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We Can Learn From Blockheads

Jan3

(Apparently, I’ve been watching too many Charlie Brown holiday specials because “blockhead” is my new favorite insult).

(Is it bad to start a blog post with a digression?  No?  How about two digressions?)

Charlie Brown

Image via Wikipedia

In my last post I quoted one of Job’s blockhead friends, not to point out his inability to understand God’s dealing with Job, but to praise his accurate representation of the Gospel.

And since I’ve posted that praise, I’ve been pondering the “rightness” of doing so.

It is clear in Job 42:7 that three of Job’s friends “have not spoken of [God] what is right.”  The fourth friend, Elihu, whom I quoted in the last post, was not mentioned in God’s rebuke of Job’s friends.  I don’t know why.  But he said some similar things about God for which the others are being rebuked.  So I guess we can assume Elihu didn’t speak of God what is right also.

[That grammar is killing me, but it's THE BIBLE.  I mustn't change it...]

[Is mustn't a real word?  It must be because my spell check isn't putting a red squiggly under it...and we all know how accurate spell check is.]

So, to recap, Job’s friends said some things that were wrong.

And I praised one friend for something he said that was right.

What does that teach us?

We can learn from blockheads.

Just because someone is wrong most of the time, that doesn’t mean we should write him off all together.  You never know when he might spout off some biblical truth that will blow your mind.

To be sure, when we’re dealing with people that have blockhead tendencies (read: all of us), we should check what they say against the rest of the scriptures.

And that brings me to my next point.

How great is it that God can/does use Job’s blockhead friends to speak truth about Himself at times, in between the multitude of falsehoods they assert as truth?

Super great!  Because that means God can use blockheads like you and me to speak truth about Himself at times, in between the multitude of falsehoods we assert as truth.

Whew.  SO glad I don’t have to be perfect before He will choose to use me for good.

Well, Looky Here

Jan1
Image representing YouVersion as depicted in C...

Image via CrunchBase

My church is inviting everyone to read through the Bible chronologically this year.  And to make it more exciting, they’ve recommended a website, YouVersion, to help.

(And, seriously, it makes it more exciting!  I love the change of pace of reading the Bible on my computer, and I really love the ability to make notes on verses as I go along.  It helps me remember what I want to develop into blog posts.)

I started my reading plan a couple of weeks early, knowing full well that there’ll be days this year I don’t get my daily reading completed.

So I am on Day 12 of the plan, which means I am nearing the end of Job.  I’ve read Job several times, and, to be honest, it’s not my favorite book.  There is a lot of repetition – Job claims he is righteous; his friends say he’s a sinner; repeat.  And I’ve never known what to make of Job.  He’s often touted in Christian circles as a great example of how the godly can/should endure suffering, but I really don’t see that in the pages of scripture.

Instead, I see a mouthy, disrespectful guy, high on his own pride (Job 27), blaming God for his suffering.  And, I guess God is responsible for Job’s suffering, but the way Job accuses God in such a harsh tone (Job 30:20-22, for example) has never sat well with me.  Surely, God cannot be pleased with such blatant disrespect…

But that’s not the point of this post.  I have much more to learn on the subject before I go against the Church’s (and James’) popular representation of Job as a hero…

I only bring all this up to paint for you the picture of what I was thinking about as I pushed on through the chapters of the book of Job – I was annoyed, confused, and bored.

And then I found a gem of a passage I did not remember from my previous perusals of the book!

(And that, my friends, is precisely why continual reading of the Bible, even though you know all the stories, is so important and rewarding and necessary).

In chapter 33, after three of Job’s friends fail to convince him to change his tune, a younger man pipes up to offer his opinion of the situation.

Elihu repeats back to Job what Job has said – that he believes he is without sin but that God has turned on him (Job 33:8-11).  Then Elihu confronts Job, saying, “But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than man,” (Job 33:12).

Elihu continues, “Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man’s words?  For God does speak – now one way, now another – though man may not perceive it,” (Job 33:13-14).

