Job XCVII

 I’ve flown enough in my life to conclude that waiting is the hardest part. Whether you have a five-hour layover somewhere or rush to be at the airport two hours before your flight only to discover that it’s gotten delayed another three, it’s not the flying that’s cumbersome; it’s the waiting for something to happen.

The worst ones are those that keep delaying your departure time, keeping you in limbo, increasing your expectation that thirty more minutes of sitting next to the person who smells like head cheese and garlic in the waiting area is all it will take, only for someone to come on the loudspeaker and inform the gaggle of impatient souls that their departure was pushed another two hours.

The last flight we took together as a family got pushed back no less than four times, and what was supposed to be a five pm arrival ended up being a little after two in the morning. After the first two times, trying to instill patience in my daughters or insisting that this time they weren’t lying like they had the other two times became a pointless exercise. Sometimes, all you can do is wait. It’s annoying, irritating, uncomfortable, and draining, but it’s the only option afforded to you, and no matter how much you balk, scoff, or roll your eyes, it won’t make it go any faster. Getting home is not an option; it’s a necessity, and in order to get home, you must suffer the indignity of being told that a few more hours of sitting in an airport shouldn’t be that offputting.

This is the type of limbo Job found himself in, wherein God had not crushed him utterly and taken his life, but the life he currently had could hardly be called that. Time is a constant, yet depending on what you’re doing at any given moment, a day can seem like a breath or stretch on for ages. How we perceive the passing of time depends on whether or not what we are doing is cumbersome or enjoyable.

If I sit down to write, an hour can seem like a few minutes, but if I’m helping my daughter with her math homework, who is currently traversing the minefield known as fractions, a handful of minutes can seem like an eternity. When time seems to stretch, the intrusive thoughts attempt to burrow their way into one’s mind. What if I’ve forgotten the basics of fractions? It has been a minute since I had to sit in class and go through it, after all. What if I give her the wrong answer, and when the teacher asks why she hadn’t worked out the problem, my daughter spills the beans and informs the teacher I was the mastermind behind her failed attempt at getting the right answer?

It’s one thing to be informed that your child is failing math. It’s another to be informed that they’re failing math, knowing you’re the one who’s been doing their homework for them. What does that say about your mental wherewithal? For the sake of full disclosure, no, I’m not doing my daughter’s homework for her. She works out the problems, and I confirm whether she has the right answer or not. That I use the calculator on my phone to confirm it is a shame I will never live down, but we’re all gifted in different areas, and fractions is not one of mine.

By this point, Job was weary. He’d been in this state of subsisting for so long that death would have been a comfort to him and something he’d requested of God. Oh, that it would please God to crush me, that he would loose His hand and cut me off! At least then, there would be a finality to the pain and torment he suffered. At least then, there would be an end.

I can’t say I’ve ever been in such a mental state; then again, few men have gone through what Job went through in mankind’s history. It’s one thing to suffer persecution at the hands of others. You know who’s doling out the suffering, and you know what you’re suffering for. Understanding the purpose of something makes it easier to endure. If you know the ‘why,’ the knowledge of it will fortify your resolve and give you strength you never knew you had. Job, however, was ignorant of what had taken place between God and Satan or that he’d been given free rein to be sifted. All he knew was that he’d lost his possessions, position, progeny, and bodily health, yet had no explanation for it. He knew himself not to have concealed the words of the Holy One, regardless of what Eliphaz had implied, and he was ready for it to be over.

The thing about being sifted or tested is that you don’t get to determine the length of time it will last or its severity. You can only determine whether or not you will cling to God, remain faithful, and defer to His sovereignty in all things. If we had it our way, none would be tested, none would be tried, and none would be sifted. It would be akin to the modern-day narrative of raising one’s hand, saying a prayer, and enjoying smooth sailing and sunny skies for the rest of our days.

