January 21, 2025 -Know God First

JOB 8:1-11:20

One Year Bible Audio & Daily Reading (oneyearbibleonline.com)

Job8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied to Job:

2 “How long will you go on like this?

    You sound like a blustering wind.

3 Does God twist justice?

    Does the Almighty twist what is right?

Now this friend clearly doesn't know Job. When we go to a friend for council it should be for wise council. We need to surround ourselves with people who first know God and second know us. Job was a man of integrity and his friends should have known that. I'm not feeling bad for this guy.

Job 9:1 Then Job spoke again:

2 “Yes, I know all this is true in principle.

    But how can a person be declared innocent in God’s sight?

3 If someone wanted to take God to court,

   would it be possible to answer him even once in a thousand times?

4 For God is so wise and so mighty.

    Who has ever challenged him successfully?

5 “Without warning, he moves the mountains,

    overturning them in his anger.

6 He shakes the earth from its place,

    and its foundations tremble.

7 If he commands it, the sun won’t rise

    and the stars won’t shine.

8 He alone has spread out the heavens

    and marches on the waves of the sea.

9 He made all the stars—the Bear and Orion,

    the Pleiades and the constellations of the southern sky.

10 He does great things too marvelous to understand.

    He performs countless miracles.

11 “Yet when he comes near, I cannot see him.

    When he moves by, I do not see him go.

12 If he snatches someone in death, who can stop him?

    Who dares to ask, ‘What are you doing?’

13 And God does not restrain his anger.

    Even the monsters of the sea are crushed beneath his feet.

14 “So who am I, that I should try to answer God

    or even reason with him?

Job knows God and his greatness and he is humble about his place in the order of things. He knows that no matter how good he is, he is not innocent. No one is innocent. He knows he has no right to challenge God. He praises God's greatness and power. This is more example of his integrity.

Job 10:1 “I am disgusted with my life.

    Let me complain freely.

    My bitter soul must complain.

But knowing all those things and truly believing it doesn't change his misery. It doesn't stop him from wishing it would all just end.

We too can be honest with God in or suffering but we should also not forget who He is and who we are in the scheme of all things. He is the great, all-knowing, all-powerful creator and sustainer of all things and we are sinful human beings who are not innocent no matter how good we are. We don't need to listen to people who would advise us from their own understanding but seek God and His understanding in it all.