What does Job mean to you?

[lastsecman]

(post deleted)

 

[Joyful]

(lastsecman;6357)
In my opinion, the book of Job's message to us is that men can never understand why God did this, or why He did that.Men can never say that God is good, or that God is evil, because He's beyond good and evil, beyond understanding. Because He's the artist painting the canvass, while each one of us is only a microscopic tiny peck of paint on the artist's canvass.However, one thing is certain from the book of Job, and that certain thing is we can be certain to God if we can be certain to ourself.Just sharing my thought.
Yes, and God will give us assurance of being with us when we are wholeheatedly serving Him.:angel9:

 

[HammerStone]

Deuteronomy 32:4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

 

[n2thelight]

The message I get from Job is to not listen to what man has to say and to remain true and faithful untill the end,no matter what happens to ya

 

[tomwebster]

(n2thelight;6367)
The message I get from Job is to not listen to what man has to say and to remain true and faithful untill the end,no matter what happens to ya
Wonderful answer, n2

 

[HammerStone]

Agreed, very well said. There's a reason that the majority of the book is full of the babeling of the "friends" of Job - and even his own wife. God said it himself, Job was a righteous man yet when all this started happening it was immediately judged that Job had done something bad which was not the case as per the one who does not lie (God).

 

[Christina]

Agree with n2,Tom,and Swamp

 

[KarenCharin0]

What I like about Job is that when I get discouraged over things that go wrong, I can think about Job and all the bad things that happened to him then my problems don't seem very significant any more... and knowing that our Father will make up to us double anything that we might lose out on now, because He owns it all anyways......

 

[drew1986]

Actually what I've learnt from Job is.. he's too weary. Remember he burnt "burnt offerings" on behalf on his sons, just in case job thinks they may sin against God.

 

[Fox]

1. In our suffering, we do not know all the facts. G-d doesn't necessarily reveal all of them to us. Things that we cannot know about still affect us. There is eternal importance about some of our experiences. We could accept many troubles with courage if we knew this.2. We must never think that following G-d means no trouble or suffering. We can think like this without realising it. We ask: "Why should this happen to me?" Believers must realise something. It is this: we can have the same troubles as those who are not believers. 3. Suffering is a terrible experience. There is no full human answer to it. Most of the speeches of Iyov's friends show this. They have different opinions, but they are all wrong (Job 42:7-10).4. We must not think that our physical suffering is G-d's punishment. We might ask "What have I done to deserve this?" Sometimes we fail G-d. Sometimes we do not obey him. It is still wrong to believe that G-d will automatically punish us with physical illness.5. G-d can use the experience of suffering for good. G-d may not bring it into our lives, but he can make good use of it. He can make us much better people because of it. We should never think that suffering is a waste, even though it may sometimes seem that way.6. We are in a better position to endure than was Iyov. We are never without a helper, someone to talk to. He is Yeshua Ha'Moshiach, our intercessor who suffered and who overcame (1 Timothy 2:5 and 2 Timothy 4:16-17.)

 

[Firedancer4]

I've been reminded of Job during these past four years with PTSD, the consequence of years of abuse in my childhood. This experience has taught me a lot about suffering, especially since the pain I've endured has been much greater now than as a child. Back then, I did what I had to to survive. Now, I have been forced to feel the full force of the trauma I experienced back then.At times - especially in the beginning - I felt like I was in a pot of boiling water - my friends and family being the water. So little understanding (I didn't even understand - I didn't remember the abuse being traumatic). Nobody in my close circle had gone through abuse (except my mom, but she never dealt with it - this was new to her, too).When the PTSD started, God brought a woman into my life that unbeknownst to be was to be the catalyst for my healing. Even though she had never been abused, her attitude was, "Dangit! I'm going to find out what this girl is going through!" She bought books, etc., and really stood by me through it ALL. She showed up just in time when I became suicidal. I am so blessed, and so grateful that God brought her around. She attends every one of my counseling sessions with me and takes notes for me.In the beginning, however, my best friend and family thought, "What's happening to Nima? This is all starting at the same time this girl came into her life." So, it didn't take long for them to blame her for my newfound pain. No matter what I said, or how I defended her, they were certain she was a negative influence and she was ruining my life.My best friend eventually abandoned our 10-year friendship. She was convinced she'd been "replaced", and that this "new friend" was bad news and I just couldn't see it. Nothing I could say changed her mind. It broke my heart. It hurt that everyone blamed my new friend, when she was my biggest ally at the time in the midst of this horrible, raw inner turmoil.My new friend, though a devoted and faithful Christian, was angry with God at times later on in my healing, not understanding how He could allow such trauma to happen to one little girl. There were many, many WHY's!!??Here's what I know1) When the suffering is about me, there is too much room for resentment, self-pity, bitterness, and isolation. When it's about the Kingdom of God - about how God might use the suffering for His glory - it opens the door to a new perspective - an eternal perspective - to benefit the Kingdom. It allows room for courage to keep going. To press on. To trust that God will turn it around at some point.(2) Faith is not without testing. God allows suffering to draw us closer to Him. Through the last four years, I have pushed Him to the edge of the ocean, and only in this last year did I surrender. He tries to get our attention. He wants to use us. He cares about us. God LOVES us through our suffering, IF we let Him. There is always temptation to turn on God and fall into self-pity and ask questions like, "What did I do to deserve this? Why is this happening to me? How could a loving God allow this? Why, God, why?"As long as you are stuck in an attitude of self-pity, you are also closing the door to God's purpose for your suffering to be revealed.When I started drawing near to God, He started revealing things. He started giving me glimpses of things to come. When I started leaning on Him instead of blaming or questioning Him, my healing progressed. I started involving Him and seeking Him, getting out of my isolation.I am about to face the most difficult stage of my healing. The pain in the last month has been unbearable, and I often find myself just screaming when I'm alone....it just hurts so bad inside, and everyone around me is hurting, too.Yet I don't feel so alone now that I'm trusting God through this. Sometimes it seems so SLOW!!! But I am trying my best to trust His timing. To trust that every day I suffer through this will be restored to me ten times over.Habakkuk 2:3 - If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!(3) There is always someone who's endured much, much worse than me. I should have died, several different times in my past, but I'm alive. God kept me alive. There is a reason for that. There are people who endured what I did and didn't survive. There are others who have been hurt much worse than me. I can never think I am the only one to suffer much.(4) I don't believe suffering is caused by God, though He warns us plenty in His Word that as Christians, we will suffer. This world swarms with sin, and a lot of our suffering is brought on by the sins of man. God did not send men to abuse me, but it was because of man's bad choices that I suffered. It was because of man's choice to sin. I became a victim to that.Then the choice is up to me....what to do with that.(5) Sometimes what God allows us to go through has nothing at all to do with us - He allows it so that someone else will ultimately be ministered to and brought closer to Him. That has changed my viewpoint completely, and with every trial I ask, "What if this isn't about me? What if it's to eventually help someone else who is enduring the same thing?"I mean - look at how many times we've gone to JOB to feel encouraged when we are suffering!Suffering - and healing - hurts. When the time for that comes - and it will come - you, too, will be at that crossroad. You, too, will be faced with the choice to shrivel up and succumb to the circumstances and keep it about you; or open your eyes to the bigger picture of God's. Because there always IS - a much bigger picture.