T H E O P H I L U S

Today’s Scripture Reading: Job 42

1 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”

Growing up in a Korean home, the food we ate was a significant part of our culture. Most of our traditions are based around food which signifies health, prosperity, and happiness. For Korean families, it is always important that one’s fridge is full, even if we were poor with everything else. It would be a priority to make sure the pantry was stocked and nobody went hungry, as hunger was in many moments a sign of poverty and shame. If it was healthy and said to bring you long life, there would be no spared expense to try it.

When I was much younger, in comparison to many of the other boys in our family I was a bit scrawny and small, often getting sick and allergies that would ail me whenever spring came around. Like many other Korean families with their children, my parents took me to a Chinese Herbalist who would judge the pigment of my skin and my tongue and diagnose all my health issues and would put together a strange dried concoction of shaved deer antler, ginseng, seahorse and all sorts of other strange things that almost sounded like something that would come straight from the books of J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter. These ingredients would be put into a pot and brewed into a tea. The one thing my parents stressed to me about this tea was that it was expensive – that I needed to drink every drop of it. To say the least, it was terribly bitter tasting and smelled of rotting garbage at times. But I would reluctantly chase it down with a caramel to get rid of the gross flavor of the tea – simply because I knew it was good for me. But let me tell you, if I had a choice at the time I sure wouldn’t have, no matter the health benefits. Strange enough, I recall that it somehow did help my health and boost my immune system.

Have there been times we have said one thing but meant another? We agreed to do something for someone or ourselves, but out of reluctance? I am sure many of us have had those moments. As a child our parents may have asked us to carry out chores to help around the house, but we did them by dragging our feet. Some of us, even after we were married and became parents still find ourselves doing the exact same thing. Even if we knew the benefits and the reasons behind certain things we are called to do in life we find ourselves desiring to do the opposite in many cases.

An Irony in Mere Obedience

The irony of human brokenness is that we can be fully obedient, yet sinful at the same time. The act of sin itself is only half of the issue. Instead what God is most concerned about is the heart and attitude behind it.

As Job repents to God, there is no recollection of any act of sin in itself. He was in that sense innocent. But what Job repents about is his attitude. It was rather the heart behind his speech; His presumptions about God’s plan and will for him; His misunderstanding of God’s character and intention behind the suffering he faced.

When Compared to the Awesomeness of God

The beautiful moment of this passage is Job’s recognition of God’s splendor and greatness even in the midst of his suffering and frustration. As he finally hears from God, he is also reminded of God’s power and grace. This is what draws him to repentance – that the awesomeness of God far exceeds what is most terrible in his life. Job’s attitude of spitefulness turns to a realization of his contradiction.

What can we learn from Job and his friends?

The common sin of both Job and his friends is that they presume much about God and let what is seen govern their perceptions of who and what God’s will is. The emotions become the driving factor of their attitudes toward one another and toward God. They allow what is physically measurable to become the measuring stick of God. They allowed religion and the things of God become the basis of their faith – that if one is faithful, one should receive everything. But this is not the kind of worship the Lord desires from us.

God does not allow us to go through difficult times for us to be downtrodden in judgement, but it is so that we would be sanctified in process of overcoming them. It is to become stronger in our faith and trust in Him out of it all, and that our worship would burn hotter for Him, and to know Him more. It is not to make us more religious but so that we would become revived – to change our hearts from spitefulness to stanzas of praise and worship.

God wants our minds to be filled with this kind of God-exalting truth as the incentive to our praying and our living. We are not to act on mere impulse or whim. We are to act on the knowledge of God-centered incentives.

– John Piper

Change my heart, Oh Lord!

Everyday that we live, through good and bad times, what God looks for in us is a heart of trust and surrender. It is not merely modified behavior and physical acts of obedience. Such actions are meaningless to God without the heart and attitude which ought to be transformed that accompanies them. What he desires is that he become our God and that we draw closer to Him. For us to let go of our idols that falsely lead us astray. He desires to reveal to us daily his plan and promises, and uses our painful moments to show us his glory. To reassure us even more the plan of redemption and salvation that awaits us in heaven. Therefore today, ask God for a changed heart. To be transformed into the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ – that you would experience the wonderful grace of His plan for you in Him.

I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

– Jeremiah 24:7

Photo by: Dominik Martin, https://unsplash.com/@dominikmartin