Job: Chapter 14

Garden of the Gods | Colorado Springs, CO

Job Continues: Death Comes Soon to All

We all have a determined amount of time on this earth and we are riddled with problems. Once we are born, there is no slowing down the time that we will have life. Our days are numbered and they do not end sooner or later than the time that God allotted for us. Thus, what is the point of worrying about life? Your days are numbered, as are mine. Why even bother to bring someone so feeble and weak into judgment? I am a sinner, I fall short, I am damned without You. I am unclean, how can something perfect be brought of imperfection? No man has ever been made perfect through imperfection. You have restricted man to a set amount of days, none can escape it. Thus, why don't you leave us alone? You are all-knowing, Alpha & Omega, why must you hound us all the days of our lives? You know what we will do with our numbered days. Let us be and allow us to live out our days and enjoy them. Look at your created nature on earth, even the trees have hope, if they are cut down they will sprout again. The roots grow deeply throughout the soil and sprout out new beginnings in the old ground. All it takes is water to fall upon it and it will cease its dying and be granted new life. Yet, your claimed greatest creation (man) dies, and what happens? He is dead and does not have life breathed into him again. Just like a river that loses its water supply, it dries up and clears lakes. Not till Heaven shall man rise again, once a man dies he is put six feet under and cannot be roused out of the deep sleep. Why don't you hide me in the darkness and keep me safe? Remember me after I die! If a man does die, will he live again? Do we know this? We could wait in the darkness forever and never be called home to your presence. Call me to do your work with my hands through your power and strength, I will answer. If I am doing your will, you number my steps and do not keep watch over my sins. All my shortcomings would be cast into the depths of the unknown and you would cover me in your purity. But, instead of this the earth groans beneath me and breaks for the pain that it endures, all hope is lost in the earth and never gained without you interceding. You thrash upon man all of his days and plot against him, you remove his uprightness and break him on the rocks, you leave him shipwrecked without a rudder, man cannot be directed in the way of right without your intervention. Parents never see their children grow into men of God nor witness their decay. Either way, we are dumb to their result. All we do is live for a determined amount of time and then die in pain. There is no joy, there is no happiness, there is merely mourning for one's self in death.

Yes, God knows all things and He has unlimited power beyond anything we can comprehend. He does not sit in waiting for anything to happen, He goes to that moment-in-time if He wishes. He scrolls through our thoughts like flipping through channels, yet He does all these things in a way that is well beyond anything we can fathom. Even thinking about the way He does things is silly, because what is the point of attempting to grasp something that is far beyond the boundaries of the human mind? It is vanity. Yes, we should seek wisdom, but we cannot achieve ultimate understanding. No, we should not worry about what tomorrow will bring because (for those who love God and call Christ King) God is drawing us closer to Him. Sometimes this looks like God blessing us with lives of grand memories and exotic tales of adventure, or it can look like suffering through many trials and tribulations that break us on the rocks as the waves crash. I ask you this, is it better to be blessed with money or blessed with sickness? Well, that sounds like a silly question, doesn't it? However, someone who is wealthy and wants for nothing may not be the most blessed person… Money, power, fame, and praise are all good things if they have the proper perspective on them. Unfortunately, most people use these things to boost their own egos and inflate their pride. If we are wealthy, and we don't have to decide on whether or not we have enough money to purchase something, it can be a bad thing. Anything that makes us lose our need for God is something that is dangerous beyond human understanding. The entire goal of life isn't about 401Ks and stock options, it is about furthering the Kingdom of Heaven by being the body of Christ here on earth. It is far easier for someone who is being humbled in illness to fall on their knees and pray to God and seek healing. There are countless opportunities to share the Gospel simply by grinding out the day-to-day activities with Joy that doesn't make sense to the outside viewer. God gives us opportunities to show others that we love Him more than we love life, how are you doing with this? Don't hear me wrong, money is not bad, it is a good thing that can be used in extraordinary ways, just do not sell your love for God for money, it is not worth it. Earth is not worth it.

Dear Lord, seek my heart and mind. Show me that you are far greater than anything on earth I seek to possess. Show me the perspective I should have with things like; money, careers, friendships, relationships, marriage, church, Bible study, rock climbing, hiking, etc. Draw me closer to you through the things that stir my affections for you. Allow me to endure in this time. Amen. 

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