June 17, 2013 (Monday)
I know that my Redeemer lives!–Job
Our Sunday School lessons at the present time are from the Bible book of Job. You remember him, don’t you? He was a rich man with lots of material things, a big family, healthy and happy. Suddenly it was all taken from him. In his personal agony, he refused to blame God. Then his three friends came and in the name of helping him they condemned him, telling him again and again that his suffering was being caused by his sin. If he would just repent, said they, he would be OK.
The fact is, his friends were wrong. There was another scenario being played out. Job was being tested. And in the end his faith stood the test.
If only real life could be explained so neatly. But we all know, because of our own experiences, that sometimes there just simply is no answer that truly satisfies when suffering and death make their appearance. We must hold on to our faith. It’s sometimes all we have, and we dare not let go.
I have learned to “nail down” certain truths and hold on to them no matter what. The first, of course, is that God exists. There is too much evidence for me to ignore. He is real. The second, and perhaps just as important, is that God loves me. The evidence for that is seen in many ways, but especially at the cross of Christ. For God so loved us all so much that He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. When I begin thinking that God has forgotten about me, I fasten my eyes upon the Cross of Christ, and all doubts flee.
“When peace, like a river, attendeth my way
When sorrow, like sea billows, roll,
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
‘It is well, it is well with my soul.”