Pastor’s Bible Reading Schedule: Job 30-31
Devotional Thought:
I cannot even understand the depth of Job’s despair, the monument of hurt and sorrow, or the level of shame and disappointment. This chapter lets us have a small glimpse of how badly he was hurting. Job contrasts his life in chapter’s 29-30. In chapter 29 he states all that he was before the trial and in chapter 30 he laments the condition of his life within the trial. There is no future if we live in the past, and there is no future if we deny the present. We must learn to be wiser because of the past, and we must learn to be honest about the present. Job gives five sad perspectives about his life during the trial. (1) I have no appreciation. (30:1-15) The men that once revered me are disgusted with my presence. “The fear of man bringeth a snare…,” says Proverbs 29:25 (2) I have no abundance. (30:16-23) Job felt like he once had the finest of what life could offer, but now he felt as if he lacked the very necessities for life. We must learn that life does not consist of things we may accumulate, but according to our obedience and faithfulness to Christ. (3) I have no assistance. (30:24-25) Job reminisces the times where he had helped so many, but now he felt as if there were no one to help him. How sad it is when we begin to keep score. When we help others only to make them feel indebted to help us. We should help for the express purpose of loving God and demonstrating it to others. (4) I have no assurance. (30:26-28) Job felt as though he had his whole life under control. He had a wonderful family. He had accumulated a wonderful income. He had planned for a comfortable future. But now he felt as though it had all come crashing down. He felt as if he was now in a situation where nothing was secure or for sure. We must remember that the only things that are secure are the things established upon the person, principles, and promises of God. (5) I have no appetite. (30:29-31) I was once driven to make a difference. I wanted to encourage people, establish value, and reproduce joy. Now I am only discouraged, untrusted, and despised. It is so easy in the midst of the trial to only see the trial. We must learn to look through the eyes of faith to see a God who always knows best and is working all things together for our good and His glory.
Personal Requests:
• Lord, please help me to always know that trials are for my good to bring about patience and every good work. The trial is a means of grace to better understand my God and His program for my life.
• Lord, please help me to always learn from the past, but never be stuck in the past. Help me to be honest about the present so I can be profitable for you in the future.
• Lord, please help me to never let my circumstance determine my view of my God, but rather to view my circumstances in light of what I know to be true about my God.