be enabled to stand firm and to lead many to righteousness - enabled to snatch others from the fire and to bring peace and joy into the most terrifying situations. Your witness, your testimony will be the manifestation of His wisdom in the spiritual realms and you will hear with the ears of faith the Lord rejoicing over you with shouts of joy.

When your circumstances look bleak, when there is no reason why - trust God, trust His plan and purpose for your life and stand steadfast in His perfect peace.