Extraordinary

Being called “extraordinary” generally means great or remarkable and highly thought of. In the story of Job, the Lord said that he was the finest man in all the earth, blameless, with complete integrity and that he feared God.  What a powerful testimony this was!  He was definitely “extraordinary”! Yet as we read, we find out how the enemy tried to aggravate Job to deny God! Through it all, Job maintained his integrity!  At the beginning his friends sat with him and empathized with him but later on blamed him and discouraged him. During this difficult time Job held on to his Redeemer! He is a testimony demonstrating that we can trust the Lord regardless of what we are going through!

Anxiety can cause us to lean on self-reliance.  Faith leads us to reach out to God’s capability. He is present when no one else is.  2 Corinthians 5:7 says this “For we walk by faith not by sight.” The world created by our God has order and beauty in it, but at the same time, it is also wild and dangerous as a  result of human’s disobedience. We may not understand why we suffer, but we can bring our pain and grief to God and trust his wisdom and presence. God is supernatural, but we are natural.

We can learn one good thing from Job’s friends, their initial showing up and just sitting with him in silence during the pain he was undergoing. They became selfish when they tried to solve his problem by trying to explain to him what they thought the problem was! Have you ever had such an experience where people try to give you a solution to your problem? Job, became victorious when he declared that his “Redeemer” was alive! That was a powerful testimony!

Job 28:28 states : “And this is what He says to all humanity: The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding”. God’s wisdom is hidden from the eyes of humanity. In 2 Corinthians 1:25 we are reminded that, ”This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength”. To stay victorious,   our focus should be on seeking wisdom actively through prayer, studying the word and seeking godly counsel.

Pray your response to the Lord personally, meaningfully and genuinely!

Reflect on: God’s unmatched power and limitations and shortsightedness of human understanding!