Job CLVII

 Job 14:13-17, “Oh, that You would hide me in the grave, that You would conceal me until Your wrath is past, that You would appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes. You shall call and I will answer You; You shall desire the work of Your hands. For now You number my steps, but do not watch over my sin. My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and You cover my iniquity.”

It’s awe-inspiring to witness a man grapple with his inner turmoil, battling his instincts and senses, rising above despair and hopelessness, and reaching out to the only One he knows can provide comfort. Job’s response to Zophar and his plea to God is a testament to the courage found in vulnerability, in admitting the struggle we often try to mask with a brave face.

I deflect with humor. I always have, ever since I came to realize what I was doing, especially in uncomfortable situations or circumstances where merely the idea of confronting the pain is so unfathomable that I would rather ignore it for as long as I can.

Job had no such outlet. He didn’t try to deflect the pain he was feeling but poured himself out with all the pent-up frustration, fear, pain, and grief that he was feeling.

Being vulnerable with God is not a weakness. On the contrary, pouring one’s heart out to Him, crying out to Him, being honest, sincere, and even painfully so about the hurt one is feeling and the hardship they are going through demonstrates one’s awareness of their own limitations.

If I am broken, I can’t fix myself. If I have reached the end of my tether, by definition, there is nothing I can do of my own agency to get me out of a situation or predicament. Yes, we endure, yes, we press on, yes, we persevere and keep moving forward, but the hope of being made whole again must be tethered in God and His ability to do so rather than our own strength and resolve.

We can only white knuckle it through pain for so long. Eventually, without the aid, comfort, and healing presence of God, we will be crushed and ground into the dust of the earth, no matter how valiantly we attempt to carry on.

Job was aware of his limitations. He understood that there was nothing he could do but cry out to God, plead with Him, and cling to the hope that the goodness of God would prevail in his situation. Job was not picky about how his resolution would come about as long as it did. In his current state, the only remedy he saw was to go to the grave because our intellect often limits our willingness to hope for a miracle. We are told that something or other is impossible for so long that we come to believe it, ignoring the reality that nothing is impossible with God.

Throughout my years in ministry, I’ve found it telling that certain trials last only so long as it takes for the individual in question to abandon all hope in themselves, their abilities, and their resilience and rest their hope fully in the Lord.

Some of us must be stripped of the illusion that projecting strength is itself a form of strength. We’ve all encountered fake tough guys who talk big, but wilt at the first sign of pushback, and the reaction to such individuals is universal. True strength is not boastful, arrogant, or given to displays of grandiosity. As is often the case, those who talk big do little, and eventually, their shortcomings, inadequacies, and weaknesses come to the fore and are on full display for everyone to see.

Men can choose to stand in their own strength or stand in the strength that originates from God, something beyond their agency or ability. Those who stand in their strength discover the frailty of it eventually, some only doing so when they’ve exhausted themselves trying to do on their own what only God can do. It is a form of pride, I think, beating our chests and declaring how powerful we are in and of ourselves. As Scripture points out, God resists the proud while giving grace to the humble.

Looking back on my own life, with the benefit of hindsight, I can attest that there are innumerable instances where only the strength of God carried me, and nothing I could have done on my own would have sufficed. You can have the hosts of hell arrayed against you, but if God remains on your side, victory is certain because God is able to do what man cannot.

What could Job have done of his own volition to improve his lot and his situation? What could he have done to heal his broken body, restore his possessions, and return to the life he’d once lived? Absolutely nothing. The best he could manage was a potsherd with which to scrape himself, and eventually, even that became burdensome because the sores were painful, and he could no longer do it.

Standing in our own strength is a toxic mix of hubris, pride, and utter futility. Especially when going through a trial, a sifting, or a season of hardship, the best course of action is to lean ever more on God and acknowledge our frailty, knowing that He has strength in abundance and is ever willing to imbue us with it if we humble ourselves and ask it of Him. We have not because we ask not, and when we do ask, some of us ask amiss, hoping to deal with the symptom of something rather than the underlying cause.

There is no advanced warning system for trials. They come unexpectedly and unbidden, seemingly out of nowhere, with all the ferocity of a category-five hurricane. There is no escape, no circumventing them or putting them off until you have less to deal with in your day-to-day life. They come, and the only option you have is to go through them. The only choice you have is whether to go through your trial alone, in your own strength, or with God by your side, drawing strength from Him and standing firm in His promises.  

