Searching for Answers: Job 8

Job 8: Searching for Answers

|| Job 8:5-7||

But if you will seek God earnestly
    and plead with the Almighty,

if you are pure and upright,
    even now he will rouse himself on your behalf
    and restore you to your prosperous state.
 Your beginnings will seem humble,
    so prosperous will your future be.

I don't know about you, but I constantly seek advice. When there's a decision at work I seek the guidance of my boss. When I can't decide on a life decision I'll usually call my parents for their insight. If I'm struggling with a relationship with a guy I'll call my best friends and have girl talk! It's just human nature to want the opinion and advice of others. 

In Job's situation, he was receiving unsolicited advice from his "friend" Bildad. Bildad and his cohorts were lecturing Job and giving him their opinion of why he was encountering such suffering and persecution. Bildad's advice here in 5-7 (in that context) is an insult to Job. Job was a man after God, a man who continually sought the Lord. Bildad and his other guys thought Job had turned his back on the Lord and felt they had the right (or duty) to tell him what was up. Although this was poor advice for Job's situation (he was living for the Lord and seeking God)...I think that this scripture serves as a reminder to us: SEEK GOD FIRST IN EVERY SITUATION. 

I saw a quote once that said "have you prayed about it as much as you've talked about it" and it really made me think; how many times do I talk talk talk to friends/family/colleagues and never pray about the situation?! Ouch. I can recount many times where that was the case. Job 8 reminds me that if I want advice, if I really am searching for God's wisdom, I need to go to His Word first. If I want to know what to do, I need to pray boldly and intentionally. He literally has all the answers, all we have to do is come before Him, seek Him, read His Word, listen for His voice, feel the moving of His spirit. 

I know it goes against our human nature to do that, but as I've come to bring my prayers and decisions boldly before the Lord, it's become more and more second nature. Is there something you're searching for today? Have you talked something to death but haven't prayed about it? What are you waiting on God to answer? Take 5 minutes to write or talk it out with Him. Pray boldly and ask for His guidance. 

Job 7: Dealing with Suffering

|| Job 7: 20-21 ||

If I have sinned, what have I done to you,
    you who see everything we do?
Why have you made me your target?
    Have I become a burden to you?
 Why do you not pardon my offenses
    and forgive my sins?
For I will soon lie down in the dust;
    you will search for me, but I will be no more.

Q: How do you respond to suffering when it enters your life? What stands out to you from Job 7?

To be honest, I don’t handle suffering well. I usually have two responses: anger or depression. I find that I become bitter and angry or else I become down and mope about. Not the most ‘Christian-like’ response eh, but it’s the truth. Sometimes as I’m walking through difficulty I get frustrated and annoyed at having to face yet another struggle, another issue, another adversary. I look around and others don’t seem to be struggling or suffering; their lives seem to be walking through fields of flowers and I’m rowing a boat in a storm. I’ll throw my hands up in anger and ask “why me God?!”.

Then on the flip side of that, I can get into the lows and sadness and sit in pitty-partyville. I feel so downcast and discouraged that I mope around a bit, disheartened that I’m left to face this struggle. It’s a very isolating feeling. I can get so in my head and wrap myself up in a cocoon of lies that is about as self-destructive as it is depressing.

For years I felt like I was suffering in this season called ‘singleness’. I felt abandoned on an island of solitude as my closest friends have sailed off on USS Marriage and I’m left looking for a ship, a boat or heck even a dingy!! Ha. Yet a message from Pastor Steven Furtick called “IT HAD TO HAPPEN” changed my entire perspective. As I’ve been standing longing on the beach looking off at the horizon, there is an entire island behind me that could use my attention. I’ve been so focused on being stuck on this island, but God didn’t abandon me here, he PLACED me here. He placed me in ‘singleness’ because there is a mission I need to accomplish. There is a task at hand, His purpose, that He wants me to fulfill. I can look at this season as suffering or I can look at this station as a mission. In the last few weeks I’ve decided to change the agony of my heart from suffering to the joy of learning and teaching moments of the mission.

My outlook has changed and hence my attitude has changed, but even more life-changing is the fact that my perspective has changed. My “suffering” is how God is using me in this station of life. I look at the struggles I face now as learning moments; I go in and ask Him “Alright God, what can I learn? Reveal to me Your purpose for this moment. Guide me through this moment because my strength won’t carry myself”. I know there is some heart-breaking and devastating suffering out there, but I hope this encourages someone that your suffering is not in vain. You are not stuck, you are stationed sister!!

The Ultimate Relationship

re·la·tion·ship

noun

// The way in which two or more concepts, objects or people are connected, or the state of being connected. //

We understand relationships; we are a relational culture. We seek relationships. We crave relationships. We require relationships. Most people understand what it takes to maintain a relationship. You call your parents to fill them in on the highs and lows of life. You text your best friend to share something exciting. You spend time with your significant other to stay connected. You share funny stories with your coworkers to create friendship. We do these things rather effortlessly and most of the time without much contemplation because it's natural. So if it's innate to create and maintain relationships, why is it that we stumble with creating and maintaining a relationship with the Lord?

A large part of why people struggle with having a 'relationship' with the Lord is because our minds get caught up in this world. We get caught up in thinking that you can only have a relationship with a physical person or thing- your dog, your parents, your husband/wife. Even the phrases we use to describe how to maintain a relationship denotes the physical existence of another "it's a two way street", "it takes two to build a relationship". But with God, it's not physical - it's spiritual and emotional. Unfortunately we can't call God and have a conversation with Him (wouldn't that be amazing?!). We can't just text Him when something exciting happens during the day or go grab a cup of coffee and share our heart. Our human brains fumble with how to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit.

