Today's Devotional Thought
September 20, 2010 by Wendy Foreman
Come Forth as Gold
Today’s verses are the words of Job. In case you don’t know who Job is, let me just tell you briefly. He was a righteous man who God allowed Satan to attack and destroy. Everything was taken from him except for his life and his wife. He loses his children, flocks, and his wealth.
In the midst of all of it, Job talks to God and that conversation is what is happening in our passage today. By this point in his story, Job is wondering why all of this is happening to him. He is checking his life for sin that might need to be repented. He knew that the wicked receive punishment and that only God could vindicate him if he so chooses. He was searching for some reason why he was going through such trials. In fact, in previous chapters, his friends have already approached him about secret sin and you see that Job, in these verses, desires to make a case before the Lord. If he could, then maybe this hardship would all pass. Maybe then God would see that he was a righteous man, a stand up person.
After he makes his case, we see Job’s words of trust and confidence in what the Lord is doing. Verse 10 is so beautiful. It is a verse of reassurance that God knows the path we take and that when this all comes to an end, we will come forth as gold.
Many times, as Christians, we face trials and temptations that we can’t always explain. We find ourselves, much like Job, trying to figure out what we did to be going through something so trying. And like Job’s friends, when we see someone else in the church going through something, we oftentimes wonder what sin is in their life that has caused them to face something like this. Be honest, we all feel this way and many of us think this way.
I recently heard someone say that the trials we face in life happen for many reasons. One is to help us grow in our trust and faith in Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can bring us through them and we learn that we can trust him when we experience the trials of life. Another reason that we face trials is that if we are to identify with others in their suffering, then we ourselves must and will face trials and suffering of our own.
I have had many opportunities to encourage and help other women because of circumstances that I have been through. I can relate to the pain and heartache they are experiencing because I have been there. None of us like to go through pain and suffering, but ladies, I have learned that if I am going to go through it then the Lord will use it for His glory.
Job knew he was following the Lord and he searched his heart and verse 10 tells us that when God knows our path and he tests us, we will come out like gold. When we go through those times that are so painful, that is when God is refining us. He is taking away all the impurities in our lives and making us more like Him. And, while we may have trials on this earth, they will be nothing compared to the joy of eternity. Romans 8:18 says “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.???
If you are suffering today and facing a trial that you don’t understand, let me encourage you by telling you that God loves you. He knows your hurt and your pain and He is waiting for you today to come to Him and lay at His feet to receive what it is that you need from Him today.
December