Year of the Bible: Part Seven of Twelve预览

Seeing Things More Clearly

At the beginning of Job’s story, God Himself describes Job with phrases like “blameless,” “none like him,” and “shunning evil” (Job 1:8). As righteous as Job was, he had lost perspective on God’s greatness. The prolonged interrogation by Job’s friends—who placed the blame for his problem squarely on Job himself—and the severe pain took a toll on Job’s thinking; Job started speaking of the unfairness of it all. In today’s readings, God reveals Himself to Job as the One able to create a hippo strong enough to stand perfectly confident in a raging river—a God powerful enough to create, tame, and guide the most fearful sea creatures.

God alone can bring perspective and realign our thinking. Humanly, we are focused on what our five senses discern; we only see things on earth and make conclusions based on those observations. To see things as God sees is only possible if God reveals them to us and requires a heart attitude that remains postured towards the Lord. Though Job struggled with wavering thoughts, he was still positioned to hear from God.

When Peter declared to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” the Lord replied that Peter hadn’t figured that out on his own but that the Father in Heaven revealed it (Matthew 16:16-17). Paul wrote that our lives are transformed when our minds are renewed by the truth of God’s Word. He also prayed that God would give believers the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him. We constantly need fresh encounters with the Lord to wash our minds of earthly thinking.

Question: Are you in a habit of asking for revelation from God? If not, why not?

Prayer: Ask the Lord for more and more knowledge of His greatness, goodness, and power and that He would help you keep your heart soft and open to the truth of who He is when life’s circumstances seem so large and ominous. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s perspective on your life and current situation.