- I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. Job 30:20 – While today’s message may seem like one you already know, Job was a righteous man and was in need of a reminding of this. That God does hear you, but doesn’t answer always exactly like we ask Him to. Job cries out to God but doesn’t see or feel any healing taking place. That then translated to him that God was just standing there watching Job suffer, not doing anything to help. We too can cry out like Job and we too can find ourselves still in the struggle after our cries have been made. That though doesn’t mean God is just sitting there watching with no plans to help us. He is working, always working. A part of that work though might be “leaving us in the fire” a little longer. From our vantage point it doesn’t make sense, but from His it does. Trust then in Him when the cries are made yet no changes are made. Trust He heard you, trust He’s working, and trust good will come from the struggle. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1482
- Yet does not one in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand, and in his disaster cry for help? Job 30:24 – Job has now been in his place of suffering for a while. The image given in this chapter is a man, cast out into the city dump, with a decaying body, who is mocked by the children of worthless men. Such a vast contrast to the honor and prosperity Job had that we see unpacked in the previous chapter. Here, in this deep place of suffering, Job is crying out to the Lord for help, yet what he is receiving in return from the Lord is silence. When suffering is deep, and truly the only possible outcome that you can see for yourself is death at the end of it, and your cries for rescue are not answered…that’s a pretty sad space to be in. Let us though be willing to fast forward to the end of Job’s story. God does answer and God’s blessing is above and beyond anything Job had before. When then we experience silence from the Lord, don’t take it as evidence for God’s displeasure in you or his lack of care for you. God hears our cries and He is working. Yes, sometimes God will use silence to open our eyes to a sin within our life that needs to be addressed and repented of, but even in that God is working to bring your focus back on Him rather than the sin you’ve been saying yes to. If then you are receiving silence from God like Job is here, be willing to check your heart and see if any sin is presence. If so, bring that to the Lord. If not, then be willing to trust the God you’re calling out to has a purpose for His silence. Don’t confuse silence with stillness. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2655
Daily DEVO 