Job 23 (Listen)
23:1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “Today also my complaint is bitter;
my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him,
that I might come even to his seat!
4 I would lay my case before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know what he would answer me
and understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
No; he would pay attention to me.
7 There an upright man could argue with him,
and I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
9 on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
11 My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
13 But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?
What he desires, that he does.
14 For he will complete what he appoints for me,
and many such things are in his mind.
15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
17 yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
nor because thick darkness covers my face.
Devotional:
Yet he knows the way I have taken; when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold. My feet have followed in his tracks; I have kept to his way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commands from his lips; I have treasured the words from his mouth more than my daily food (Job 23:10-12 CSB).
Nobody invites suffering in — it is a means to an end, but not a means we like. But it is not brought in by a random act of God. Rather, it comes from a loving God who knows what we need so that in the end, we will come forth as gold. Consider using James 1 in our daily lives and to consider trials and tribulations as a means by which God is trying to refine us. May the words of the song “Blessed Be Your Name” guide us as well as we walk in trials and tribulations:
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Pray it: Father, help me to know that your love continues and can be seen even in the sufferings that come my way in this life. Use the trials I experience to draw me closer to you and make me more and more like Jesus. Amen.
Share it: Who is someone you can share a verse or thought from this passage with today?