Who’s in Your Front Row?

Several years ago, the speaker at our annual women’s retreat, spoke on the subject of friends and their influence in our lives. Debbie Williamson, who pastors Grace Presbyterian Church with her husband in Temecula, CA, began the session with this quote: “Life is a theater, so invite your audiences carefully. Not everyone should be given a seat in the front row of our lives.”

I think about this while reading the second chapter of Job. It begins as Satan is permitted to attack Job’s health. His affliction of choice appears to be elephantiasis. Mosquito borne, this hideous disease attacks the lymph system and is characterized first by fever and roughening of the skin. Severe swelling follows in various parts of the body, like the legs and genitals, for starters. And once the parts swell, they don’t recede. Sometimes there is a foul-smelling discharge.

Add to this a wife drowning in her own grief who finally bursts out,”Curse God and die!” and we pretty much have a portrait of utter misery.

Job will settle into a pit of ashes, as mourners did in those days. He will sit and scrape his grotesque body, and wait. The only possible calamity left would be death, and God will not permit that.

But Job is going to have visitors. They will travel from their distant homes and arrive weeks later: Eli, and Bil, and Zo. They are old men and old friends.

And they are in the front row of Job’s life.

When they arrive, they will sit silently on the ground and grieve with him for a week. However, what unfolds in the many chapters to follow are lessons in pride, judgment, false assumptions, and, oh yes, TOO MANY WORDS.

But Job has not realized how the men in his front row have changed. Had he been at our retreat he would have heard several important things about close friendships.

First: It is YOUR front row. Not everyone gets a seat.

Second: It changes over time in the ebb and flow of life’s seasons.

Third: It is as much about quality as quantity. More is not necessarily better.

Our calling as friends is a spiritual calling. Wielding any kind of influence in the life of another is a serious thing. Wisdom, caution, and prayer are vitally necessary. And our front row should be able to speak the truth to us in love, keeping in mind that: Love without truth is enabling. Truth without love is paralyzing.

So far, Job has said nothing “against God.” So far. He will, unfortunately, be cruelly provoked by the very men whose words and presence should have been a balm for his wretchedness. Among a lot of other things, he’s going to need to rethink his front row.

Who is currently in the front row of your life? In what ways are they positively influencing your life? Negatively?

Job Accused

Lights, cameras – what?                                                                                                   

One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the LORD, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. Job 1:6-12  (FYI, satan: opponent, hater, accuser)

Sounds Tolkiensque, doesn’t it?  Angelic beings are called to the celestial court of the great God, Jehovah. The vast multitude stands in awe before the throne. Cue state-of-the-art lighting and sound effects and soaring music. The evil one (yes, THAT evil one) insinuates himself into the crowd.

Whoa! How can we even remotely begin to set up this scene? The writer doesn’t even try – just simply goes right to the story.

Here at the beginning, we must nail down the point that God had something in mind.  Unless we trap that thought, this story will bound off in all directions like a rabbit with its tail on fire.

God knows all things. He is never taken by surprise.

And I agree with C.S. Lewis that there has never been a war between Satan and God, only between Satan and Michael.  There is no force or being or power in any universe known or unknown that can, of it own volition, oppose God.

What God allows occurs.

So, was Satan ordered to come, or did he think he was sneaking in? Let’s assume he was simply allowed to attend and permitted to observe. God actually initiates the conversation with this former angel of light, reminding us that everything to come is entirely under His control.

You accuse Job of being a man who only serves Me to keep the blessings coming.

You sneer that if the goodies are taken away He will actually curse Me.

Take the stuff.

I will even allow your evil hand upon his family.

This man will stand.

Which begs the question:  Am I living a life that God can have confidence in?

It’s a pretty simple question.  At this point.

(And I’d love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment!)

Job Who?

There was a man.

Not a myth or legend or fable, but a real flesh-and-blood man. He lived, most likely, around the lower Euphrates in present-day Iraq.  We think the Garden of Eden was originally in the neighborhood.

His name was Job and he feared, as in “revered”, God.  Here in Job 1:1-5, we see a man who did his dead-level best to live right and reject evil.  With vast numbers of livestock, a large staff, and 7 children, Job was wealthy – and busy.

Yet, he was determined to maintain a righteous household.  After the considerable partying on his grown kids’  birthdays, Job would send for them.  He would bless them and offer sacrifices on their behalf in a ceremonial purification.  It was a kind of spiritual insurance policy against, “maybe they forgot God in the celebrating.”

He did this faithfully.  Job was God-fearing, honorable, and had a great reputation.

Which makes the next 7 verses seem bizarre.  God asks Satan if he’d like a crack at Job’s faith.  Fortunately, a verse in James provides some much-needed light:  “You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord – that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.”

It is important that we keep this verse in mind as we consider this story.  God is always working.  He works in His own way, on His own schedule.  And He won’t be reduced to our neat little assumptions or preconceptions.

What we too often lack is an accurate perspective.

Next post: a scene straight out of Tolkien

Do you have opinions about God or the Bible that may be the result of an inaccurate perspective? or lack of information?

Job and His Book

The Book of Job.

It sits there in the Old Testament like a great big 10 lb. roast.  To eat it all, you must take small bites over a long period of time, digesting slowly.

It is a story that asks all the big questions:

Can man really know God?  

Can man actually be righteous before God? To decode the religious lingo, “righteous” here means “not influenced by personal interest.” Or selfish motives.

 Is there such a thing as real holiness? 

And those perennial favorites:

 Why is there so much suffering in the world?

 Why, finally, are comfort and trouble, and happiness and unhappiness so unevenly distributed?

We’d like the answers to all those heavyweight questions in small words and short sentences so we can feel smarter fast and comforted even faster.

But we’re going to have to sit with sick, sorrowing, wretched Job for 37 chapters. We’ll sit in the pile of ashes in front of that table of big, fat, questions.  And when God shows up in chapter 38, we’ll find some answers that make sense. I invite you to sit with me once a week, on Tuesday, right here.

Job wanted answers.  God gave him answers.  Let’s find out what they were.

If you have ever asked any of these questions, have you come to any conclusions?