Whether or not we possessed true faith would be irrelevant, as would whether or not we’d established our hearts to follow Christ no matter the cost. The only problem is that this is neither true faith nor is it the true way. There’s no such thing as a pampered soldier. You can’t claim to be a warrior if you’ve never trained for war, nor can you claim to be a true follower of Christ if your commitment to Him extends only insofar as He blesses you coming and going. Your devotion, faithfulness, and obedience are not conditional upon whether or not God gives you something you really want or someone you really desire. A servant does not make demands of his master, and he does not cease to serve if his master does something contrary to his desires.

To hear some tell the tale, it is God who is subservient to us, not we to Him, and this mindset is the root of rebellion that seems to have dug deep within the hearts and minds of many within the church. God isn’t looking for my consent or yours. There is not one instance within the entirety of scripture where God came to someone and said, “Hey buddy, do you think I should do this? I’m struggling here; give me your input since I value it more than my inclinations.”

When we see ourselves as more than bondservants of Christ and servants of God, entitlement becomes a given, and when what we feel we’re entitled to doesn’t materialize, we grow bitter and resentful for not getting our way.

Job knew that God was sovereign. He understood that He does as He wills, and even though Job would have preferred to be done with it all, God had other plans and denied his request.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job XCVI

 Job 6:1-10, “Then Job answered and said: ‘Oh, that my grief were fully weighed, and my calamity laid with it on the scales! For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea – therefore my words have been rash. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me. Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass, or does the ox low over its fodder? Can flavorless food be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg? My soul refuses to touch them; They are as loathsome food to me. Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant me the thing I long for! That it would please God to crush me, that He would loose His hand and cut me off! Then I would still have comfort; Though in anguish I would exult, He will not spare me; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.’”

There’s what men think, then there’s what God knows. As is often the case, what men might think about a particular situation may not be what God knows about it, so when we are faced with the opinions of friends and strangers alike, our only recourse is to plead our case before God.

After Eliphaz had his say, it was Job’s turn to respond, and the first words he spoke were an attempt to try and get his friends to understand the depth of his pain, the depth of his grief, and the depth of his anguish. They could not know the sorrow of his heart because they’d never been in a comparable situation. Intellectually speaking, you understand the feeling of loss when someone loses a loved one or when their world crumbles around them, but until you’re the one going through it, it’s an intellectual exercise rather than the feeling that your heart is being raked over hot coals while being pricked with sharpened bamboo shoots without any relief in sight.

When I was younger, I used to get frequent gout attacks. For those with gout, you know that the pain can be excruciating, and although friends and family alike understood that I was experiencing pain, they could not fathom the level of pain because they’d never had to suffer the like. At first, they’d try to sympathize, but as they saw me hobble from one area of the house to the other, cringing and gritting my teeth, they couldn’t help but wonder if I was leaning into it, exaggerating the pain because surely nothing could hurt so bad as to make one’s eyes well up with tears from simply standing up.

While Eliphaz was speaking, Job had time to reflect, and although he found merit in his words, he began his response with an attempted explanation of why he was in the state he was in. Oh, that my grief were fully weighed, and my calamity laid with it on the scales! For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea – therefore my words have been rash. You think you know what I’m going through, but you really don’t was the summation of Job’s response, for if my calamity were laid on the scales, it would be heavier than the sand of the sea. My words may have been rash, but given the situation, they are justified, Job proffered.

It’s nigh impossible to put pain into words. Poetic as Job’s words may have been, he still hadn’t scratched the surface of the tumult in his heart, layer upon layer of pain and grief that continued unabated.

The book of Job is no less than an existential drama, played out before our eyes, and at first glance, it would seem Job had given in to hopelessness and desperation, but it is not so. Yes, he stared into the bottomless vortex of despair, and save for his faith in the God he served, he would have likely delved headfirst, but faith sustained him, even if marred, bruised, and broken as he was.

