Job 7:20–21: “Have I [Job] sinned? / What have I done to You [God], O watcher of men? / Why have You set me as Your target, / So that I am a burden to myself? / Why then do You not pardon my transgression, / And take away my iniquity? / For now I will lie down in the dust, / And You will seek me diligently, / But I will no longer be.”

December 2nd, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Job was a godly man. He wasn’t walking in any willful sin, and God wasn’t angry with him. But he was struggling through an extremely difficult season of suffering. His friends offered him little to no comfort, insisting that no one could suffer like he was and it not be because God was punishing him for sin. In chapter 7 Job seemed to be folding. He didn’t necessarily agree with Eliphaz’s reasoning, but at the moment, he couldn’t see any other explanation for his afflictions. That is often the way it is in the middle of a storm isn’t it? The waves of life crash over the sides of our little ship and anything seems possible. Job was struggling to find a purpose, some kind of meaning for his pain.

When God called the apostle Paul in Acts 9:16, He told Paul that he would suffer for Jesus’ name. As we read through the Book of Acts, we see that he did indeed suffer. He was stoned, jailed, flogged, and shipwrecked. So when Paul says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28), we know he knew what he was talking about. In His providence, God filters and orchestrates every event in our lives to accomplish good in us, both for our immediate and eternal benefit. Not just most things or a majority of things, not 99% of things, but ALL things will work to our good. Paul was able to rejoice in suffering because he knew what suffering produced in his life: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).

There’s a story of a man who was flying his plane above a mountain road. As he flew, he noticed a car trying to pass a semi truck. However, the man in the car couldn’t see around the truck due to the dips and curves in the road and so he was stuck. The pilot could see that there were no other vehicles in the area, and that the car could safely pass the truck. However, all he could do was sit up there and reflect on how from his vantage point he could see what the man in the car could not see. It is the same with our heavenly Father in our lives. He sees the big picture, so it only makes sense to trust Him in the present and look forward to the future.

“LORD, we trust You to direct our path this day in Jesus’ name.”