Jesus as the Better Job:

I have been continuing my study of the book of Job for my early morning devotional time.  This devotional book is called “Sacred Suffering” by Katie Davidson. I have really been enjoying this study, and I have learned a lot so far.  Job was and is always considered a good example to Christians, especially when they are suffering, so I am happy to do some more learning from his example. 

However, even with this being said, Job wasn’t perfect.  There were definitely things he thought and said which were not the best.  Job did his best to honor God in his life, and he knew this.  When he started to suffer, he started to really question God and his goodness.  Job was not humble during this time of suffering.  He never dishonored God or turned his back on Him, but Job did complain and believe he was not deserving of this misery. 

Jesus was also a man who suffered.  He was a man who grew up and was turned on by those he had served.  He was a man who was beaten to death, even though he had never sinned or gone against God.  He was completely perfect, and He was completely humble, willing to take his beating and killing in order to do it for the people.   Overall, we can see through this book of the Bible, Jesus is the better Job.  He was able to handle suffering with complete humility.  

Humility is something highlighted often throughout the Bible.  The Lord discusses Pride as being a major sin that can bring a lot of people down and become taken away from the Lord.  One verse discussing humility is James 4:10 which says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”  The Lord is pleased with those who decide to humble themselves. 

The Lord had to spend some time humbling Job.  Job again was a good man who did care about honoring the Lord.  However, he did need to be humbled before the mighty power of God.  He needed to learn he was not the one who was in control of his destiny, and even though he had chosen to live an innocent life, this did not mean he was never going to experience any form of suffering or pain.  

I will be honest of the times I can think and be as prideful as Job.  I can have moments where I believe I need to be honored or only receive rewards for my behavior as opposed to receiving punishments.  “I have done the things I am supposed to.  I have done a fairly good job following God’s laws.  I go to church regularly.” These are the thoughts I can sometimes think to myself.  

At the very end of Job, God comes and speaks to Job.  He comes to him and talks about His glory and his sovereignty.  He reminds Job that He is the only one who has power and has control, and there should be no person who tries to demand attention and control from God.  Job repents of his behavior and of his pride.  He becomes very aware of the glory and the power of God, and He is now more understanding of his relationship with God.  

The quote I absolutely love from this devotional is, “Like Job, in order to humble ourselves, we must allow ourselves to be captivated by God’s glory.”(pg.167).  We all like I mentioned have a tendency of becoming prideful and believing we deserve more than we actually do.  We start to demand answers from God and may believe we are innocent enough to deserve all we desire.  In order to really understand the Lord and our relationship with Him, we have to spend time with God and his presence.  

I will challenge you to be a bit reflective this week.  Is there any part of you that is incredibly prideful, especially when it comes to the thoughts of your innocence?  Are there times you are believing that you, like Job, are not deserving of any punishment or issues?  If so, maybe spend some time in prayer to God about this pride.  This can be to spend time being completely honest about the prideful thoughts and asking for God to guide you.  I know I personally need to spend time in my prideful thoughts.  There are definitely times when I am prideful about believing myself to be a strong Christian and therefore, I should have some things going really easy.   I need to be aware that I may experience suffering even if I am following all God’s rules, and I need to remember to still be captivated by his glory when this happens. 

I am praying no one who is reading this is struggling or suffering like Job experienced throughout the Bible.  However, I am also going to be praying when you are experiencing any kind of suffering, God will show you a new way to devote yourself more fully to the Lord.  I am praying God will show you new ways to love Him and to see Him, just like Job experienced when he came face to face with God.