Today's Reading:

Job 14
Job 15
Job 16
Job 17

 

God has numbered each hair and freckle on our body- and in the same way, He has numbered every day of our lives. Nothing can escape His careful count. Even in deep suffering, Job was able to cling to this truth as he pleaded with God, “If only You would set me a time and then remember me!” (Job 14:13). Job was not asking for an endless life; he was wanting God to appoint the exact length of his days, to fix his sufferings and then at the appointed time, to look upon him again with favor. 

Just as God knows us intimately, He knows and numbers every breath. Our lifespan is not random; it is measured with precision. The day we are born and the day we die are set by the same loving hand that keeps track of each detail of who we are. So, we are left to wonder: if the God who counts each falling hair has also counted every rising day we will ever see, how might we live to find joy in each numbered day as treasured, unhurried and totally His? 

 

Round number two of Job and his friends back and forth was now started. Eliphaz, friend #1, believed that Job’s grief was a sign that he did not trust God. Eliphaz claimed to have had a vision- and that any wicked sinners who attack God would eventually get what they deserve (Job 15:17-24). Eliphaz was no longer in nice mode- he accused Job of arrogance, empty notions and even asked Job if he thought he was righteous enough to sit on God’s council in heaven with some sort of secret wisdom that the elders do not have (15:8). Eliphaz stated, God even faults the angels so why should humans feel as though they could be blameless. No human could claim to be clean before God- so Job’s claim that he was innocent was impossible. Eliphaz continued with a statement that the wicked are in constant pain and terror, they are destroyed, wealth was taken and that was exactly what Job was experiencing therefore, his suffering was due to sin- so stop it.  

This harsh accusation fueled Job’s response- he called his friends out for being miserable at comforting him- how about if they trade places, and Job could go off on them, but he would not do that, instead if he were in that position, Job would build them up. Job claims they were tormenting him, instead of helping. Job described it as no matter what he did, talk or stay silent, nothing helped. God had made him a target without a reason for it. Job had a tiny glimmer of hope- that someone, somewhere would help him- if only Job understood that Jesus came to be this such person for us. 

Chapter 17 continued with Job’s dark sorrow. He said he had no hope from friends, no earthly hope, no hope that his situation would ever change; he only had the desperate plea to God to vouch for his character. Job no longer asked the “why”; he was now expecting to die without any hope left, utterly exhausted and unable to find hope. The truth is, God can handle even our most hopeless pleas. When we can no longer see the glimmer of hope or light at the end of the tunnel, we know God is still there working and over time life is not over just because we think it is. 

Today's Discussion question: 

If God knows every hair on your head and has already numbered all your days, how could that truth free you to live each day with real joy- treasuring it, living unhurried, finding those grace moments, and fully surrendering it to Him? 

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