God Thoughts

11/2/2016

Job 23.10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. – Job

I used to think of Job as a theologian of sorts. I used to think, when I read Job, that everything he said was right on, and everything his three friends said was garbage. This time through, I’m thinking Job was a guy just like you and me (perhaps, apart from his wealth); What we read in Job are Job’s thoughts about God; thoughts just like you and I have.

It’s obvious from the text that Job and his friends had thoughts about God. The problem was their thoughts were stunted or incomplete. Now, Job certainly had experienced a calamity in his life and he was trying to figure out why – so the natural thing for him to do was to question God in his own way: why have You allowed this to happen to me?

I think Job chose to live an upstanding life. I’m not sure what he based that on, but because we get a peek into his life, we even hear God say: “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” Job was a good man by the standards of his time and by the testimony of God.

But Job only had thoughts of God. Unlike Abraham, Job didn’t sit down and have coffee with God; he was left to his thoughts. And Job understood that somehow God knew about him, even though all he had were thoughts of God. I think, at some point, everyone has thoughts about God. Some thoughts might be good thoughts about God and others maybe not so good. The more important question for me is do I think about God at all?

So, Job reasoned: But [God] knows the way that I take; when [God] has tested me, I will come forth as gold. Job’s thoughts led him to believe: though he himself had thoughts of God, God had knowledge of him. That’s important for all of us to know – that God knows us. And because Job thought that way, he reasoned that whatever was happening, and when it was all over, God would bring him (Job) forth as better. Job reasoned there was a positive plan a purpose to his calamity.

Do we do that? Do our thoughts of God allow us to reason that if God knows us and allows stuff to happen to us, that somehow, some way, we’ll be better for it in the long run? Job, in my estimation seemed to think that. Which brings me back to God thoughts:

What do we think the Almighty thinks about us? Obviously, Job lived in such a way as to garner attention from God; do we? Does that matter? Do we perceive there is a plan and a purpose to our lives? When stuff happens to us, do we thank God that His plan for us in on track or do we blame Him for disrupting our lives? Can we say like Job, “…when [God] has tested me, I will come forth [better]?

Where have our thoughts led us in thinking about God?

Father, You know me and know what I think. You know, more often than not, I am not pleased with my circumstances and arrive at a conclusion that I have somehow made You mad, and You are paying me back. Help me to elevate my thoughts of You above such whiny adolescence. You are about the business, not of fixing me, but of transforming me. Find me faithful and cooperative in Your process that I too, may come forth as gold… Amen.