Day 9: Miserable Comforters
Welcome to the 84th issue of Pulpit to Pew Crew Newsletter, I'm your captain, Brad McClure, and we are on a journey through the Bible in 2023.
Hello Friends,
It's DAY 9 in our journey through the Bible.
We have several new subscribers, so let's start by reviewing the 3 ways you can experience this journey.
If you're a veteran here, feel free to skip on down to this week's thought.
- The YouVersion Plan: A group of us are reading through the Bible chronologically this year. You’re invited to join us. This link will take you to the plan.
2. This Newsletter: Each Monday, this email will be sent with an overview of what we read for the week and a devotional thought to meditate on. It will evolve as the year progresses, I'm sure, but this is the HUB from which everything flows.
We will be exploring the Bible all year long. Even the challenging books. If you have a friend that loves Bible Study, it wouldn't hurt my feelings if you forwarded this email. 🤷♂️ We are up to 87 now!
Here's the first letter, written last Monday:
Brad McClure
3. The Podcast: Each Thursday, I will record a podcast teaching through some of the chapters we read that week. These usually are around 20 minutes long, perfect for a drive to work or while vacuuming your house. 😄
If you have a smartphone, there is a free app where you can listen, or you can listen here. 👇 (This is DAY 5, the first podcast episode of the year)
Day 9
Today we drop our anchor still in the book of Job. Our reading since we last stopped covers Job 10-23.
I want to start by sharing what I wrote for our church because the question at the end still challenges me, and I think maybe it will you too.
In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. ~Job 1:22.
In all this did not Job sin with his lips. ~ Job 2:10b
Job had it all.
His reputation, among others, was perfect. He was known as the greatest man in the east. Along with his reputation, he had wealth:
7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, and 500 yoke of oxen.
Job was a family man. He had seven boys and three girls that he prayed for regularly.
Then in dramatic and sudden fashion, it was all gone.
- All of his oxen were stolen by the Sabeans: 500 -> 0
- All of his sheep were burned on a fire: 7,000 -> 0
- All of his camels were stolen by the Chaldeans: 3,000 -> 0
- His servants were killed.
- All of his children were tragically killed by a windstorm. 10 -> 0
All Job had left was his wife, and even she told Job to curse God and die. Job’s health became miserable. Yet, twice it says in all of this, Job sinned not.
As I read this book again, I'm thinking more about Job's emotional state. Job lost a lot. I've faced two events that drove me to deep despair.
One was the death of my son.
My son's death rattled me to the core, but I still had a job. I still had money in the bank. I still had a daughter. I'm not downplaying my son's death; I'm just trying to imagine Job's mental and emotional state. He had nothing left.
I had family surround me and encourage me. Job had a wife left that said some pretty hurtful things (although, consider her pain in this as well). Friends rallied around me; Job's blamed him for this tragedy.
As I read some of the questions Job is wrestling with, I remember wrestling with the same.
Grief is a powerful emotion.
Reading Job, we must understand that Job is a real person struggling with emotions and feelings believers still have today.
Even with all of this, Job committed to trusting God.
Job's friends were "miserable comforters," but Job knew God loved him. Job still trusted God and longed for a close relationship with Him. (Job 13:20-22)
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: But I will maintain mine own ways before him."
Don't be afraid to pour your heart out in prayer. Maybe you're wrestling with some of the deep questions Job's been wrestling with.
That doesn't mean you're a bad Christian. It means you're grieving. It means you hurt.
God loves you, and like I mentioned in the podcast, He trusts your faith enough to allow this suffering in your life.
Keep your eyes on Him.
Have a great week!
We'll chat again Thursday. This time on the podcast.