Joab's Fire Chapter 20 Discussion

In times of great sorrow and anguish we have a place of safety in the Lord, but we must be willing to go there and treasure that place as better than any other.

Job 10

v2-3 "I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; show me wherefore thou contendest with me. Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?"

Here we find Job questioning God's actions. He wants God to reveal to him why God is "seizing him by the hair" or "rending his clothes" which is the picture meaning of the Hebrew word for contendest.

Job's language is one of bitterness. "Is it good for you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favor the counsel of the wicked?" (verse one Job says he will speak from the bitterness of his soul and here we see him doing so).

Remember that Job is being tested.

If you have ever had an accident where you had lost the ability to walk and then were in therapy, you would know how painful and difficult each step is. This is Job's step of faith. It isn't easy. It is painful. And it is necessary for his walk with the Lord. He has to do this before he can continue with the Lord. A painful step but a necessary one. So yes, he's complaining. He's fighting it. He's crying and screaming and not wanting to go forward because it seems impossible.

But let's keep looking at Job's thoughts.

V 4-6 "Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth? Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days, that thou inquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?"

Job questions whether God really understands Job's situation. Have you ever said similar things to God? "You just don't understand, God." And note that it is linked to Job's sense of guilt. Job might be thinking about something he had done that in the eyes of some may have been questionable. Job, in essence, is searching himself to see if there is sin, but not with a perfect eye. He doesn't understand why God, who knows everything about Job, would treat him as such. Job doesn't believe that he has done anything to deserve what he is getting. Job, in verse 15, is full of confusion.

In all of this, what does Job want from God? An explanation as to why God is treating him in this way. And of course, he wanted it to end.

What did Sarah Black in Joab's Fire long for? Comfort, to return to her life in Ontario.

What did her momma symbolize? Comfort and security, peace, a good life.

Where do you retreat to in times of great sorrow and stress?

• Do you disappear in a bottle?
• Do you delve into comfort foods?
• Do you have a favorite pillow you hug?
• Do you indulge in a favorite movie?
• Do you have a favorite book?
• Do you have a trail you hike, a favorite place in nature?
• Do you go to a party?
• Do you go dancing?

Read Philippians 4:11-12 "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."

Sarah knew wealth, and now she was experiencing poverty. Not quite homeless, but close enough. Her mind longed to return to the place of safety and comfort she once found in her mother.

Psalm 118:5-9 "I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. The LORD is on my side: I will not fear: what can man do unto me? The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes."

Sometimes it seems like such a pat answer to hear, "Just trust God." But the act of trusting God is SOOOO difficult.

The best place to run to when you're feeling all is at lost is to the foot of the cross, where by grace Christ made it possible for you to become the child of the Almighty, All-powerful, Lord Jehovah. Go to where you can pray and read the Bible and worship God. Where you can do as James tells us in James 4:7-10.

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

What great promises these verses offer us:

1. That the devil will flee when we submit ourselves to God and resist the devil.
2. That God will draw close to us when we draw close to Him.
3. That when we look at our hands and hearts and cleanse them (that is, consecrate--declare sacred--ourselves and abstain in the future from wrongdoing) before God, when we acknowledge who we are as sinful, double minded, pitiful creatures and who God is as perfect, holy, and almighty--when we humble ourselves before God--He will lift us up.
   

When I worked in British Columbia, I would go to the Golden Ears Park to a rock overlooking the Upper Falls. There, I would settle surrounded by the majesty of God's creation--the mountains, the valley, the river, the falls--and commune with God. It was the perfect place.

Today, I find anywhere is fine, because God is always with me, but often I curl up in my green chair with my Bible when no one is around. There I can sing to the Lord, I can pray and pour out my heart, and I can read and be comforted.

Though God might be silent, His presence is still there. There's a difference between God's silence and absence, and God's silence but His presence. If we have believed in our heart that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, God will never leave us. However, there are times when the communion with God is not there, because we have entertained sin.

Sometimes, He simply remains silent for a period, even as He was with Job, so that we can work on that painful step of faith. He pushes us out of our comfort zone and stands back, waiting, watching, wanting us to see that yes, we can trust Him even in that darkest hour, even when we walk through hellfire...we can take that step, even when we feel deserted by Him.

Job said, in the midst of all his pain and anger and confusion, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him." (Job 13:15).

Job didn't lose faith. He still trusted God. And God still saw him, still knew all about him and what he was enduring. Job had walked an upright life and in this verse we see him determining to maintain that way before God.

We are in an even better position than Job, because when we are saved, we receive his Holy Spirit permanently. God's presence is always there for us, and so is His comfort. I have been in some dark places in my life, but always, in my darkest hour, in my greatest need, He was there, and when I sought Him, His Holy Spirit did comfort. The situation might not have gone away, but His presence made the situation seem a little less overwhelming.

Rather than running to other sources of comfort, wouldn't it be much better to run to the ultimate source of comfort? Even in His silence, trusting in God is far better than drink or food or movies or books or any other place we go to get away from our situation.

Yes, it takes work to resist the temptation to seek comfort elsewhere, but the work is worth it in the end. There is no greater place to be than in the presence of God.