Saturday, June 25, 2005
Indigestion
I was watching lonely Planet on the Travel & Living channel and Megan visited the Arab countries. At Oman, she actually stopped by the grave of Job!!! Wat a coincidence as I have just completed reading the book of Job.
I have always find Job to be a difficult book to read. When I read Job’s frens’ comments, I find that I agree wif them a lot! It is oso difficult for me to imagine a person like Job who did not sin – for after all, all have sinned!
But wat really bothered me a lot was the premise of the whole thing. Megan described Job as one who got caught in between God and Satan – which is not so far from how I view it!
I mean, is the book of Job to be taken literally? In my training, I have to answer “Yes”. There is nothing to imply that Job was a fictional character and that he did not really go thru wat the book said he did.
So if it is literal, then the image of God really disturbs me:-
Please forgive me, Lord, for I do not mean any disrespect. I am searching for answers.
Sure, Job has got some really important lessons for us today:-
After typing those last words above, I actually stopped to read those chapters again. And as I did, God’s Holy Spirit seemed to have given me an answer.
In those few chapters, God challenged Job – after all, Job all the while maintained that he was being punished for sins that he did not commit. Yet God reminded him (and me) of his sovereignty, of his power, of his wisdom – and of who we are compared to him.
Who are we to question him? He is, after all, GOD!
It’s almost like (but necessarily so) if he wants to use us as pawns, why not? Do we have the right to question him, or his motives?
Sometimes, most of the time, I view God in an imbalanced manner – he is a God of love, he is my abba father, he is my true friend. But he is oso the great God! The King of all kings, and the Lord of all lords. Who can grasp his infinite wisdom?
Who am I to question the God of all creation of his actions?
I have always find Job to be a difficult book to read. When I read Job’s frens’ comments, I find that I agree wif them a lot! It is oso difficult for me to imagine a person like Job who did not sin – for after all, all have sinned!
But wat really bothered me a lot was the premise of the whole thing. Megan described Job as one who got caught in between God and Satan – which is not so far from how I view it!
I mean, is the book of Job to be taken literally? In my training, I have to answer “Yes”. There is nothing to imply that Job was a fictional character and that he did not really go thru wat the book said he did.
So if it is literal, then the image of God really disturbs me:-
- Why would God see the need to prove anything to Satan?
- God seemed to be boasting to Satan at the beginning about Job.
- I am very much disturbed of the fact that God did not seem to care for Job’s children who were killed at the beginning of the book! These are innocent (?) bystanders!
- Probably related to (1) above, why did God allow Satan to harm Job? God knew Job’s heart!
- What did God achieve in the end? Just to shut Satan up? A big cost to pay, isn’t it?
- Job and his initial children were like pawns in a game between God and Satan – and why did God other to “play” wif Satan in the first place?
Please forgive me, Lord, for I do not mean any disrespect. I am searching for answers.
Sure, Job has got some really important lessons for us today:-
- When “bad” things happen to anyone, it is not necessarily because of the sin of that individual
- God is almighty and powerful. There is none like him. Read chapters 38 – 41.
******
After typing those last words above, I actually stopped to read those chapters again. And as I did, God’s Holy Spirit seemed to have given me an answer.
In those few chapters, God challenged Job – after all, Job all the while maintained that he was being punished for sins that he did not commit. Yet God reminded him (and me) of his sovereignty, of his power, of his wisdom – and of who we are compared to him.
Who are we to question him? He is, after all, GOD!
It’s almost like (but necessarily so) if he wants to use us as pawns, why not? Do we have the right to question him, or his motives?
Sometimes, most of the time, I view God in an imbalanced manner – he is a God of love, he is my abba father, he is my true friend. But he is oso the great God! The King of all kings, and the Lord of all lords. Who can grasp his infinite wisdom?
Who am I to question the God of all creation of his actions?
// posted by imissw @ 4:01:00 am 