To expect someone to go through what Job went through and be wholly unaffected is unrealistic. If this had been the case, and if he’d brushed everything that had happened to him off as if nothing had happened, one would likely question his sanity, if not his humanity. It’s not a sin to feel loss; it’s not a sin to mourn, but we cannot give in to despair and despondency no matter how great a loss we may be feeling at the moment. Job felt despair but did not surrender to it. He felt despondency but did not relent in keeping his faith and hope firmly tethered to God.

It’s easy to trust God when everything is going your way. It’s easy to place our trust in Him when every choice we make turns out to be the right one and every task we undertake is met with great success. The challenge, and something that can only be accomplished by having fellowship and a well-established relationship with Him, is maintaining faith and trust when everything goes sideways. The hard part is concluding that though He slays me, yet I will trust Him and meaning it.

The answer to whether or not we will continue to trust God when everything is crumbling around us when all seems dim and hopeless, is contingent on the level of intimacy we have with Him, whether we spent the time we were given building up our most holy faith, and growing in Him. Trust is a process. It doesn’t materialize overnight. I trust God more now than I did five years ago, and I trusted him more five years ago than I did ten years before that. It is because He has proven His love, His goodness, His faithfulness, and His kindness that my trust in Him is established and cemented, and I would wager if given more time on this earth, I will trust Him more with each passing day due to the aggregate experiences through which He has shown His power and presence.

If you can’t trust God in the little things, or during the seasons of plenty, chances are you will not trust Him in the big things, or when the world descends into a permanent tailspin from which it can’t course correct. Your actions today will determine the level of your faith tomorrow. Knowing this, the paramount question we must answer in all that we do is whether or not the action itself is helping to build our faith and trust in God. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job XCV

 If we all got what we deserved, and God used karma as a metric, then we’d be seeing a lot more people sitting on ash heaps scratching at themselves with potsherds. All have fallen short, even those who think of themselves as spiritual giants, because the Word of God neither exaggerates nor generalizes.

If, during his monologue, Eliphaz had retained a modicum of self-awareness, he would have likely been less brutal in his judgment of Job. Rather than insist that Job had done something so nefarious as to cause the death of his ten children and the loss of all material possessions, a better perspective would have been to conclude that if such a thing could happen to Job, a man known for his uprightness in the land, how long before his own turn on the threshing floor?

It’s easy to judge and level ad hominem attacks without regard for the situation beyond the individual's current state. He’s homeless; therefore, he must be a deadbeat, lazy, unfocused, unwilling to work, likely on drugs, perhaps an alcoholic, with a penchant for gaming the system. If you took a moment to hear the man’s story, you would discover that he was once a successful surgeon who lost his wife and baby in the same accident that left him unable to do his job due to a tremor in his hands and after the mourning and the debt collectors and the feeling of hopelessness pressing in from all sides, he found himself living on the street with no prospects and no genuine friends to be there for him in his time of need. People he once helped pretended not to know him or turn the other way when they saw him walking down the street, and the bitterness and resentment were too much to bear.

Not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance. Some things are nuanced and complicated and require wisdom and discernment on our part. The more in tune we are with the Holy Spirit, the easier it becomes to discern when an opportunity to be a comfort, encouragement, and a help presents itself, understanding that such situations don’t materialize out of the ether but are orchestrated by the hand of God.

When Paul writes to the Hebrews encouraging them to entertain strangers because by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels, it wasn’t a throwaway line or something waved off as hyperbole, but something he knew to be valid and verifiable. This doesn’t mean everyone you run across is an angel in disguise, but if you are open to the urging of the Holy Spirit in your day-to-day life, at some point, you will run across someone who you will help that you’ll likely never seen again, but who leaves an indelible mark on you. You remember the person, and perhaps days, weeks, or months after the encounter, you start to wonder if there was something more to them than just an individual in filthy rags rummaging through a dumpster for scraps.

What makes the book of Job more challenging to decipher than other books of the Bible is that there are things in Eliphaz’s discourse that are demonstrably factual and true, some of them even being quoted by Paul as he writes to the churches, more specifically his first letter to the Corinthians. In contrast, others are mere conjecture or conclusions based on personal experiences he had as an individual. To know which is which, one must have a proper understanding of Scripture and is required to spend time in the Word so as to determine what is divinely inspired and what is man’s machinations.