So how do we have a relationship with the Lord? What can we do to create a strong bond? How can we maintain that love and friendship? If you struggle with going deeper with God, if you yearn to take your relationship from ankle deep to 'all in', then consider these four things to help you get there. 

1. Worship
Worship comes in so many different packages. Traditionally we think of song but worship is a personal expression of your love and joy in the Lord. You can worship through singing, dancing, writing, painting, drawing…anything that is an outward expression of your inner feelings. Maybe you start listening to only Christian music in the car. You could start a photo blog of things that remind you of God's creation. Maybe you want to start journaling your prayers at night. Worship is the way in which you give back the glory to God but find something that you love that glorifies Him!

2. Prayer
Don't get caught up in the number of prayers you give throughout the day; be more focused on the quality of your prayers. Don't get caught up on completely nonexistent rules like "you should pray when you wake up, before every meal and before you go to bed at night". God didn't create rules that you could only pray and give thanks to Him then! I'm the first to admit I can be a little ADD, so sitting down to pray for 15-minutes at bedtime doesn't work for me (#RealHonestMoment: Sometimes I even get distracted at church when the pastor is praying and find myself making a mental grocery list). I encourage you to pray throughout the day, little prayers of thankfulness. On the way to work or school, in the shower, at your desk, at 3:24 every day… whenever! God is listening 24/7 and you don't need to be on your knees listening to Hillsong United in order to be heard. 

3. The Word
Get in the Word. You've probably heard that in many sermons- so what does that mean? Open up your Bible (or Bible App). Get a devotional. Pick scripture to memorize. Read God's word for your life. The Bible is God's tool for us, it's full of advice and wisdom we can utilize and carry with us daily. Maybe reading the Bible is overwhelming (which for me it is), so start small. Pick one book of the Bible and each day read a few verses or a chapter. Start small, remember quality is better than quantity! Spend time with God reading His words and try to 'listen' to what your heart is telling you. 

4. Community
We are created to be relational people. God designed Eve for Adam because it wasn't good for him to be alone. All over the Bible are references to the importance of community and togetherness - a three-cord strand is not easily broken, he who walks with the wise will grow wise… God knew that we needed people around us to support us, uplift us, provide wisdom and love. So surround yourself with those who will do just that. Look at the friends around you: do they help you get closer to God or hinder you? Are you apart of a life group or a small group in your church? Seek our people and settings that bring you closer to God, that grow your faith, and build you up.

A relationship with God is the ultimate relationship. It is the most beautiful, intimate and loving relationship there is available. We were designed and created to glorify God, and all He wants is a relationship with you.

Boom...Humble!

I accepted a new job in August that came about by God's hand. There really is no other explanation for it. I didn't even apply for the job really. I went in for an interview on Thursday, I got the job offer on Monday and started on Wednesday. I had less than one week to decide on what I was going to do, and in a moment everything changed. I was completely miffed as to why they wanted to hire me; I felt under-qualified, I really had no experience, the job technically wasn't even in my specific field, and I had no background in the financial realm. Yet they wanted me and made me an offer I just couldn't refuse. So I left my previously-known life behind and started a new chapter.

For about 4 months everything was going well. I was extremely busy and had little down time but was expanding my networking base, learning things I didn't know the first thing about (like equity lines of credit), and becoming a wiz at Photoshop, inDesign and Illustrator. Yet the last month and a half have been hard.
Things outside of my control and heck, outside of my department, have made it less than exciting to come to work in the morning. I was getting more and more down about driving the 40-minute commute to work every day. I was secretly on pins and needles about what the day would hold. It wasn't the stress or the high-demand area I worked, it was the never knowing how people were going to feel that day; were they going to be pleasant or down right mean-spirited to everybody in the building? Maybe I'm stupidly optimistic, as one of my professors told me once, but I truly felt everybody in the office had a kind spirit and genuinely cared for everybody else. Maybe not so much! Ha. 

Since Christmas I've really been struggling with down-right dread of the office. What was once a positive and supportive workplace had become gray and tainted with angry words and accusations. The strangest part was that it was all happening around me! I was never once involved in any cross words or heated debates, but hearing your boss get cursed at on a daily basis can bring down your spirit. 

One afternoon at lunch I just called my mom in absolute despair. I couldn't keep coming into an office that had so much negativity and hatred, it was killing my spirit! After a long talk with her, I sat in my car and prayed that God would just give me guidance to where to go next, it was the only thing I could do at that point. 

I went back to my office, turned on Pandora, clicked on the "Hillsong" channel and just prayed that God would fill this place with His peace and serenity and give me the strength to persevere through it all. 

It wasn't until today that I remembered doing that a month and a half ago; I had three separate people tell me how I changed their attitude at work. One guy told me that I must see the good in everybody because I always had a smile on my face. Another guy said that I was quite possibly the most cheerful person he'd known. Then a woman in the office came up to me and just said that she did something this weekend because of me. All within one day! I put the dots together and realized that God hadn't changed the work environment necessarily, but He had changed my heart and let me be a light to the office. Isn't that the most fulfilling thing a Christian can do? I can't think of a better compliment than 'you reflect the light of Christ'...even if they can't put their finger on why I'm so happy or always smiling; the thing is they can sense I'm different! The amazing fact is that I don't have to talk about God 24/7, but that my life and my testimony can be a reflection of His grace, forgiveness, love and acceptance every day of the week. 

And God just said -boom...humble!-