On Job and how it blows my mind...

Thanks Liz for giving me the idea to blog the overflow of my thoughts about tonight's lesson.
So you might have guessed from the title of this post that I've been studying the book of Job with my church group at Spotswood and at Encounter. What we've been doing is less a close reading of the book but rather, an attempt to understand who God is through an evaluation and overview of the book (it's rather long).

The overview: Job was an upright man who sought after God. He was also incredibly rich and blessed in an abundance of material possessions and family. God allowed Satan to try to make Job sin. Satan tested Job through two tests. First, he took away his wealth and his children and his servants. Second, Satan put boils (ouch) all over Job's body. Through all of this, Job did not sin. He questioned God at one point demanding an audience with his Creator but God reminded him of his place. Through all this, God protected Job's life by keeping Satan on a leash. Job responded to these trials by worshiping God and remaining faithful. As Doug would say, he was a "stud" of epic proportions.

Things we can learn from Job:

God is in control! I don't think it's a coincidence that I'm also studying the book of Daniel in my own quiet times. Right now, I'm plodding through chapter 4 of Daniel in which King Nebuchadnezzar is humbled by God even though God sent him a vision of what would happen if he didn't atone for his sins. Daniel 4 is kind of a microcosm of the book of Job. King Nebby (as they say in Veggie Tales) had it all: wealth, power, his health, influence, etc. He was aware of all that was in his possession and this made him proud. After a temporary bout of insanity, God restores his possessions and kingdom. It's weird how the passages in Daniel 4 and Job 42 parallel each other. Have a look:

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever,

for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, "What have you done?"

AND

Then Job answered the LORD and said:
"I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?'
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
'Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.'
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes."

I love how God is so intentional in how He reveals things to me through His Word. I think the lesson I'm supposed to be learning here is clear. He's saying, "Claire, don't worry. You're in my hands. I love you and I'm taking care of you. I'm going to take your life and make it beautiful."

"For we are God's workmanship [poiema, beautiful something], created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Eph 2:10

In the study tonight, we did an exercise with two human easels--Ryan and Liz. Liz was the "difficult" easel in that she wouldn't let Candice draw the juggling gnome the way she wanted to. In fact, Liz was trying to get Candice to draw a house! Ryan was the "good" easel in that he calmly and patiently let Jac draw a pilgrim holding a turkey in the continent of Africa (imperialism?). He trusted that there was a reason that there was so much blue around the edges of Africa (apparently there was a major geological event that launched it into the middle of the Atlantic ocean). This illustration was amazing and meaningful on so many levels.

First, the canvas itself represents our lives. The drawing is the story that God paints with our lives. We are his poiema, his masterpiece. Time and time again I'm awed by the idea that God doesn't look at his creation and marvel.

"But turn a telescope toward the stars, or take the time to look at the brighter stars with care, and they will take on the colors of the rainbow." -Chet Raymo The Soul of the Night

No, he looks at us and marvels. We are the delicate brushstrokes, the sweeping colors, the sharp intake of breath at the final creation, the awe. The more beautiful our lives look, the more glory goes to the Artist who created us and ordained our every step. We need to hold the canvas still, to abandon our dreams of houses when God wants juggling gnomes (please Lord, something else), and let God paint whatever He desires--even if we have to close our eyes and look away while He does it.

The thing is that God allows bad things to happen. Though He is always sovereign and in control, he lets evil happen--the famines, floods, earthquakes, car accidents, cancer, heartache. This makes God sound impotent; like He is powerless to stop these things from happening.

Not so.

God is faithful to limit evil and direct circumstances so as to accomplish His purposes on earth. Like I said in the overview, God had Satan on a leash when he was unleashing havoc in Job's life. Really, God uses Satan, a creature bent on destruction, like one would use a puppet or a marionette. That black smear of paint looks terrible against the stark white of the canvas. But then we see that the smear is actually a raised eyebrow in a sly expression.

My roommate Katie is an artist (newly discovered and all). She was painting a portrait of her nephew, Leo for her mom and I saw the painter's process firsthand. It was messy. Her subject looked weird as the strokes came together covering her pencil sketch. Then, one day, the baby that she was painting looked like Leo. His blue eyes practically sparkled on the canvas. I think what I'm trying to say here is that our lives look messy and incomplete right now because God isn't finished with me yet. When He is finished, I'll stand in Heaven before His throne and praise Him for the painting that He made through me.

I need to be responsive. Jac said something that really struck me. When she was drawing the weird Africa picture, she said that Ryan compensated for the pressure that she applied to the easel by pushing forward where necessary. Being a human easel is not merely a passive activity, it requires an incredible trust in a Most High God and a willingness to respond to the places that God prods in our lives. In order to be sensitive to this pressure, we need to--no, I need to be in the Word thirsting for it and hungering for it like there's no other sustenance in the world.

All these ideas and musings here are so woefully incomplete. They're just like that frozen turkey that's been in the 400 degree oven for two minutes. I think I'm going to continue to wrestle with these notions for the rest of my life, however long God decides that should be.

I pray that this blesses you!