Hi! I'm new at this, but here it goes...
Basic info: Wife, mother of two, grandmother of three, and working. I am also a daughter, watching and listening as my mother struggles to maintain some sense of normality.
A great experience last year: It seems odd even to me, but reading has been a great experience this past year. "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova, about a woman dealing with the mental aspects of Alzheimer's helped me better understand the dementia my mother struggles with daily.
A difficult experience last year: My difficult experience is tied with my great experience: My mother. And deciding what my part of caring for her should be while not forgetting the rest of my family I love so much. This leads me to the goals for this year.
Goals for this year: Read, enjoy the blessings God has already put in my life, open my eyes to see God's direction. A measurable goal is to read and put into practice Charles Stanley's book "Listening to God."
Something silly: I live in an apartment and love to read magazines about architecture. (When I get a chance, that is, which is not often.)
Something unusual: I was born in Alaska before it became a state. And, yes, I am the one who took Amy to that odd church.
Salvation experience: I grew up going to a Christian church. I enjoyed church, the youth group, summer camp, friends. I accepted Christ and was baptized at 15. But I had a lot of growing up to do. Then again, growing has a lot to do with the Christian way of life.
The contributions and comments of this blog have already been thought provoking. I am impressed by the openness, eagerness to learn, willingness to hear God in the struggles of life, seeing God's blessings far beyond the materialistic frame. I know I will learn a lot from each of you.
Job seems to be a hard story to read. I feel like I don't want to get to close to Job, as if some of his trials might fall on me. And yet some of Christianities best known quotes come from this man. Who can forget Job saying, "I know that my Redeemer lives."
I recently read a book about Job by Chuck Swindoll. He makes the point that the friends of Job started out pretty well. In the last verse of Job 2, we see Job's three friends silently sitting with him for seven days. Just there, on the ground, with Job, day and night. But soon those friends begin. I hear myself in those friends, maybe that is why I prefer to read the beginning and end of the book of Job. The weight of the middle chapters remind me of things I have said and thought of as I see others struggle. Of how going through my own struggles can seem to drag on and on.
I look forward to the contributions about the book of Job.
It seemed to me that there was a differentiation between Job's friends. Elihu was the last to speak. The Lord did not ask him to make amends for his words, as he did with the other three. This made me think about how their council differed.
ReplyDelete1. He listened to the others first before speaking. In humility he recognized their age and gave due respect, until it was his turn to speak. 32:6
2. He was angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. 32:2
3. He was angry with Job's friends for condemning Job without evidence. 32:3
I notice we are not told specifically that what he said was right, but we are not told it is wrong- versus the other friends who are called out by God.
I want to be a friend more like Elihu, and less like the others who want to find a sin that explained Job's trial.
Job's forgiveness astounds me. Maybe because he has just spoken with the Almighty he has the grace sufficient to forgive his friends who have been cutting him down. God creates an opportunity for restoration (how humbling for the friends) by asking Job to pray for them to be forgiven. Is this a foreshadowing of the Jesus who suffered and died though he did nothing wrong? Interesting that Job is blessed AFTER he prays for his unhelpful friends. I find that hate, bitterness and unforgiveness fills a person in such a way that God's blessings may not be received. Yet, would I be willing to so quickly forgive someone who hurt me deeply- especially if I was at a such a low point? I think only after a tremendous encounter with God's powerful grace.
I don't fully understand this story. Sometimes I want to ask the friends, What are you talking about? Please- use language I can understand! Some aspects strike me strange (Satan) and disturbing (his children are dead and will never be replaced like houses or sheep). Still, I admire the story because Job wanted to "wrestle God". Throughout the wrestling match he never doubts God's supreme authority.
Most of the wrestling is one sided and with other people (sounds familiar) until GOD SHOWED UP!
P.S. It's even funny to me that he can employ sarcastic humor in the midst of his devastation. "Oh, if you die (speaking to his friends) wisdom will die with you!"
And that really is amazing, that Job "never doubts God's supreme authority." I love that.
ReplyDeleteChuck Swindoll added a few claifying comments to add a little structure before diving into the dialogue between Job and his friends. Of course, nothing here is new, but the points helped me, even though they don't explain everything. (Paraphrased from "Job" by Charles Swindoll, pg 77-79.)
1. The beginning and end of Job is written as in narrative form, prose. The rest of the book is poetry. Beautiful, but a bit mysterious... The prose is historical, factual and straightforward, easier to understand, while the poetry is philosophical.
2. The poetic section begins as a mild discussion... then turns into an intense debate ... ends in a heated dispute.
3. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar "take turns" as they dialogue with Job... in three cycles. In the third cycle Zophar drops out and Elihu does a monologue, but Job never answers him.
4. Eliphaz bases his words on experience. He repeats the same phrase: "I have seen... I have seen." Bildad bases his words on tradition... "Inquire of past generations" (Job 8.8). Zophar, (the harshest of the three)... [his] impatient and angry words are based on assumptions. ...all three are legalistic. They are judgmental and condemning... Lets face it--we tend to do that same thing. We get so intent on setting the record straight...
Well, enough of that. Now he's getting personal. :)
Amy - Everything you wrote about was exactly what I was thinking as I read it!
ReplyDeleteWilma - This whole dialogue can be a little confusing but the points you made about structure helped clarify the overall story for me. The summary of where each friends was coming from really put their views into perspective. Thanks!
I also thought of how the 4th friend realized that it was the Almighty's spirit and not age that brings understanding. This knowledge is probably what gave him the courage to speak up without sugar coating it.