Examen Nation: Home Edition

And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? (Job 1:8, KJV)

In Sunday's sermon, Pastor Sam reminded us of God's response to the plight of Job. Job and his friends spent much time in reflection and discussion of Job's life after Satan received permission to afflict him. The friends insisted that Job must have sinned in order to have suffered such extreme calamity, while Job insisted that he had done nothing to deserve the losses he'd suffered.

Enter God.

In Job chapters 38 through 41, God speaks to his servant Job. But God's response did not address Job's sufferings. And as Pastor Sam pointed out, Job was never even told about the dialogue between God and Satan that brought about the sufferings he'd gone through. Instead, God called Job to consider the greatness, majesty, and power of God. Our pastor reminded us that we too, like Job, are called to focus on the goodness and greatness of God.

There are some Christians who daily engage in the discipline of examen, and it is a useful discipline for us to adopt if we aren't already involved in this practice. In examen, one takes time to reflect on the day's experiences. But the focus is not merely on the ups and downs of the day. The focus is on: a) recognizing the presence of God in our lives throughout the day, and b) being thankful for who God is and what He does, even as we seek His forgiveness and grace to help us look more like Him every day.

Are you suffering? Look to the Lord. Today let us choose to turn our eyes away from our challenges, and instead turn our attention to our God, the One who remains in complete control.

Lord God, we praise You for Your sovereignty!
You are great and mighty!
There is none on earth like You.

You see and know all things;
You are fully aware of our sufferings,
And You are touched with the pains we go through.

We stand, we kneel, we worship, we praise
on beds of affliction, or in church with hands raised;
We engage in what You have commanded us to do.

Though life is bitter, You, Lord, are sweet.
Though we want to run, we rest at Your feet
and rejoice
at the sound of Your voice:
"Behold, I make all things new..."

(G.A.R.)

It's One Or The Other...

“Sometimes life throws you curve balls... you cannot have a sovereign God and have luck. You cannot have a sovereign God and have chance. You cannot have a sovereign God and have fate.” –Rev. Andy Rubin

In this past Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Andy spoke of the importance of using the sovereignty of God as the reference point by which we understand and interpret life's circumstances. As an example, our pastor spoke of Job and Job’s wife. 

After a series of catastrophic events that caused them to lose all they had, Job and his wife responded in ways that were indicative of their reference points.

Job said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed!” In all this Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with moral impropriety. (Job 1:21-22)

Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God, and die!” But he replied, “You’re talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?” In all this Job did not sin by what he said. (Job 2:9-10)

Our pastor noted that if our circumstances serve as our reference point, then we will not have a consistency in our worship of the living God. Pastor Andy mentioned the analogy of curve balls. In baseball, a curve ball is a ball that the pitcher seems to be throwing in a straight line, but then the ball will suddenly break to the right or the left as it nears the batter. In life, a curve ball is an unexpected, unpleasant event that suddenly comes upon a person or place. For Job and his wife, there was a series of curve balls. For us in today’s context, we may face 'curve balls' that we had no idea would come to our doorstep: fires, tornadoes, job terminations, loss of loved ones, economic crises, or other things that will trouble our spirits and leave us with virtually nothing. In these times, we are warned by the example of Job and his wife: In your grief and shock, in your losses, do not withhold your worship of God. Instead, keep your focus on Him, making Him your reference point, and blessing His name even in the worst of circumstances.

What is your reference point today?

Meet My Friend!

Yesterday our guest speaker, Pastor Oliver, spoke on the experience of the disciple Thomas as recorded in John 20:24-28. I thought it might be an interesting parallel if we each spent some time today thinking of Biblical figures that we would be able to speak of as a friend, encouragement, inspiration, et cetera. If you have the time and inclination, you might want to even write out your reflections on whose stories resonate with you and why.

So, in light of Pastor Oliver's reflections on his friend Thomas, the disciple who doubted, I'd like to take a detour from the usual blog format and share reflections with you today about my friend Job.

Yes, bad things happen to good people. As the scripture says, rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. There is not always an easily definable pattern of cause and effect: we can think of Job and his perspective on the calamities that he experienced. Job was not privy to the heavenly dialogue that preceded the destruction of his family and livelihood (see Job chapter 1), and so from Job's perspective there may have been confusion and cognitive dissonance in seeing his lifestyle of humility and contrition "rewarded" with economic and familial disaster.

There is a challenge in whether we can say “God causes...” or “God allows...”. In a case like Job's I am inclined to say that God caused his experience, because it was God who pointed out Job to Satan (Have you considered my servant Job?). What can I say to that? Lord, how I want to stay in the background, but You have not called me to the background- sometimes people have to see how I respond in a crisis, how I worship You in the midst of a struggle, how I come back to You after falling into error....

Through the process, though, God has a way of showing up that makes it worth the crisis and the struggles that come our way. I believe He is glorified and greatly pleased when we as His children react in kindness and love when we have been bombarded with adversities. My prayer is that, when these situations occur, we as children of God will be aware and awake to recognize the hand of God in the midst of our struggle.