As is often the case, men layer personal opinion or conviction atop biblical truth, hoping no one takes the time to discern and ferret out which is which. It’s become a staple of the modern-day church, and we can see its effects among the sheep who are frozen in place by all the confusion that personal opinion dressed up as gospel truth has wrought.

While Eliphaz’s discourse had some timeless truths peppered in, it also held much innuendo and a predisposition toward the notion of causality regarding Job’s situation.

As he concludes his oration, Eliphaz makes mention of the wisdom of God in all things, a wisdom superior to our limited understanding that we must defer to in times of uncertainty. Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore, do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. When you’re in it, it’s easier said than done, but it is nevertheless true. If God didn’t care, if He was indifferent and unconcerned about our spiritual state, then He would leave us to the desires of our heart, where everything goes, nothing is off limits, and self-destruction is a given.

Although what Eliphaz said was true generally speaking, within the context of Job’s situation, he was off the mark because, unbeknownst to him, this was not God’s correction, nor was it His chastening, but a testing of his faith. What he spoke was factual; God chastens those He loves, but the context in which this truth was used was inappropriate given Job’s circumstances.

You can say the right thing at the wrong time and quote scripture out of context to the point that it will shatter an already broken heart.

If you’re counseling parents regarding their older son being violently aggressive toward his sibling, telling them that Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him is likely not the best thing that could come out of your mouth. It’s in the Bible, quoted verbatim, yet the context requires a different approach.

The Word of God is not intended to bludgeon people or strip away the last vestiges of their hope. The Word was given to us that we might know the truth, and by knowing it, we would be made free. It was given to us that we might know Christ and the power of His resurrection. It was given to us that we may know the measure of God’s love for mankind in sending Jesus. It was given to us that we might know the way to the Father, not to build our fiefdoms here on earth and twist it to the point that it becomes unrecognizable whenever it suits us. Situational saints are saints in name only, and those who discount entire swaths of Scripture because it doesn’t fit their narrative are not worthy of His name.   

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job XCIV

 The more things change, the more they stay the same. So the proverb goes, and given the benefit of reading of those who came before and seeing this present generation, it’s not far off the mark. Times may change, and technology may advance, but as far as people are concerned, they are stubbornly consistent from generation to generation.

Even though Eliphaz and his two friends only possessed a partial understanding of God, they felt it within their right to pass judgment on Job, as though they understood the full measure of why he was being allowed to suffer the things he was, and why all his possessions had been turned to dust.

They considered that what they knew of God was enough to assess, conclude, and judge a given situation, fully confident that they had the right of it and that what they were doing was within the confines of God’s thoughts. In modern-day parlance, they were sure that what they were doing was what Jesus would do, even though what Jesus would do couldn’t be any more different than what they were doing.

It’s that kind of mindset that leads some to pass judgment on those who are currently suffering for the gospel’s sake, insisting that they don’t have enough faith to prosperity think their way out of the situation they’re in, not once considering the possibility that they are being tested and tried, that they may be purified and all the more glorious in the sight of God.

I’ve heard it often enough wherein it’s leeched every ounce of sympathy out of me, and I can no longer waive off such statements as ignorance or foolish words. Perhaps it’s my age and the fact that getting older hasn’t mellowed me out, or that I’ve had to deal with such naïve quasi-intellectualism for too long, but I just can’t abide it when someone whose only knowledge of God is the three half verses they’ve memorized and use out of context every chance they get look their noses down on those who carry the scars of their faithfulness on their bodies.  

Do you mean to tell me that men and women, brothers and sisters in Christ who are currently being martyred for the sake of Christ, don’t have enough faith? You mean to tell me that these individuals who would not deny Jesus on pain of death are lacking conviction and understanding of their duty toward God to the point that you can demean them and look down on them, concluding that they are somehow spiritually inferior to you?