And Elihu goes on to point out that God uses means like dreams to warn men to “turn from wrongdoing and keep him from pride,” (Job 33:17).  Why does God do that?  Because if men don’t turn away from sin, they may experience painful physical and spiritual ramifications (Job 33:19-22).

Yet, Elihu says, if a man finds himself reaping the horrific consequences of pursuing sin, there is still hope.  Elihu says if there is an angel on the man’s side, that angel can act as a mediator between the man and God – telling the man what he ought to do, and asking God to save the man from his sin-induced circumstances (Job 33:23-24).  The angel offers God a ransom of some sort in exchange for the man’s life, satisfying God’s requirement of justice.  In return, God restores the man to a life of health and righteousness (Job 33:15).

This is all very interesting, but we are just now reaching the verses in this chapter that really excite me.

Elihu says that once God has restored the man, the man responds this way, “He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God’s face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state,” (Job 33:26).

Pure joy over and intimacy with God!  When God restores this man from his broken state, bringing him back from the edge of the pit, this man is overjoyed and enjoys the Lord face to face.

And I can only imagine how giddy God is getting to enjoy His creation the way it was always meant to be – guilt-free, joyous, and face to face.

But the story doesn’t end there.

After the man enjoys his face-time with God, “he comes to men and says, ‘I sinned, and perverted what was right,’” (Job 33:27).

Why in the world would this guy go broadcasting his sins to others?!  Especially given that God had already dealt with him and restored him?  If I were this guy, I do believe I would go on rejoicing in the Lord and just keep those sins to myself…

But this man, fully understanding the love that motivated God to save him from his sins, can’t keep silent.  He is compelled to share his discovery of God’s love with others that they, too, might enjoy that same amazing love.

He explains, ”‘I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved.  He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light,’” (Job 33:27-28).

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

Does anyone else see what just happened here?!  In one of the oldest books of the Bible, just after Noah but before the Tower of Babel, THE GOSPEL WAS RECORDED.

Go ahead and reread those last two verses, I’ll wait.

It’s the Gospel, right?!

Before the concept of grace through faith was penned by Paul, it was spoken to Job through a whipper-snapper named Elihu.

Wow, the God of the Old Testament really is the same God of the New Testament.  He does not change.

So it was the Gospel hidden in Job 33 that really floored me today.  But it’s worth mentioning that the man in this story also shows us a pretty simple way to evangelize.

1. Tell others about your sins.

2. Tell others about the grace you received despite your sins.

3. Tell others about the hope you have as a result of receiving that grace.

Good stuff today.

Cheap Hope

Dec28

I marvel at people who don’t have any religious beliefs.  Depending on the website, between 2% and 11% of the world’s population are atheists, agnostics, or have no religious beliefs.  Assuming a world population of 7 billion, that translates to between 140 million to 770 million people in the world today that do not believe in God whatsoever.

That’s astonishing to me.  Primarily because God = hope.  Even false gods can offer a modicum of hope, though I would argue that hope will run out.  As long as we have something we believe in that is supernatural, we can have hope that the bad stuff in this life will not be forever.  We can believe that something better awaits us.  In other words, when we believe in some form of a god, we have a reason to endure this life.

But if we don’t have that hope, and hundreds of millions of people don’t, what reason do we have to live?

I guess some might say they live for their families.  They love their spouses and kids and hang around to see them grow up.

But what happens to that reason when your marriage isn’t going well?  Or your kid gets diagnosed with cancer? Or your teenager gets pregnant?  Or when your kids grow up and leave your home?  Or any other number of tough circumstances arise?  Life is no longer fun.  In fact, life becomes unbearable, despite having your spouse and kids.

What happens when the temporal sources of your hope fail you?

In Job 8:13-15, Bildad says, “Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.  What he trusts in is fragile; what he relies on is a spider’s web.  He leans on his web, but it gives way; he clings to it, but it does not hold.”

Bildad says of these people who forget God, “they wither more quickly than grass” (Job 8:12).

When I hear “wither”, I think shrivel up and die.  Depending on where you live, grass withers every 6-9 months.  And those who forget God – those whose hope perishes because they don’t believe in God – wither more quickly than that.

