Wednesday's Big Idea: Standing Firm Moving Forward

Today's idea comes from Job 11:13-19 (biblegateway.com):

"13 Yet if you devote your heart to him
and stretch out your hands to him,

¹⁴ if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,

¹⁵ then you will lift up your face without shame;
you will stand firm and without fear.

¹⁶ You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.

¹⁷ Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.

¹⁸ You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.

¹⁹ You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor."

The words of Zophar to Job were the right answer to the wrong question. Zophar understood Job's circumstances no more clearly than Job himself, drawing upon conventional (and correct) wisdom to solve a problem that Job wasn't having. The problem with Zophar's answer was that Job had already met the requirements Zophar laid out. Job's problem was that he thought God was punishing him unjustly when, in fact, He wasn't punishing him at all.

This long preface only to say that Zophar's words still remain true, despite his misapplication of them. David repeats many of these themes as do the writers of the New Testament epistles. Our application comes both from cause and effect:

CAUSE:
- devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him
- put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent

EFFECT:
- You will lift up your face without shame
- You will stand firm and without fear
- You will surely forget your trouble
- Life will be brighter than noonday, and darkness will become like morning.
- You will be secure, because there is hope
- You will look about you and take your rest in safety.
- You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor.

We must certainly be wary of employing the cause simply because we desire the effect. A parent knows the difference between a child who is obedient because he wants a good Christmas gift and child who is obedient because he loves and honors his parents. God can penetrate our hearts much more precisely than any earthly parent and so our challenge is simply to devote our heart and stretch our hands because we love God. Do we desire good things? Yes. But more than "good things", we desire good relationship with God - that is the best thing. Further, a good relationship with God grants us the "effects" even when we are in Job's position.

I don't want to gloss over suffering and loss, that is real, as is the accompanying pain. It's how we deal with those things that is fundamentally changed when we are in good relationship with God. So we come to prayer on Wednesdays to devote our hearts, stretch our hands and confess our sins.

More to come.