It is a grace to know what you know and acknowledge what you don’t know. It is a grace to be humble enough to understand that for now, we see in a mirror dimly, and we understand in part, and though many have claimed to have had confabs with the almighty Himself, staring into His eyes and sitting on His lap, none have proven to be true.

Whenever we hear of someone going through a hardship, it’s easy to run into the arms of causality and conclude that they must have done something to deserve the thing that has come upon them. Although the law of cause and effect may apply in some instances, it is not absolute. It is relative at best, especially when it comes to spiritual matters; causality may not be the reason someone is going through a hardship, and to jump to a conclusion without having all the necessary evidence is foolhardy and childish.

It’s an easy out, especially when we don’t possess discernment or a proper understanding of what God is doing in someone’s life. Rather than take the time to pray, fast, and seek the face of God as to why someone is going through a trial, it’s easier and more expeditious to conclude that they must have done something; therefore, what is happening to them is as a direct result of the thing they did.

Jumping to such conclusions and verbalizing them with all the certainty of one who will not be swayed by reason or evidence is oftentimes as painful to the individual currently suffering as the tragedy itself.

If I come to you for comfort and a shoulder to cry on, and you start beating me about the head and shoulders with the rod of self-righteous zeal, insisting that I’ve done something I know I haven’t, however close I may have deemed you, my thoughts regarding you, our friendship, and our bond will inevitably sour.

Job’s three friends showed great wisdom in sitting with him in silence for seven days. Not so much once they started speaking and trying to use human reason to explain something they had no understanding of.

Come on, brother, we all know that affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble spring from the ground; there has to be a cause; there has to be something that precipitated the events that led to your demise, sitting on an ash heap and scratching at yourself with a potsherd. Just think about it. What did you do?

Those must have been some truly crushing words to Job’s ears because although Eliphaz was insistent that there had to be an underlying cause to the situation he found himself in, Job knew of nothing he had done to displease the Lord.

May we be wise enough to know and understand when silence is our best and only course of action. May we be wise enough to know and understand that sometimes God allows seasons of trial and sifting in the lives of His children, not because they have sinned, erred, or become wayward children but because He is purifying them and growing their faith through it.

Personal experience is not determinative in understanding the truth. Personal experience must be proof-tested with the truth, fall in line, and harmonize with the Word of God to be deemed true. Just because I personally feel some kind of way about something is wholly irrelevant if it doesn’t align with the word of God. We’ve taken to placing personal opinions, dreams, visions, or what we deem to be some sort of revelation above the word of God, ignoring it over what we believe to be the truth, and not only is that foolish and ignorant, it is dangerous and destructive.

Based on personal experience, Eliphaz concluded that Job must have sinned. He must have done something to displease God, and as we know, he could not have been further from the truth. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.               

Job XCIII

 Growing in the knowledge of God necessarily makes you more humble. It is an undeniable reality borne out by true believers throughout time. The knowledge of Christ will not engender pride but rather humility to the utmost. The more you draw closer to Him, your own wretchedness becomes all that much clearer, and as a result, the reality of what Jesus did for us on the cross crystallizes in our hearts and minds. It’s one thing to discover someone paid for a twenty-dollar layaway item at Kmart on your behalf; it’s another to realize that Jesus took your death sentence upon Himself and saved you from eternal torment by His own blood and sacrifice.

Herein lies the majesty of what Jesus did, that while we were yet sinners, He died for us. We stand not in our own righteousness but in His. Because it was not of our own making, we have nothing to boast in, save Him, yet every day, I run across some individual or another who insists that none among the eight billion souls currently living on the earth meet their standards of uprightness. It’s not God’s standard they’re referring to but their own.

If your walk with God does not produce humility but rather a self-righteous, judgmental mindset wherein you sit in judgment of all those around you, insisting that none comes close to achieving your righteousness because they fail to do or practice some extra-biblical thing that you insist has become the salvific issue it isn’t, repent now, while you still have time.

