Road Repair Required

How solid is your faith?

"As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit." - Job 27:2-4

I have a lot of issues with Job and his whiny nature but today's reading brings him into perspective.  I like Job today because he doesn't take the easy road.  He stays with God. 

It is not easy to stay with God sometimes.  Life can get tough and just when you think things are getting better, more stuff happens to set you back,  

But Job shows us there is a commitment to God that has little to do with how well our lives are going, and everything to do with from where our life comes.

He takes ownership of his breath, but the life that fills his lungs comes from the spirit of God, and I think that is a good way to look at this meager existence we all share.  We have our work to do to stay alive, but it is through God's spirit that we exist at all.

Earlier in the story, Job says it would have been better if he had not been born, yet he doesn't want to end it.  He wants his day in court, yes, because we all want justice, but he lives on, knowing it is to God that he owes his life, as miserable as it has become.

For me, the message of Job's story is one of hope.  It talks to us in a way we can understand, especially if and when tragedy strikes and our journey is halted.

We don't just come to a stop sign or red light; the road may actually be washed out or blocked by debris.  We can go nowhere without help.  We need more than the comfort of friends; we need road repair.

We need God.

There is no simple fix for the pain and anguish of loss or illness, but there is God, who is there always to be our strength.  So long as we have His Spirit in our nostrils, we live, and we can go on.

More to come...