Job answered God: “I’m convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans. You asked, ‘Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?’

I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head. You told me, ‘Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.’ I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand – from my own eyes and ears. I’m sorry – forgive me. I’ll never do that again, I promise. I’ll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.” Job 42:1-6, The Message

All these years, I believed God allowed Job to endure tribulation for no reason. I often skipped that book because I felt guilty questioning God’s motives and confused I didn’t have answers. What God allowed in Job’s life seemed counterintuitive to His loving nature that I desperately wanted to believe in. 

My pastor said, “Job finally changed his attitude in chapter 42.” That’s the first I heard about Job needing to change anything, but that’s because I didn’t read it for myself. I had no idea he had a bad attitude, but there it was in The Message – Job apologized and promised to never question God again. 

Still, God allowing that kind of devastation seemed extreme just like some things He allowed in my life and the lives of people I loved, so now we’re down to the real issue. Although I still can’t speak to the suffering, as of last May, I can talk for ages about God’s Love. 

I wrote two notebooks full of sermon notes, quotes, Bible verses, songs, calendar dates, phone calls, friends’ names, prophesies, and more – all ways that God cared for my family and me throughout 2020. Our past year wasn’t defined by masks and stay-at-home mandates, but by miracles – miracles upon miracles upon miracles. 

Like Job, I thought I had to grasp God’s reasons before I accepted His goodness. I don’t. 

Now I’m believing like Job in his book and Lysa TerKeurst in hers, Forgiving What You Can’t Forget, “After everything went haywire in my life, I had already put a stake in the ground that God’s Word is where I would turn and return to no matter what.” 

I hope you’ll pray and sing along with me … 

Thank You, Jesus, for whatever miracle that happened to put an end to my questioning your goodness. You are good no matter what. Thank you for the Goodness of God. Amen. 

In This Together, 
Kim

Thank you, Pixabay, for the wonderful images always.