The tendency to jump to conclusions when we don’t have all the relevant information or adopt the mindset of Eliphaz when someone we know is going through a trial is an urge we must resist because it neither comes from God nor does it do anything to bind up the wounds of one who is hurting. There are countless pet doctrines we go to war over within the household of faith, and every day, a new one seems to spring up when the old ones run out of gas or forward momentum.

I’ve been in ministry long enough to see the shifting tides and the new-fangled thing some addle-brained individual came up with, which then spread like wildfire, taking the focus off Jesus and placing it on whether or not we’ve memorized the book of Enoch, whether the giants were fallen angels or aliens, and a glut of other theories with no basis in scripture save for a passing handful of words that some have managed to convert into a cottage industry.

A distraction is still a distraction, even if it is well-meaning. If the enemy can get me to stop focusing on Christ and the cross, if he can get me to look elsewhere save for Jesus, then I will no longer see my wretchedness in light of His glory, nor will I continually consider all that He has done for me. That’s the first step in a spiritual decline that will have me roaming the wilderness looking for something to supplement the relationship and intimacy I had with Him while I remained in Him, and the same enemy that served up the distraction will provide the supplemental shiny new thing, recently unearthed from the papyrus of old that will illuminate me above my contemporaries and give me a heretofore untapped knowledge that will make me spiritually superior to the Apostles of old.

Folly and vanity are what it is, and if you think the enemy is proffering new doctrines because he has your spiritual best interest at heart, you’ve deluded yourself into believing the lie wholesale.

But just Jesus is too boring. We have to give the people something new, less vanilla and more spice, to keep them interested and engaged. If that’s your mindset, then I fear you never knew the real Jesus nor ever took the time to grow a bond with Him. Throughout the ages, countless souls have dedicated themselves to the pursuit of Christ, lost their freedom and even their lives for His name’s sake, yet here we sit, overfed but undernourished, rolling our eyes at the mention of Christ, as though He were some passing fad and not Lord and King of all.

Job and his friends did not have the benefit of Scripture; they did not know the name Christ, nor were they aware of the prophecies that would be spoken of Him thousands of years later, which, in turn, would come to pass centuries after they were delivered. They had a sliver of an understanding of God’s love, no understanding whatsoever of His plan to send His only begotten Son to redeem mankind, yet the little understanding they possessed compelled them to commit their ways unto the Lord and seek Him as the priceless treasure He is.

It’s often been said that if God did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah, He must surely judge this generation for its sin and depravity. Far fewer, however, have insisted that if Job and his friends could know God given the limited resources they had at their disposal concerning Him, then this generation will be without excuse for their ignorance, but that conclusion, even if not so popular, is likewise true.

We are a generation without excuse, both within and without the church, because we’ve squandered the time we were given and gone in search of gurus, mystics, strange fire, and strange doctrines, seemingly anything and everything else except for the risen Savior who gave His life that we might have life. Stop looking for saviors outside of Jesus because there aren’t any. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Him.

This isn’t me belaboring the point. This is me trying to explain why the judgment that is soon to fall upon the house of God is not only justified but sorely needed. When God is done, all that will remain of the false Christs, the false prophets, the false apostles, the false shepherds, the false brethren, and the false church will be dust and ash. It will be very much like what Job experienced with one all-important difference: While Job was being tested by God, these men, institutions, and false deities will be judged by God. They will be under judgment, not under testing, and we will see the marked difference between the two. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job XCII

 Even though the words Eliphaz spoke were delivered as criticism of Job, one can’t help but notice that for a man who did not have the benefit of Scripture, the written Word, or a theological seminary, there was much wisdom and a right understanding of who God is, and what He can do.

If not for the presupposition that Job was being punished rather than tested, Eliphaz’s words would have been uplifting, encouraging, motivational, steeped in truth, and quotable enough to make their way onto a piece of driftwood for sale at Marshal Goods. It doesn’t bode well for the contemporary church when a man with no formal training or the Bible as a source of wisdom has a better grasp on the nature, justice, and sovereignty of God than most mega-church pastors today.

