CONFIDENCE IN THE MASTER OF THE PLAN
But he knows the way that I take;when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job 23:10, R.S.V.
Everything possible had happened to Job. He's lost his herds, his servants, his sons, and his health. His wife did not understand him; his best friends suspected him of some secret misbehavior. Still his trust in God remained unshakable. "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him" (Job 13:15, N.I.V.).
Though we tend to admire Job for his courage and fortitude, it was not his own inner strength that got him through his troubles. It was his understanding of and relationship with God that sustained him. In the first ten verses of chapter 23 we are given an insight into the kind of relationship that existed between God and His friend Job.
Job begins by acknowledging that he feels as though God has laid a heavy hand on him. But he does not allow those feelings to overwhelm him or to make him doubt God's purposes. And, far from making him seek distance from God, he wishes that he could be in His very presence! "I would state my case before him and set out my arguments in full; then I should learn what answer he would give and find out what he had to say. Would he exert his great power to browbeat me? No; God himself would never bring a charge against me" (verses 4-6, N.E.B.).
Job knew that God had a "master plan" for his life. And though at the moment he was completely confused as to what was happening in his life, he had confidence in the Master of the plan! He knew God to be open and fair. He also knew that it was not like God to use His power to manipulate people, that God was reasonable (verse 7). Even through his struggle against his feelings of separation from God, he never considered that God was distancing Himself from him because of some wrong he might have committed. "He knows the way that I take [He is intimately involved in what is happening to me]; and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (verse 10, R.S.V.).
In the end, after Job was restored, God told Job's three friends, "You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has" (chap. 42:7, R.S.V.). God knew He could trust Job because they were friends.
But he knows the way that I take;when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job 23:10, R.S.V.
Everything possible had happened to Job. He's lost his herds, his servants, his sons, and his health. His wife did not understand him; his best friends suspected him of some secret misbehavior. Still his trust in God remained unshakable. "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him" (Job 13:15, N.I.V.).
Though we tend to admire Job for his courage and fortitude, it was not his own inner strength that got him through his troubles. It was his understanding of and relationship with God that sustained him. In the first ten verses of chapter 23 we are given an insight into the kind of relationship that existed between God and His friend Job.
Job begins by acknowledging that he feels as though God has laid a heavy hand on him. But he does not allow those feelings to overwhelm him or to make him doubt God's purposes. And, far from making him seek distance from God, he wishes that he could be in His very presence! "I would state my case before him and set out my arguments in full; then I should learn what answer he would give and find out what he had to say. Would he exert his great power to browbeat me? No; God himself would never bring a charge against me" (verses 4-6, N.E.B.).
Job knew that God had a "master plan" for his life. And though at the moment he was completely confused as to what was happening in his life, he had confidence in the Master of the plan! He knew God to be open and fair. He also knew that it was not like God to use His power to manipulate people, that God was reasonable (verse 7). Even through his struggle against his feelings of separation from God, he never considered that God was distancing Himself from him because of some wrong he might have committed. "He knows the way that I take [He is intimately involved in what is happening to me]; and when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (verse 10, R.S.V.).
In the end, after Job was restored, God told Job's three friends, "You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has" (chap. 42:7, R.S.V.). God knew He could trust Job because they were friends.
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