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Hear the devotional here: https://bit.ly/2WKn3WZ
1 Then Job replied: 2 “Even today my complaint is bitter; his hand is heavy in spite of my groaning. 3 If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! 4 I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. 5 I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say to me. 6 Would he vigorously oppose me? No, he would not press charges against me. 7 There the upright can establish their innocence before him, and there I would be delivered forever from my judge. 8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. 9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. 16 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me. 17 Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face. (Job 23:1-9, 16-17 NIV)
A wonderful Wednesday be yours, ConCafe Family! And may you, esteemed Reader find ways to make the day even more wonderful for others; like those nearest you and those you feel the furthest from too. May we continue to pray for the sick, the sad, the lonely, the widowed, the orphans, the strangers, the foreigners among us, and those who think they know it all! Pray for one another; pray for your needs. We also just learned that Nellie's first cousin, Pedro Garza III died today. Please pray for his family and for Nellie. Pedro's wife died about a year ago from Covid. Her death was very sad as no one was allowed to be with her and Pedro took that to heart. May God's comfort be with the Garza family.
The classic book of Job, so powerful, so brutal and yet so under-read provides the setting for today's devotional. There is a fear about this wondrous book and its message. It is a drama that involves and implicates God, the servant Job, and those who call themselves friends of Job. You are perhaps familiar with the drama of God and Satan having a conversation that starts the long adventure that is the life of Job. Satan's belief is that Job is faithful only because he is very blessed, and strongly believes that if God would remove those blessings, Job would turn against Him. And in a sad accumulation of events, Job does lose everything and everyone near and dear to him, and begins a chapter of suffering in his life. It gets so bad that even his wife, who has suffered alongside him urges him to curse God and thus die, believing that death would be better than the pain with which he has had to contend. His friends have come, supposedly to comfort and console Job, but one questions the true intent of their words and visit. And it is in response to this challenge that Job has this dialogue. His friend Eliphaz has made sure that Job hears what he believes and that is that it is Job's wickedness which is so great before the Lord that that's why he's suffering.
Job begins by admitting that he is complaining and even bitterly, and yes, he's complaining about God. Job believes that God might ease up against him because God must surely know his pain and suffering. And Job's desire is to find God and talk to Him face-to-face. "Oh, that I knew where I could find Him; if only I could go to His dwelling! I would state my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments." Job truly believes he could make a decent, respectable defense for his case and God would side with him and finally stop the suffering. But, where to find God? Many of us have said simliar things; God, where are You? And why is this happening to me? Remember the sisters of Lazarus wondered that about Jesus and told Him as much. "Lord, if only You had been here or answered our prayers like we prayed, our brother would not have died!" The key though, is that Job never questions God's existence. He knows that God exists and stands firm in his faith about the existence of God; unllike some who abandon their faith and reject God thinking that God has rejected them.
Job's desire is to hear God explain His side of things. If only God would answer him, then he would know what God is thinking and the why behind His actions against him. Even then, Job in answering himself says, "Would (God) vigorously oppose me? No, He would not press charges against me." His faith reassures him that even in the presence of God he would find mercy and justice. And he believes this for all people who believe in God and are "upright" before the Lord. Job believes that he would be delivered by his judge, Who is God. Yet, he laments, I havent' found Him in the east, nor in the west; if He's at work in the north, I can't see Him, and when God heads south, I don't seem Him either. My condition is sad and my heart is growing faint; God has made me afraid, but even with darkness all around me, and "the thick darkness that covers my face," I will not stop praying and calling out to God.
And so it may be in your life, dear friend, that what has come into your life and changed it seems like a burden heavier than you can ever carry alone; and you may even believe your prayers can't even make their way through the ceiling of your room or the roof of your house, but still that small amount of faith that remains in you does not, and will not, allow you to give up. It is sometimes from the smallest glow of a spark that eventually a fire will roar and defeats the darkness and the cold; and God will hear you and deliver you. Hold on to your faith, dear friend and do not give up.
PRAYER: Loving Father, bless all who read this as their prayer. At times we have been in what we perceive to be a darkness so thick that we are completely alone and afraid; but I pray that the glow of faith not go out in this person's heart or spirit. Make strong Your presence and peace, and quickly come and ease the pain and the sorrow or whatever is troubling them; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be the one who helps stoke the fires of faith of those near you.
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
