The only place to look is up when you are at the bottom. Job was decidedly at the bottom amidst his troubles when he chose to look up to his Creator:
"With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding ... With Him are strength and sound wisdom, The misled and the misleader belong to Him ... He reveals mysteries from the darkness And brings the deep darkness into light. He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away." Job 12:13, 16, 22
Job's faith may have wavered, but it was never shattered. Only a man looking up from the bottom could say, "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21).
Many can testify that their most profound spiritual experiences and encounters have been when they were at the bottom. With insulating comforts and routines stripped away, hidden spiritual realities become evident, as they were with Job.
It should come as no surprise that Jesus would declare that the greatest state of blessedness is to be found in brokenness. Those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, are blessed. Essentially He is saying, blessed are the broken, for they shall be made whole.
Had Job never experienced extreme brokenness, his story likely would never have been preserved in the canon of scripture for us to learn from. Perplexing as the problem of pain is, we see that there is ultimate wholeness on the other end of brokenness. While Job's story ends with wholeness in this age, ours might be realized in the age to come.
Given the option, none of us would choose trials and difficulties for ourselves. Taking our cues from Job, however, we see that our life might be greatly enlarged for the benefit of others through trials.
There is an old saying: "Two men look out through the same bars: one sees the mud, and one the stars." Whatever our lot in life, we have the option to see either the mud or the stars; the worse of life, or the best of our Creator. I choose, best as I can, to view the stars.
©Steve Taylor, 2022 --Used by permission
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“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith” Hebrews 13:7.