Day 28

Job 8:1-10:22; Matthew 19:16-30; Proverbs 3:11-20

In the midst of a lot of suffering we sit in awe of the Lord once more. Take another look at Job 9:4-11, where Job lays out the vastness, the power  and the might of God, despite all that he is going through he still proclaims all of this.

Just remember back to the last time that you laid on the floor and stared up at the stars, you may even have seen a shooting star flying across the night sky. Remember back to the last time you looked at a picture of vast snow capped mountains or you may even have stood on one and glanced out at the whole range before you. And these few verses lay out before us the whole picture of the glory of God. We see a picture that encompasses the sun and the stars, night and day. It encompasses all things and all time. It is not just God that cannot be overcome by mere man or by the devil, it is his realm, his throne, his whole kingdom. That is something that Job is trying to cling onto and we need to remember.

Job is in the pits here and he is really feeling it, he says that he is an unworthy human and yet he still does not blame God. If we quickly bring in the Gospel here, we remember that Job was actually quite a successful bloke with huge flocks of animals and Jesus says it will be easier for one of Job’s camels to get through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get to heaven. OK the camel thing seems like an impossible task but Jesus says “it is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (v23). “Hard” not “impossible”. And Job is a good example of how it can happen.

He voices his pain but deep down he knows that he has a place in the kingdom of heaven and it is a place of ultimate safety. Right now, look at the stars, look to the sun, look to the glory of the Lord and the sanctity of his realm. Know that you have a place there!