Flashes of Insight

Day three hundred forty-two

This morning I am grateful for laughter.  It was a late night with the boys last night and when they get tired they get the giggles.  I think that is one of my favorite things to watch.  They get laughing so hard that they can hardly breathe and they make no sense at all, but you can’t help but give into their infectious laughs and join in.  Soon you find yourself laughing and not even knowing what you are laughing at!  The best part of it is that when we are in those moments all the troubles of the day seem to vanish. Laughter is quite healing in our home and for that I am forever grateful!

Job 19

It is easy to get confused when reading the book of Job.  The difficulties that Job is going through are hard to deal with.  Questions arise about why bad things happen to good people and why God would let them happen.  It was especially difficult for Job to deal with.  His life was a mess. His friends show up and only make things worse (they accuse him of having some secret sin that he needs to repent of). He is feeling completely alone.  Yet in the middle of all these dark times, Job keeps getting some pretty amazing flashes of insight.   

Chapter 19 is where I found some of these amazing insights. When most of us would have turned on God, Job instead shares his testimony of hope in God. 

“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.  But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?  Be ye afraid of the sword: for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment.”  (19:25-29)

First, he asserts that God lives. There is no more basic and essential proclamation of faith than this.  Job knew that God is.

But his understanding of the Lord extended far beyond the concept of "Someone out there." Look at the title Job gives Him: "My Redeemer." A redeemer is one who buys back or pays ransom.  Job knew that there was a price to pay. Though he was blameless, he knew he wasn't sinless, and someone had to pay that price. He believed; no he knew, that without God to pay it, he would be lost. He was convinced that God would be his Redeemer.

Job also believed that God would come to the earth physically in the end. Ever since Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints” (Jude 1:14) every generation of believers since then has proclaimed an expectation of the return of the Lord. The Bible itself ends with the statement, “Surely I come quickly.” (Rev 22:20).

Job also believed in a bodily resurrection. He said that even after his skin was destroyed, he would from his flesh see God with his eyes. Paul talked about the bodies we're expecting, he said that the resurrection of the dead is... “… It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption.  It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.  There is a natural body, there is a spiritual body.” (1 Cor 15:42-44)  Job knew this truth long before Paul was born!

Lastly, Job knew that the judgment was a reality for all people. The scriptures say that every person will be judged by God (Heb 9:27; Rev 20:11-15). Job knew that God lives, that He will one day return to earth, and that he will judge every sinner. Job also knew that God was his Redeemer.

For Job, this is an interesting contrast with some of the other things he's said when he has expressed hopelessness (Job 14:12-14). This is one of those flashes of insight.  Just when things looked darkest, Job sees a glimmer of light and has hope.  His testimony of these things is what keeps him going through the times of darkness.  He knows that no matter how much trouble befalls him or how much evil his friends speak regarding him; there is hope in Christ.  He knows that as much as it hurts at the moment, it will all be taken care of in the end.

God wants us to know that there's hope for us too.  I have found that my testimony of Christ as my redeemer brings me hope.  It is a message filled with comfort, peace, and love; all the things we are desperately lacking when we feel hopeless.  The blessings of this message are not meant for only one person, but for all people.  If we let these words into our hearts they can be our flashes of insight in our desperate moments too.