How can this generation be more ignorant of God’s word with all the available resources than an individual who grew up in the plains, living in a tent, without the benefit of any of the things we take for granted? We’re not even talking about lay people; we’re talking about men who see themselves as shepherds of the sheep.

Consider that during the time of Job, the laws of Moses hadn’t even been delivered, never mind the revelation of Christ, His life, death, burial, and resurrection, yet Job and his friends retained enough of a knowledge of God to conclude such profound truths as to leave modern-day scholars scratching their heads in befuddlement.

Throughout time, God has revealed Himself to those willing to see His hand at work. It didn’t take workshops or stuffy classrooms; it just took a desire to know, see, and press in. Ever since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes have been readily visible and understood by the things that are made. That’s okay; we fixed it, though. We came up with our pea-brained theory of a big explosion that set everything in perfect order in our attempt to explain away His eternal power because it meant we wouldn’t have to contend with the reality of a sovereign Creator who rules and reigns supreme over His creation.

It’s not that one is easier to believe over the other. Between believing that a guiding hand was responsible for molding the universe, creating man from the dust and the earth, and setting everything in its proper place, and a big bang that made something out of nothing, it’s far easier to accept the reality of a Creator, than an accident that brought about everything we see today. It’s not that His attributes are not plainly seen; it’s that mankind refuses to see them because of the underlying implications.

If there is a God over all, then I am accountable for my actions. I must own the consequences of whether I believe or not and one day answer for my rejection of Him. It would mean that I am not the master of my destiny, that I don’t dictate terms, and that I must be subservient to the One who breathed life into me.

Romans 1:18-21, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

If men are ignorant of God today, it is willful ignorance. It’s akin to a man walking into the noonday sun, putting a sack over his head, and insisting that there is no sun. It’s all darkness, all dread; the sun does not exist to them, even though their action is what caused them to be ignorant of it. Does this mean the sun ceased to be? Just because they covered their faces and shut their eyes, does the sun now bow to their denial and blink out of existence? No, it doesn’t, and though they may deny the existence of the sun, those around them will attest to the reality that it exists; it burns bright and lights the world with its warmth.

Men’s god complex and rebellious hearts are keeping them from knowing the one true God, even though since the beginning of creation, His invisible attributes are clearly seen. Eliphaz and his two friends understood that there was something more than themselves, had seen the hand of God at work in their lives, and it is the undeniable reality they lived. They likewise knew Job was a man of faith, one who was faithful and upright, but the one thing they couldn’t reconcile is how so horrible a thing could happen to one who retained his integrity and uprightness.

Eliphaz even went so far as to give in to the whispers of the enemy, who insisted that Job’s faithfulness had to be some sort of pretense since a mortal could not be more righteous than God and a mortal could not be more pure than his Maker. But that’s not something Job ever claimed, nor was it something God ever said about Job. That’s what the enemy does. He twists the truth to sow doubt and subverts it to transform the meaning of something clear into a bog of confusion.

What God said about Job wasn’t that he was more righteous than his Maker, but that he was a blameless and upright man who feared Him and shunned evil. The devil knew this to be the case, but that didn’t stop him from speaking lies and half-truths to the point that the three friends who had sat with Job in silence for seven days were now on the warpath, trying to ferret out what hidden sin he harbored in his heart that had brought the wrath of God upon his head. 

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr. 

Job XCI

 God does not attempt to perfect those who do not know Him. They are under judgment. Why would He offer such a priceless gift to those who despise Him? Why would He attempt to mold someone into the image of His Son if they are ignorant of Him?

Those who do know Him, who desire and hunger after Him, are continually being pruned because God’s love for us is such that He desires us to be complete in Him, in His image, walking in His authority, with no impurities or imperfections nesting in the corners of our hearts. God is our heavenly father, and He wants the best for us. What we define as best might not be what He sees as best. Just as any earthly father will discipline, mold, and teach his progeny things that may seem difficult at first glance but that will reap a lifelong reward once they are mastered, God grows us so we learn to walk by faith, daily stretching us and getting us out of our comfort zone so as to not remain static ever reliant on milk.

