V Day 1: All I need is you.

A study in Job.

By Viviann Carlson

 

Life sometimes hands you lemons.  Our nature is to try and make sense of everything, including trials.

Try as we might, sometimes there are no answers that we can see.   As I write this, I am doing my very best to heal from Lyme disease from an infected tick.  The right side of my face is paralyzed and this is the first good day I have had in three weeks where I finally feel like I can think long enough to write.  I read  the book of Job a few weeks before I became symptomatic.  The doctor thinks we caught it in time for traditional treatment, but she said it could take up to 18 months to heal.  I have had friends with Lyme infected disease and they have been through so many trials, so it is a little intimating, at best. So far it has stopped me in my tracks, stopped all of my activities and my ability to work.  As I tried and tried to remember just where I could have encountered this Lyme infected tick, just how I could have avoided it, and coming up empty. I started to think ‘why me?”, out of all the people who go hiking and camping on a regular basis, and my definition of “outdoors” is gardening in my back yard and yet I am the one who got infected.

As I went through all the pain and all the expensive medical testing and changed diagnosis, I always knew that God was in charge.  I knew that I belonged to God and that not one hair on my head could be touched unless He allowed it for His purpose -for His Glory and my ultimate good.

Still, I tried to “figure out” what God was doing in my life.  It was a hard thing to let go.   It is so hard to not be able to stand up or walk without severe vertigo making you want to be sick.  It is hard to not be able to smile at your husband and your children because half your face is paralyzed. 

I couldn’t help but think about the book of Job that I just finished a few weeks before. Now, I don’t want to begin to compare myself to Job and all that he lost.  But I do want to acknowledge that we all know pain.  To one degree or another, we all experience pain.  And if Christ is our King, it is pain that has been allowed in our life.  That’s a hard topic to handle.  But I hope as I dive into the book of Job, we can see it more clearly together.  Prayerfully with the help of the Holy Spirit, I pray this study will help me and also the reader to reach a new level of trust with our Sovereign God .    

Join me in this twenty-two day adventure of the book of Job and I pray it will bring blessings to you in your time of suffering.

 

Day One.

Job Chapter One.  Study Portion.

Job 1:1-5 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep and 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. “

God’s word tells us that Job was “blameless and upright”.  It also tells us that Job had seven sons and three daughters, and that he was a very wealthy man.     But most importantly, it tells us that he feared God and turned away from evil.  Job seemed to have a right view of God and God seemed to bless Job with favor.  Favor for his family, his livestock and his household.   Job seemed to enjoy a long season of blessings as all of his sons were adults as they each had their own houses.    

What would Job do after the days of feast had run their course? ( Job 1:5)

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Job officiated as the family priest. In the time before the Aaronic priesthood, sacrifice was offered to cover sin that his family may have committed.   This is recorded in the book of Job to demonstrate the righteousness and virtue of Job and his family. 

 

What did Job say about these offerings?  ( Job 1:5)

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How often did Job give offerings to God for his family? ( Job 1:4-5)

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Job lived his life fearing God and did not take his blessing for granted. The Bible says he gave offering for his family continually. 

 

Today’s highlighted text:

And when the day’s of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all.                -Job 1:5

Viviann

How many of us can relate to Job here?  Job has raised his children the best he could in the Lord.  He has given them the tools they need to serve God with their lives.  They definitely have a sense of family as they take turns each night to have a feast in each others homes and invite their sisters.  It reminds me of English lordship and how they used to get dressed for dinner in their homes, except in a biblical setting kind of way. 

I have done my very best to raise my children in the Lord.  To show them the way and give them the tools the Lord has so graciously given us in His Word.  I continually give Him offerings of praise for my family.  It is what we do for our family.  As a parent, I try to point my children to the Lord in all that I do and say.  All this we do, not knowing what their future will be.  We love, whole-heartedly and pray that it will make an eternal difference in the lives of our children.  No matter what is going on here in this earthly life, we pray for mercy and safety for our children.  Job was a good father to his children and his actions showed a deep love for them.  

I am pondering what kind of things I do for my adult children, that will make an eternal difference for them?   I pray for them daily and ask God to draw them close to Him.  I ask God to place people in their lives that point them to Him and keep people away from them that want to mislead them.  I ask for blessings for them and ask that He brings them to a place where they recognize their blessings and not take them for granted.  I ask that they recognize the Lordship of Christ Jesus and how He is the one and only King who reigns in their life.  I pray that they do not get lost or deceived and that they bring glory to His name.  I give thanks for all the moments He has blessed me with giving them to me to be their caretaker for as long as I had the privilege to raise them in my house. 

Knowing Job’s whole story gives me such gratitude for every earthly minute with my children and so thankful for every blessed day I was able to spend while raising them.