Days 19-22

Job 1-14

First, to correct my last post.   It has been about 3700 years since the time of Genesis.  I have no idea where I got to the number 2600.  Anyway…

I have held onto the book of Job in the last year.  Kyle Idleman did a sermon series on Job last year.  In my opinion it was the best sermons I have ever heard.  I’m sure that I hold that opinion because it was really speaking to what was going on in and around my life at the time. The sermons are available as podcasts. It’s the “Seeing God” series from July & August if you are interested.

I’ve been in Job’s shoes (well, hardly, but we’ve all felt a bit of it before) and, unfortunately, I’ve acted like Job’s friends before.   We’ve all given bad advice, but there’s something a little more dangerous about Christians giving bad advice.  Sometimes we live by various “Christianity-isms” that are heard so much but hold either no truth or twists the truth.

The one phrase that has made me grit my teeth over and over in the last few years is “God will provide”.  Don’t get me wrong.  I admittedly have never gone hungry, I’ve always had a warm place to sleep, my kids are very well clothed and fed.  I have never truly been in want.  But I have seen God take away the homes, jobs, incomes, and general happiness out of very faithful people in the last few years. 

The truth is that God doesn’t always provide what we think is enough money, food, health, clothes… etc.  Why do I think it should always be provided to me when even Paul says…

¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Does God provide miraculously sometimes?  Absolutely.   Phillip and I have had quite a few times where God miraculously provided.  Does God bless people with much more than we even need?  Yes!  I certainly have MUCH more than I need. Is it wrong to ask God to provide?  Nope.  What I’ve learned is that too many of us think that we are owed a good job, a nice house, and no problem paying our bills.  After all, God will provide. Right?

I don’t know why God provides sometimes and why He seemingly leaves us out in the cold for a period of time.  But even Job said “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? (2:10).  I do know that God KNOWS and CARES and today is another day in His plan for my life.  I’m thankful for that.