TRANSFORM: DAY 38

SCRIPTURE READING - DAY 38


Job 42:1-6

Job answered GOD: "I'm convinced: You
can do anything and everything. Nothing
and no one can upset your plans. You
asked, 'Who is this muddying the water,
ignorantly confusing the issue, second-
guessing my purposes?'

I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on
about things far beyond me, made small
talk about wonders way over my head.
You told me, 'Listen, and let me do the
talking. Let me ask the questions. You
give the answers.' I admit I once lived by
rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—
from my own eyes and ears! I'm sorry—
forgive me. I'll never do that again, I
promise! I'll never again live on crusts of
hearsay, crumbs of rumor." (The Message)

MEDITATION by Steve Hall


I feel for Job. He had things going well, everything in its place. The future was bright…until God allowed Satan to make an example of him. We often use Job’s challenges to define our understanding of suffering and the work of the devil. My problem is I often feel too much like Job, but not for the reasons you might think.

Job had his life under control. The need for control was his problem, as it is often mine. After the opening account of the destruction of his family and fortune, we see Job trying to understand why things are happening so he can get his life back under control. He “muddies the waters” and has a meltdown as he faces his inability to control the situation, and even finds himself “second-guessing” God for answers (Job 40:2).

In May 2006, my wife, Sally, and I were in our final interview with CRM. During the interview, our son, Josh, called and told us that our house was being robbed. The next day after accepting the call to Enterprise International, we learned that Sally had colon cancer. She had surgery the next month. Like Job, I was no longer in control. Past ministry experience and my familiarity with cancer protocols were no match for the growing black hole in my spiritual equilibrium.

When God challenges Job about the movements of the universe (Job 38-42), Job gains God’s perspective and relinquishes his need for control into the omnipotent hands of the Divine. He states, “I’m convinced, no one can upset your plans.” Job then gives the reason behind his habit of seeking control and failing to trust. He has only presumed to know God intimately. He says, “I have lived by rumors but now I have it all firsthand.”

Like Job, I, too need to seek God on his terms. As the doctor finds cancer, or when the surgery is followed by 15 days in the hospital with my bride fighting for her life, my own strength fails. I can’t fix it, and the successes of the past no longer matter as I seek God with no veneer, no pretense—just dependence.

Now looking back, I wish I had known what Jesus knew when he hung on the cross. His intentional intimacy with the Father allowed him to release his pain and fears into God’s will. His lack of need to control proclaims, “Forgive them, Father, they don’t understand.” May we become more like Jesus, transformed everyday as we seek God more intimately.




REFLECTION


How do you respond when life feels difficult or out of control?


What events in your past led you to lose control and seek intimacy with the Father?


When we get the control factor aligned in our lives, we usually have some repenting to do. Where are you trying to be in control and need to release, relax, and repent?