What does a withered person look like?  Depressed, bitter, angry, tired, disenfranchised.  These symptoms can be alleviated for a time with temporary sources of hope, but they always come back when those sources stop supplying cheap hope.

There is only one source of everlasting hope.

“…there is only one God, who will justify the [Jews] by faith and the [Gentiles] through that same faith” (Romans 3:30).

What are you hoping in?  Is it working?  Or is it a temporary fix for your eternal problem?

Discipline is a Blessing?

Dec26

I don’t often have never thought to myself, “I’m so thankful the Lord is using this event in my life to correct foolishness in my heart.  What a blessing!”

I’m just not a take-discipline-with-a-smile kinda girl.  I prefer to whine and complain like my two-year-old when she doesn’t get to have candy canes for breakfast.  I like to thrash and fight against the Disciplinarian instead, hoping to shirk Him off before any correction can be administered.

But Job’s friend, Eliphaz, offers a different take on discipline.

He says, “Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty,” (Job 5:17).

Two ideas here.

“Blessed is the man whom God corrects.”  Correction is a good thing.  By definition, correction teaches me how to do something better than I am currently doing it.  Better for me.  Better for those affected by me.  Better for God.  Win-win-win.

When I remember that, I begin to see correction in the correct light – a beneficial light.

The second idea comes from “so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”

That phrase tells me that it is possible to despise the discipline of the Almighty.  And my flesh only confirms that is true.

I have to intentionally guard against having a spirit that despises the often painful work the Lord does in my heart to mature me.

But why shouldn’t I despise God’s discipline?  It hurts!  It requires me to change.  I am totally justified in hating divine discipline…

Back to the first phrase.

I should not despise God’s discipline because correction is a blessing.  

Oh.  Yeah.  We already established that.

Lord, I know Your correction and discipline in my life are for my good.  Help me keep that perspective and cooperate with You as You make me more like Christ.

An Unlikely Response to Tragedy

Dec21

I just read Job 1.

You know, that uplifting account of this righteous guy that Satan attacks because God is confident that Job will still praise Him.

And verses 20 and 21 stopped me in my tracks.

Job has just learned that he has lost all of his children in a “freak” accident (actually, it was a calculated act of Satan, permitted by God).  And he got up, tore his robe, and shaved his head – all typical cultural responses to indicate mourning.

I expected the next sentence to read, “Then he fell to the ground in mourning,” or something similar.  But it didn’t.  Instead, it says, “Then he fell to the ground in worship.”

Huh?

You mean this dude just lost the most important people in his life in one instance and he’s worshiping?

This must be an error in translation.  The Hebrew probably really means “Then he fell to the ground in a heap of tears, his heart broken in a million pieces, unable to see any good in the situation whatsoever.”

And I’d be willing to go with that eisegesis, but the following verse won’t let me.

Verse 21 has Job declaring, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Could it be that the greatest of tragedies are supposed to drive us to praise God?

How odd.  I cannot wrap my mind around this novel idea.  Does. not. compute.

Obviously, praising God in the face of heartbreak is not a natural response.  That begs the question, how do we train our hearts to respond like Job – with worship – when tragedies sneak up on us?

Last week I learned a friend from high school gave birth to her first child, only to lose him quite unexpectedly two days later from a heart defect they knew nothing about the entire pregnancy.

And I responded with a heartbroken, “Oh…Lord…” because no other words would come.  All I could get out was, “Oh!  Lord!”

My utterance conveyed, “Lord, I don’t understand… Lord, this is terrible.  Lord, I know You are in control, but the pain is overwhelming.  No one can comfort this family except You.  Lord, they NEED You, and You alone will suffice!  Oh, Lord, come!”

I suppose that is a biblical response to tragedy.  But it is not quite the “worship” and “praise” Job speaks of.

The Lord gave that baby to my friends, and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be PRAISED.

Worship.

We may not understand tragedy, but we are convinced that He is good, He is in control, and He is worthy of our praise.