Am I Enough – Job Continues - Hope

Greetings Dear Reader,

I mentioned a few weeks ago that a friend called hope a “four letter word.”  Her sentiment was lighthearted but serious.  It seems here that Job is ready to die if necessary but that he has not lost hope. 

Job is building to a moment.  We need to remember that this is considered poetry and wisdom literature.  It is not just Job’s story.  It is an attempt to teach us a deeper aspect of God’s character.  This is our first deep lesson from Job that God is enough. 

Remember that this is the question that the book is asking.  Is God enough?  If my friends and family betray me is God enough?  If I lose everything is God enough?  If my health fails is God enough? 

It seems that if God is enough then there is never an end to hope.  Hope is the connective tissue of faith.  No matter the circumstances in which I find myself I can choose to remain faithful because of hope.  The risen Christ is the hope of our salivation.  This will become important soon in Job’s story. 

Hope is what we are given to keep us tethered to faith.  No matter what the world, friends, or family does to us, God offers us hope that things will be better.  Out of love for us God teaches us a dance of hope and faith that can lead us home from even the darkest places.

No matter what other people do to me I can hope in Christ.  No matter what I have or do not have my hope must be in Christ.  No matter the state of my health I must hope in Christ that one day I will be whole.  Like the concert movement of muscles and tendons necessary to walk, faith and hope give me the power to follow Christ.

If God is enough then I can follow in being good to others.  I can love at any cost.  I can keep my commitments to God and others knowing that God will honor and support me.  It is failing to live out my faith to its fullest that damages hope.  If God is enough I can do whatever I must do and know that he will be with me every step of the way.  He will carry me if necessary.  But he needs to be enough. 

What Kind of Joy - Stephen Curtis Chapman

Anybody in their right mind

Would've given up their preaching and headed for home

They've been warned a hundred times

But something inside them keeps giving them hope

And just when you think they'd be crying

Instead of the tears, there's joy in their eyes

What kind of joy is this

That counts it a blessing to suffer

What kind of joy is this

That gives the prisoner his song

What kind of joy could stare death in the face

And see it as sweet victory

This is the joy of a soul that's forgiven and free

Anybody else with his pain

Would want to shake their fist at heaven

And give up the fight

'Cause trouble had been Paul's middle name

Ever since he'd been captured by God's blinding light

But just when his hope should be dying

If you listen you'll hear him singing a song

What kind of joy is this,

That counts it a blessing to suffer

What kind of joy is this,

That gives the prisoner his song

What kind of joy could stare death in the face,

And see it as sweet victory

This is the joy of a soul that's forgiven and free

What kind of joy is this

What kind of joy is this

What kind of joy is this

The Father has promised his children

What kind of joy is this

That Jesus has come to reveal

What kind of joy could give hope in this world

To someone just like you and me

This is the joy of a soul that's forgiven and free

I've found this joy for my soul is forgiven and free

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."

Job 17:1-16

"My spirit is broken. My days have been snuffed out. The cemetery is waiting for me.  Certainly, mockers are around me. My eyes are focused on their opposition.   Please guarantee my bail yourself. Who else will guarantee it with a handshake?  You have closed their minds so that they cannot understand. That is why you will not honor them.  (Whoever turns in friends to get their property should have his children's eyesight fail.) 

"Now he has made me a laughingstock for many people. Now they spit in my face.  Now my eyes are blurred from grief. Now all my limbs are like a shadow.  Decent people are shocked by this, and it stirs up the innocent against godless people.  Yet, the righteous person clings to his way, and the one with clean hands grows stronger. 

"But now, all of you come and try again! I won't find one wise man among you.  My days are passing by. My plans are broken. My dreams are shattered.  You say that night is day. Light has nearly become darkness.  If I look for the grave as my home and make my bed in the darkness, if I say to the pit, 'You are my father,' and to the worm, 'You are my mother and sister,' then where is my hope? Can you see any hope left in me?  Will hope go down with me to the gates of the grave? Will my hope rest with me in the dust?"