2009 – Day 245.Sept 03 – A Context of Pain

Passage of the Day: Job 19 … Linked for study …

My Journal for Today: We’ve paused again in Job’s horrible status to take stock on how a man, so devastated and so wracked with pain, having been “educated” by three insensitive and mistaken friends, would still be able to say, with great hope and assurance in this chapter, “I know that my redeemer lives!”

Have you ever been in a place in your life when you were racked in pain and/or ill health? Nothing can dull one’s perspective or bring down the hope for the future than physical pain. And that’s why one, when such circumstance befall him, needs to have a clear hope for the future; and Swindoll is right in his devotional assertion that “… without the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, your steps are marked by uncertainty. … Few thoughts are more frightening then not knowing where you will be when you die.”

Job, having lost all that was dear to him in life and being deluged by physical oppression was still clear of mind and purpose because – and only because – his hope for this life and the next life as well was clearly defined by his faith. Job knew he had a Redeemer and that his Redeemer lived in his heart and would carry him into eternity. And that is why our hero could stand the pain and move forward.

Just this week I was privileged to hear the testimony of a dear brother in Christ who is likely, save a miracle from God, spending his last days on this earth. My friend, Marvin, has been fighting kidney, lung, and vastly spreading cancer for some time now. He was told at his diagnosis that he had but a year to live at most. Well, that was almost seven years ago; and now he’s very weak and likely in the latter stages of his fight. And this week, he was called to our rescue mission to give witness to Christ in his life; and his testimony at this luncheon chapel service took about all he had. But Marvin did it with confidence and joy because he knew that he knew that he knew that his Redeemer lives. And as we listened to our brother in Christ, anyone there in that mission chapel could sense the peace that Marvin had, knowing, beyond doubt, that if this is the end of his physical life, it is only the beginning of his eternal life. It was uplifting to be there with my brother, who, with his broken physical body, could lift us all up with his testimony of the living Christ, Who was walking with Marvin all the way into eternity.

Oh how I hope and pray that anyone reading this has Job’s kind of clarity of faith. Because without the assurance of your salvation and the clear understanding of the Savior Who redeems you and gives you His grace to live, when life takes a bad turn, you will question God and be vulnerable to fools like those in Job’s life. But when you know, beyond all doubt, that your Redeemer lives, you will be able to sit quietly in a chair, like my friend, Marvin, did this week, and give strong witness to where you are going into the vast hope that is eternity. We can go forward, no matter how racked we are in ill circumstances or pain and declare to all around us, “I know that my Redeemer lives!”

My Prayer for Today: And I can do just that, Lord, because I know You live in me. Amen