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job CLVI

Job 14:7-12, “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that its tender shoots will not cease. Though its roots may grow old in the earth, and its stump may die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant. But man dies and is laid away; indeed he breathes his last and where is he? As water disappears from the sea, and a river becomes parched and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep.”

Every great faith started out small. It’s a testament to the transformative power of faith that every mind brimming with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding once belonged to a babe who spent their days staring at their fingers, stacking blocks, learning to crawl, and finding the greatest amusement in playing with an empty box for hours on end.

We don’t like to hear it, but God doesn’t grade on a curve. He doesn’t see us as a monolith but as individuals, and we will stand before Him one day as individuals. We don’t get a passing grade simply because we deem ourselves of average faith, more faithful than Bob but less faithful than Jill, so right in the middle should be the sweet spot. Controversial? Most assuredly. Biblical? Quite so. Jesus said as much, but our self-righteousness will not allow God to be God and determine the standard by which He judges men. Trying to play de facto judge offers a higher perch, and for some, looking down on another who’s just starting out on their journey of faith, with shaky legs and a faith in its infancy, makes them feel better about themselves and their duplicitous hearts.

It’s easy to sit in judgment of Job in hindsight, given what we know regarding eternity, life after death, the home that Jesus went to prepare for us, and all that salvation entails. We read his words and tend to shake our heads at how little he understood regarding these things, especially if we fail to acknowledge the context of the time he lived in.

I understand that armchair quarterbacking is all the rage, and some are chomping at the bit to pick at the flaws of a man whom God deemed blameless and upright, but before we judge Job too harshly, we would do well to hold a mirror up to ourselves and acknowledge our imperfections.

With the knowledge he possessed and the faithfulness he demonstrated, Job was regarded as a man to whom God could point as having been unique among his contemporaries, both in his service and love of God. That’s not me saying it; that’s God saying it, so anyone quick to roll their eyes at Job’s ignorance of the broader picture of eternity and what comes after this life is spent would do well to acknowledge this truth.

That’s not to say Job’s outlook wasn’t bleak. He saw more hope for the tree that is cut down to sprout anew than for a man who dies and is laid away. No, I do not believe Job was contemplating reincarnation but rather a continuity of life beyond the point of death. In his limited understanding, he concluded that man lies down and does not rise again.

If your desire is to know Him, God will meet you where you are. You don’t need to be fluent in Hebrew or Greek or hold a doctorate in divinity from a seminary, but you do need to possess a broken and contrite heart that yearns for more of God. Job’s understanding of eternity was limited, yet God still saw him as a blameless and upright man.

Luke 12:48, “But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.”

Job was accountable for the things he understood during the time he lived in. If God keeps count of the hairs on your head, rest assured, He is fully aware of the level of faith, understanding, knowledge, and spiritual maturity you possess. If you’ve been given much, much will be required of you. We are individually accountable for the understanding we possess regarding spiritual matters.

Not knowing something was displeasing to God and doing it, and knowing that it was and doing it anyway, are two very different things. When something deserving of stripes is done in ignorance, the individual shall be beaten with few. Jesus didn’t say there would be no consequence, but God does take into account whether it was done in ignorance or with full knowledge that it would displease Him and was done anyway.

True enough, ignorance of the law is no excuse, at least in earthly courts. However, unlike man, God knows whether or not an individual is genuinely ignorant of something or merely pretends to be in order to escape punishment.

Whenever discussing topics related to repentance, holiness, sanctification, or obedience, there is bound to be at least one individual who uses the thief on the cross as an excuse for their rebellion. He didn’t repent or live a holy life; he just said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” Why should I have to sanctify myself when he didn’t? In short, he was ignorant of Jesus, who He was, and the salvation He offered up until that moment.

Most people who reject the love of God, who reject Jesus and His redemptive power, knowingly do so because they harden their hearts toward Him and refuse to surrender and humble themselves. It’s not that they never heard the gospel or were ignorant of it; having heard it, they rejected it.