We grew up poor. By we, I mean my brothers and I. My mom worked odd jobs cleaning homes, my dad worked two jobs, and the first few years were difficult to the point of desperation. When you have the Mexican family in the adjoining apartment bringing you a block of government cheese, you kind of know where you stand.

I wish I could say that my childhood didn’t mark me, but it did. One of the most vivid memories I have of our first few months in California was walking to the local grocery store, seeing the aisles stock full of all manner of things, wanting to fill the cart with cookies and cereal, and my mom counting out quarters, nickels, and dimes hoping we had enough for a gallon of milk and a loaf of white bread.

I remember the feeling of seeing what seemed like wonderful things to my adolescent eyes and not being able to have them, and because of my experiences, I have to fight the urge to spoil my daughters and give them everything they want because I know it would not be good for them in the long run.

If they had their way, there would be nothing but chocolate in the fridge, the cupboard, and the pantry. All five food groups rolled up into one delicious morsel. Because I know an all-chocolate diet would be detrimental to their health, I have to curb my compulsion to say yes to everything or let them eat chocolate until they pass out, and although I can see the disappointment in their eyes, or that look emblematic of all children, I have to insist that they include broccoli in their diet as well. Do they love broccoli? Hardly. What child does? But they eat it because their mother and I insist upon it, and although they may not shower us with gratitude presently if we’re still around when they’re all grown up, they’ll thank their mother and me for not giving in to their desires.

You discipline your children, teach them right from wrong, and deny them certain things not because you’re mean but because you love them. You know that their momentary cheerfulness and joy at having received what they desired will have detrimental effects further down the road, and so, even at the risk of tears or pouty looks, you still say no. Getting everything you want may not be the best thing for you, and because God knows best, you must defer to Him in such matters. It’s as simple as that, but as with most things, we tend to complicate it to the point of insisting that our will supersedes His, and though He knows how many hairs you have on your head, He’s ignorant of this one thing you really want and insist you should have.

God chastens those He loves. He corrects, refines, and perfects those who are His. It’s a hard truth but a Biblical truth, and we must acknowledge it as such. What you may think is your ideal may be the snare that has you weeping in the dark, hoping that the sun never rises. What you may think would be the blessings of all blessings might be quicksand you’ll never be free of. Trust God. Not in some things, but in all things, and the beauty of His way will one day be clear to you.

God is a constant. He is a fixed point, and wherever you are, you can look up to see Him, and as long as you are journeying toward Him, you know you’re headed in the right direction. Because He promised that if we seek Him, we will find Him, there is never confusion, doubt, or a sense of being lost and wandering about without purpose or direction. He is the north star of our spiritual walk, and wherever we may be, His presence helps us find our way and orient ourselves.

It’s when we ignore Him or think we know a shorter path to Him that we tend to get in trouble, and although He is still there, a beacon of light in a world of darkness, many pretend as though He’s not.

When we find ourselves in seemingly untenable situations, the first instinct is to look to the left and to the right, hoping someone within our circle of friends, acquaintances, or brothers and sisters in Christ will lend a hand. Most assuredly, there is a time and place for the help of friends and family, but we must never forget that our help comes from the Lord. He may use people to bring it about, but rather than look around us in panic, hoping someone will step up, our first reaction should be to look up, fix our eyes upon Him, and press ever onward. It’s not something that is inherent or instinctual. It’s a learned reaction based on lived experience, wherein we know that if we trust in Him, He will make a way.

I don’t mean to spoil the ending for you, but in his current state, shattered and broken, a boil-covered husk of his former self, Job could not have foreseen a means by which everything he’d lost would be restored to him, but what seems impossible to man is more than possible to God. I know my redeemer lives. I know He will make a way. That alone is enough to carry me through the dark seasons of this life.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.