Now I See

Disclaimer: Nothing in this blog post is intended to be considered medical or mental health advice or treatment. It’s written from the perspective of the author’s lived experience and reflects personal views expressed with the intent to encourage and share hope.

The man who never cursed or blamed God for his circumstances

“So Job died, old and full of days.” Job 42:17 (NKJV)

This is the last verse in the beautiful book of Job in the Bible.

If you’re familiar with Job, you know he was a faithful man who refused to curse God and die, as his wife asked him to do. (See Job 2:9).

He suffered greatly through many things, and though he asked questions of God, he did not once have concerns or doubts about God’s handling of him.

Technically.

When you read through the book, you’ll notice there were some rather desperate moments where Job spoke what he may not have wanted to see come true in his life.

The important detail is he didn’t curse God. He released painful tears of sorrow, even while humbly accepting and declaring God’s sovereignty.

But he never cursed his loving heavenly Father.

People often want to point to Job as a perfect example of someone who never let things get him down, not for one second, but no. Actually, he did.

He just didn’t stay there.

Reading this book multiple times in life may strengthen our faith and understanding of how truly great it is to be connected with God, our heavenly Father. What we will gain from it is something we will be able to give away as well.

There may be sorrow, but there is also hope

Job had many reasons for deep and lasting anguish, but in those moments, he maintained integrity over dignity, and he worshiped God rather than becoming prideful or blaming.

The only cursing from his lips was over himself being born.

We can see his pain was deep after losing his sons and daughters, servants, animals, and being covered from head to toe in sores. Plus, he was hearing his wife nagging him to curse God. His friends were not speaking life over him so much as finding fault or assuming he must have done something to bring all his troubles upon himself.

One could only guess what thoughts were in Job’s mind.

In the midst of it, Job was found desiring to seek God and find out what issue God had with him. 

This is a great example of a way to handle anything that goes wrong in life.

Good questions during prayer time could be a key that opens the door to revelation and release in your own life.

Job said some things that did earn rebuke from God, but it’s what he did afterward that matters.

Not once did Job blame anyone else for the trouble in his life—though in his case, it probably would have been quite understandable, since he did not cause a single thing that came his way once Satan was on assignment.

One could point to Job saying the hand of God touched him and call that assigning blame, but it looks like that might only have been Job explaining or processing what was going on.

Where there is great sorrow, there is an opportunity for hope, and Job expressed his hope throughout his entire ordeal.

Job believed the truth about God before all the terrible things began in his life. Horrible things broke out all around him, but he remained faithful.

He allowed his knowledge of God to steady him, much like God steadies each of us in turbulent or potentially distressful times.

When we have seen the truth about the Lord, things change

Some of the best writing in the entire Bible is contained within the book of Job. It’s poetic and inspiring.

How many of us would sustain a perfectly righteous mood all the way throughout similar circumstances? How about lesser circumstances?

God declared to Satan that Job was a righteous and blameless man. (See Job 1:8 for full context.) 

This is not to condemn anyone. I personally am also always in need of continually pursuing this high level of faithfulness and hope.

We can learn a lot from Job, though.

Job declared that he had seen the Lord. “I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.” (Job 42:5, NKJV)

Through the lessons learned in his troubles and the time God spent in discussion with him, he gained deeper knowledge and a basis for faith, trust, love, and hope.

He knew God was good within every cell of his being.

We can know too.

Reflection

What is something you hope to learn from Job this year? Perhaps you are grieving multiple losses or events in life, or you have been for a long time, and you have wondered many things about God, your relationship with Him, or even His goodness. Perhaps you have not experienced such losses or grief, but you know someone who has, and you wonder how to speak with them about it.

Before reading Job, consider writing down some of the questions you might have, and as you read, imagine what it would be like to respond with full faith despite the lack of clarity about the cause of the problems. Not just from scriptures you know have been spoken over certain situations, but from seeing who God really is and knowing the truth.

As you read, consider writing down new questions and thoughts, as well as the answers to your questions, if you had any. It may be that this time around, you don’t know the answers to some of it, but with each year, you might gain new experience and maturity in your relationship with God. Consider journaling about how you have seen the goodness of God, even during struggles.

Prayer

Thank you, Father, for knowing us even before we were born. You know the character and personality we were born with and how we were shaped. You also know that You have been making us new every day, renewing our minds and softening the stony heart beat in time with what is true about You. Thank you for being with each one of us as we go through hard times, and thank you for helping us see You more clearly when we experience losses and grieve deeply. Please help me to remember Your love. Please remind me of what is true about You when I go through extreme difficulties. May my thoughts align with what is true about You.

In the name of Jesus, amen.

Closing Thoughts

I hope to see the Lord even more clearly than my problems every day, and I hope the same for you too. There have been years of private battles and losses—some not my own, but that of family or friends or acquaintances—and I want to see everything with 20/20 vision through the lens of God’s love and light.

When I first wrote this in 2019, I had decided to start rereading Job as a personal study periodically, not just to read the verses as I reread the Bible entirely, but with more focus. I kept up with that, for the most part, and I’d still highly love to encourage you also to read it or reread it in your own time too.

If you want to, you could even create or find a focused study on it. Here is one method I shared in the original post:

The way I usually create a mini-study for myself is to write down keywords, phrases, questions, and verses on individual index cards or on pieces of cut cardstock, or in a notebook. Then I fill it out with cross-references, other verses from within the same book of the Bible, or sometimes with sermon links or commentary mentions. 

Another way I just take notes is to type in a notes file or write in a notebook. I prefer using individual cards for meditation or reflection, and keep processing or thinking about what I read in a notebook. The first is method is what the Bible actually says. The second method is usually what I am thinking and want to learn about it or how I want to be more like what the scripture says.

Some of the best reminders of God’s sovereignty are in the book of Job–and one of my favorite verses in the entirety of the Bible is there:

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7, NKJV).

God is truly awe-inspiring, and there is no one and nothing that compares to Him. Everything He has allowed in our lives can be used for His purposes, and it will always point us back to Him.