Day Nine – Chapter 9

“ Then Job answered, ‘In truth I know that this is so; but how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him once in a thousand times. Wise in heart and mighty in strength, who has defied Him with out harm’” (9:1-4)?

After agreeing with Bildad that his end will be better than his present, Job slips deeper into a pit of despair. His despair falls so deep that he questions whether God is even able to communicate with Him. How many times have you and I fallen so deep in despondency that we have begun to question whether God is present and if He is, whether He cares. No matter how deep our commitment and faithful our reliance, every one of us has or at one time will have places where they share Job’s sentiments. Sometimes we like to spiritualize our relationship with the Lord to the point that we begin to give the impression that we are above such feelings.

Rest assured that God does care about your situation. He cares about you and how you are feeling experiencing the pain and turmoil you feel. If the story of Job tells us anything about God, it is that He is not surprised by anything we experience. Our God is the sovereign Lord of the universe who is omniscient. He knew what would befall us before it happened. He knew what our response would be before we made it, but our actions are not fixed. We still have the right of choice. We have multiple paths we can take, multiple directions we can go, and multiple responses we can make. The key is to keep the lines of communication with the Lord open.

Peter advises his readers, “Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.” We may not be able to tell anyone about our struggles. We may not want to burden those around us with our heavy load. We may be concerned about the propensity of others to gossip rather than to pray, and so tend to bottle our emotions up on the inside, even when they are directed against the Lord. God can handle our doubts and fears. He can handle our questions and hesitance. One of the worst things we can do is take our feelings internal. Today, whether they are complaints or requests, doubts or fears, take them to the Lord and let Him give you the assurance you need because He cares for you.

Dear Lord, I confess today that there are times when I wonder whether You are near me. There are times when I really want to feel Your presence and do not. Help me to draw near to You so You can draw nearer to me. Help me to cast my cares upon You, my hurt and pain, my doubts and fears, my frustrations and anger. Help me to know You love me and care for me. I give myself to You freely today and trust You to do in me what You desire. Amen.