Be Thankful

But it is God who has wronged me, capturing me in his net. [Job 19.6]

Thinking back on my thoughts from yesterday, that God Himself said:

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? [Jeremiah 17.9]

I cannot imagine declaring that God has wronged me. Oh but I do it all the time ...foolishly. I feel sorry for myself more often than I ever should. I begin to think that I am not being treated fairly by God. I begin to think I deserve better ...and there it is: pride.

Any time we have a great sense of being wronged, whether by God or by man, it is pride. Oh, I am not saying that justice never gets twisted (by man anyway) and that we get a raw deal. But what I am saying is that overwhelming sense of being wronged is, at its core, pride - we think we deserve better.

May I just remind us of Jeremiah 17.9 once again?

The truth is, we deserve much much worse than we get.

I think of all the instances in the Bible that we are instructed to be thankful. We are instructed "in all things" to be thankful. How can that be? Well, it is not such a stretch if we are of the mindset that we deserve no good thing! Suddenly then, when we see ourselves as we are (deceitful and desperately wicked), the blessings on our lives become evident - even the smallest ones. And, only when we remain mindful of our depravity of heart, can we truly appreciate the incalculable riches of Jesus Christ bestowed upon us!

But Job didn't know about Jesus. Or did he? Consider the following verse also found in Job 19:

“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! [Job 19.25-26]

Oh wow. An amazing reference to Messiah (Jesus, as we know Him) is made by Job. And yet, Job still feels sorry for himself and thinks he deserves better from God.

I am not saying the book of Job is simple. But I am saying there are some obvious things going on in it that we must not overlook.

Thank God for Job's story!

Father, I am grateful for Job's story. Every time I read it, looking for more, I find it. Thank You. Thank You also for allowing me to see myself so clearly in Job. Thank You for showing me how I need to respond to the difficulties in my life - first and foremost, to remain thankful...