For the thief on the cross, it was his last few hours on earth. He couldn’t schedule a baptism when the weather permitted or commit to living out his new convictions after this pesky crucifixion was over. Come the next sunrise at the latest, the life would have left his body, and he would be no more. Jesus knew he would have no opportunity to do what He’d instructed the rest of us to do, and in His grace and love, made allowances for that reality. That we would take an exception and make it the rule while ignoring the rule isn’t just obtuse; it’s dangerous.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.  

Job CLV

 Job 14:1-6, “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue. And do You open Your eyes on such a one, and bring me to judgment with Yourself? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one! Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass. Look away from him that he may rest, till like a hired man he finishes his day.”

Men like to think of themselves as more than they are and God as less than He is. If we were to make a base case for why there is so much rebellion, disobedience, and faithlessness, this idea would be among the root causes.

It would serve both the prince and the pauper alike to revisit the words of Job regularly and rediscover the timeless truth contained therein, for no matter how well-known, well-liked, well-heeled, or well-tended, the truth is that man comes forth like a flower and fades away. He flees like a shadow and does not continue.

It doesn’t matter how much kale you force down your gullet, how many handfuls of vitamins and essential nutrients you take every morning, how robust your exercise regimen is, or whether you subscribe to red light therapy or blue light therapy, everyone’s days are determined, and the number of their months are with Him.

Yes, the notion of quality of life is one that must be acknowledged, whether you’re stuck in a mobility scooter at twenty-five, wheezing through an oxygen mask, or being able to climb a flight of stairs without having heart palpitations is of consequence and something you have agency over, but as far as lengthening one’s days or extending the number of years we’ve been given, those limits have been appointed by God, and man cannot pass the limit that was set for him.

Given the technological advancements of recent decades, some have even taken it upon themselves to endeavor for immortality, something not given to man, no matter how rich, consequential, or willing to live as an echo of what they once were, a displaced brain in a machine, without the true spark of life, or the presence of a soul. It’s the fear of death that drives such individuals, and they fear death because they do not know life. They do not know life because they do not know God, and one cannot be known independently of the other.

They scramble about failing to live for fear of dying, believing they can circumvent divine order and extend the appointed limits that have been deemed unpassable. Men have always feared death to a certain degree, but given the anecdotal evidence available, none more so than this present generation.

It doesn’t take a deep dive to understand how void of hope in anything beyond this present life many have become. All it takes is looking back on the last few years and seeing how few of those who just months prior sang, “I’ve got a home, waitin’ in the heavenly kingdom, up where the streets are made of gold” until the rafters shook, did not give in to fear and continued about their lives rather than shrink wrap themselves and wait patiently in their basements for the all-clear. This shift in attitude towards death and the life to come is a clear sign of the fear that has gripped this generation.

Your days are determined, and the number of your months are with God. If that is the baseline of your reality, fear will never enter the equation or be allowed to hobble you in your duty toward Him.

If fear of death were a contributing factor to those who came before us, their testimonies would likely never have existed because, in their drive to spare themselves or extend their days, they would not have dared to stand before the masses who were set on their destruction, baying for blood, and proclaim the name of Jesus with their dying breaths.

Fear of death is bondage, and it’s usually those who are already dead that fear it, ever enslaved by it, more concerned about its inevitability and finality than receiving the life that would dispel it once and for all.

1 John 3:13-15, “Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

Although the broader conversation John was having focused on the love of the brethren, it cannot be overlooked that he was firmly convinced that he, along with those to whom he was writing, had passed from death to life. It is an often-seen theme throughout the New Testament, and something Job was not privy to because the Christ had not yet come.

Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean Job queried? No one! That was his conclusion, and at the time, he was not wrong. However, with the advent of Christ, we were given the grace to know salvation, transformation, and rebirth from death to life so that the bondage of fear would no longer hold sway over us.

Romans 6:8-10, “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, he died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”

Job had come to terms with his mortality, understanding that the only one who has agency over when we breathe our first and when we breathe our last is God and God alone. It’s undeniable that had Job had his way, he would have preferred it all to end till, like a hired man, he finished his day, but it was not up to him.

Your today will not determine your tomorrow, just as your yesterday did not determine your today. Yes, there are times and seasons in life when we cling to hope by the barest of threads, but the overarching assurance that if we died with Christ, we shall also live with Him gives us the strength to persevere and endure.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.