I have heard of you before but now I see you
"I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance”(NLT) Job 42: 5-6
Inspired by the Song “God is not dead” by Newboys, I have a better understanding of Job’s statement in Job 42. After making all the arguments about his blameless state and how God must have been angry with him to have made him go through his painful life challenges, he finally gets God to respond with a few questions for him (Job) to answer as well. As expected by God, Job couldn’t answer any of the questions.
This brings us to some of the things we do as Christians. Whenever we find ourselves in situations that transcend our understanding and abilities, we begin to question the ways of God in our lives. I am guilty of this sin and I believe you too are trying to see yourself in this sad truth. There have been times when I ask God; “why me?” and the question I usually get in return is; “if not you, who else do you want to experience this?” After enduring some of these challenges, I have come to realize that these are precious moments of training from God. A training that has help me to increase in faith and stay strong in the Lord.
Many authors have written that when one ask for strength from God, He gives you trials and sees how you will stand in those perilous times. It is the same with Faith- you get challenges that require more trust in something that is humanly hopeless (e.g. not having a job for almost 5 years of graduating from school and having to feed your family). For Love, one may be faced with the challenge of accepting and being accepted by people who are unreasonable and selfish. When we find ourselves in any of these conditions, however, we begin to think that our God is either dead or doesn’t just care about us and what happens to us. Little do we know that He is silently answering the very same requests we might have placed before Him but which we expect answers in our own specific ways. In Jeremiah 29:11, God says He has a plan for our lives and it is to prosper us and not harm us. This implies that no matter our current situation (hard times and silent hours from God), God is with us in it, whether we see His hand or not, we need to know and believe His presence in everything we do.
Back to our story of Job, it was obvious that when God begun to question Job on how things were happening in the world, Job understood that God was indeed with him in his situation. God was aware of Job’s predicament but He was silent because He had a better life for Job, far better than the one he had which God allow the devil to take away from him. Similarly, we should see everything that happens in our lives (good or bad) as an opportunity for God to change our current situation and give us His best gift (James 1: 17- source of every good gift).