2009 – Day 272.Sept 30 – God’s Justice

Passage of the Day: Job 42 … Linked for study …

My Journal for Today: I’m coming down the stretch in my study of the Book of Job along with Chuck Swindoll; and it has been another growth experience to do these devotionals. And being here in Chapter 42 at the end of Job’s book, Swindoll points out two salient points that we should take away as truths which can alter our world view and the values which influence the decisions we make in life.

And the first of these two is, according to Swindoll, that "… forgiveness is worth waiting for.” Somehow, he posits, we’ve got to internalize the truth that in God’s time and in His way our Lord is going to bring the scales of justice into balance. And right here in this last chapter of Job’s story we read of the results of Job’s willingness to forgive and pray for His friends as well as his confession to God for his weaknesses. And look at the result as Satan was proven wrong, his three friends were brought to their knees, and Job is duly rewarded with complete restoration and rewards twice over.

And secondly, in a related vein, Swindoll writes this, “… God’s justice is worth waiting for.” We certainly have seen that much went on in Job’s life which he couldn’t see, nor perceive; and some of it seemed unwarranted and most of it certainly unwanted. God’s “deal” with Satan behind the scenes in Job’s life would seem to be like something coming into our lives which happened and we didn’t ask for it, nor did we deserve it. But “WHAMO!” It did happen; and we, like Job, had to deal with the circumstances, not knowing why God allowed these things to happen. But looking to Job, we see how he dealt with it.

First, Job trusted God in the face of horrible personal loss and physical oppression. And yes, he mistakenly listened to the reasoning of the world, personified by his friends, who had all kinds of skewed worldly advice. But when he felt confused, Job took his inquiries directly to God, not to those friends; and in the end, as we read in this last chapter of his life, Job was rewarded and the mistaken friends were brought to their knees, worshipping God and asking Job for forgiveness. It took quite a long time; but God made things right; and Job finally saw that God’s justice was well worth waiting for.

My friends, my writing at this point in your life may find you experiencing some horrible set of unwanted and unwarranted circumstances. Just a couple of weeks ago a dear sister in Christ in our church, who has three teenage kids, learned that she had cancer; and in less than ten days she was taken home to eternity leaving her husband and kids behind. “Why, Lord?!” we are tempted to ask. But right now while we’re healthy and can reason, we need to go back and meditate on and recognize the truth of those verses we’ve brought up in this study of Job.

So, as I sit here and write this morning, I’m mulling over the truths of Isaiah 55: 8 – 9 and Romans 8: 28, which remind me that God’s ways are way above my understanding and when He allows things – even really bad things - into my life, they are ALWAYS for my good. Oh, how I pray that we all can get those truths into our consciousness so that we can draw on the power of truth when we need that power.

And I pray that we all can take these truths to heart from our study of our restored hero, Job.

My Prayer for Today: My God, I’ve read the end of Your story; and in the end You make all things right; and this story of redemption has taken thousands of years to unfold. So, give me patience, Lord, to wait for Your perfect justice and restoration in this wisp of time which is my life. Amen