Now My Eyes See You

By: Joanne Viola 

 

Let’s talk about Job for a bit.

With the mention of his name, we tend to think about his losses, his grief, his suffering, or the poor advice of his wife and friends.

Or we go to the opposite extreme of remembering the restoration and blessings which God bestows on him in time.

But who is Job? What are we told about the man he is?

“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; 
and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” 
(Job 1:1, NASB)

Did you catch that description of Job? He was blameless, upright, feared God, and shunned evil. There can be no better character reference given on a person.

What does this description tell us about Job?

The New American Commentary (all quotes from Volume 11 on Job, page 48) gives us insight into this man:

• “Blamelessness referred to the absence of certain observable sinful acts. The author of the book was thinking of honesty, marital fidelity, just treatment of servants, generosity to the poor, and the avoidance of idolatry.”
• Feared God. “The picture here is not of a man cowering before an offended diety but of a devout man who respects God and obeys his laws.”
• Shunned evil. “Good people turn to God and away from evil. The good life involves not only the doing of right but also the avoidance of wrong.”

We see here a description of a man of integrity, wholeness, completeness. The man Job was on the outside was truly the man Job was on the inside.

This is the man Job was before tragedy struck. When Job loses his all of his his cattle, sheep and shepherds, camels and servants, and lastly his sons and daughters, he had only one response:

“Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” 
(verse 22, NASB)

Job brings an important lesson: We must be faithful to God in the middle of our difficulties.

We will all have our difficult or trying moments. It is in these very times that we will have to make two important decisions for ourselves:

1. Either God loves us or He doesn’t.
2. Either God is good or He is not.

We decide not based on our feelings or what we hope but on these truths:

God loves us.
God is good.

The difficulties we experience throughout the course of our days will bring us to declare the same conclusion as it did Job:

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You;”
(Job 42:5, NASB)

May we see Him
in all the circumstances in our life,
in all of our days.

 

 

Reflection:
How do we develop character like Job? We need to remind one another of God’s love and goodness.

 

Photo by Mark Tegethoff on Unsplash