The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Job 14-17
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 1: The People: God calls a covenant people
Background Information: Job 14-17
Job vacillates between hope and despair. He despairs the finality of death but holds on to hope in a life after death. At this point in history God had revealed little of life after death, and our own post-gospel knowledge of a future resurrection was beyond his view. Eliphaz’s first speech was a bit restrained, but now he gives full vent to his folly. He accuses Job of thinking he knows everything, when in fact Job only said he knows as much as his friends do. He offers straw man arguments against Job. He says that Job is on dangerous ground with his words, but it is Eliphaz whose words put him in danger of judgment. Job’s response shows that while he doesn’t believe he is sinless, he hasn’t done anything deserving of this level of suffering. If Job’s words seem conflicted, it is because they flow from a conflicted heart. He has become suspicious of God, but yet his greatest desire is relationship with God. He needs friends, but yet his friends have become a source of added pain. He knows his suffering is not the result of his sin, but the more he says this, the more he knows people will just use his words against him. What a gift that God has given us the book of Job! Job is now long dead, but his suffering continues to bring glory to God and good to the world. He is a picture of Jesus, the righteous one, who did not sin but whose suffering brings glory to God and good to the world.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Christian Challenge has their first meeting of the semester tonight. Pray that God would be at work at Wichita State and other campuses in the area to draw students to Himself.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.