Job 28 - Wisdom

Job 28....

No amount of effort on a human being's part will yield God's wisdom. It can't be valued or found in the world. It can't be bought and neither the living or the dead can find it.

Wisdom can only be found in God. The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. Solomon the wisest man on earth searched out this very matter...here is his conclusion.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

 Fear God and keep His commandments, 
For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, 
Including every secret thing, 
Whether good or evil.--Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

True wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 15:33; 19:23). When we honor Him and seek to please Him, He teaches us His wisdom and His way.  James tells us that if we lack wisdom we are to ask God for it. He will give it liberally and without reproach.   Paul tells us that the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Jesus Christ. (Colossians 2:3)

I discovered this very thing at the moment of my salvation. A veil was lifted off of my eyes and I understood that the true wisdom I needed...the true wisdom I had desired for so long...would be found in Him. All we need for life and godliness is in the Scriptures. Everything we need to know to get through this day and the next can be found in our God.

Oh Father!  I stand in awe of You this morning!  Be my “go-to”...be the one that I choose to talk to and walk with today.  You are awesome and gracious.  You are good and always meet me at my point of need.  I am so thankful that I can begin and end each day with You.  I am so thankful that I can’t lose You...that You are my Emanuel.  I am so thankful that You do not change.   Oh Father, if I am desperate for anything in this world, make me desperate for You... for in You are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we

 may do all the words of this law.--Deuteronomy 29:29

Who is Sufficient for These Things?

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.
To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?—2 Corinthians 2:14-16

These are some of my favorite verses in the entire bible.  They speak to my heart like no other because I often feel insufficient and overwhelmed by life...by things that need to be done....by things I think should be done...by the magnitude of life and the weight of the responsibility to get it right...not just for me but for my kids.  I am thankful for my husband’s example always, but I am  especially thankful for him when the task before me is great.  I am the visionary in our marriage which means I envision these great tasks, but do not envision how to accomplish them.

My husband, the detail guy, then takes over.  He reminds me that Rome was not built in a day and that I need to take one thing at a time.  (I need to hear this often). We then collaborate on the best way to accomplish our goal.    He breaks it all down into manageable tasks that my mind can handle.  That is NOT, however, what I am most grateful for.  What I am most grateful for is the reassurance he gives me that I am precious to him...that I am not alone...that we are in this together...that we are of one accord.   THAT is what is priceless to my heart.

The same is true for me with respect to my God.  In fact, because my husband, Bill, is God’s gift to me this makes me even more grateful to God, because when I see him and his godly heart toward me, I see Jesus.  When I see Jesus, I am reminded THAT I AM NOT SUFFICIENT AND I AM GRATEFUL!!!

What believer is sufficient to be Christ in this fallen world??   The answer is none!  My heart is lightened and my spirit reassured.  It is God who works in me both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  And He ALWAYS leads me in triumph!  I fail...I fall down (constantly), but that is okay, because I fight from a position of victory.  Christ’s victory is my triumph, because He fought on my behalf. Am I sufficient? Am I triumphant? Certainly not! - as Paul would say. But Jesus is both, and Jesus is in me. Thanks be to God indeed.

Staying the Course. Job 23

8 "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him;
9 on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
11 My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
13 But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does.
14 For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind.  (Job 23:8-14, ESV)


Such beautiful truth in these verses to speak over your life when things are not looking or going as you “think” they ought.   Job is at a loss here to know what “way” God might be taking in his life, but Job rightly does not trust his feelings.  His eyes and his heart focus instead on the eternal...on what can’t be seen.  Even though he couldn’t sense God’s Presence or understand what He was doing, Job chose to believe God WAS with Him and that He was working in his life to fulfill His purposes. Job would stay the course.  He would continue to trust and obey God.  He would remain steadfast and walk in truth.

Praying ahead of time for this kind of commitment and resolve in my own heart and life when things don’t go as “planned”.  Praying that by His Grace I remain steadfast, treasuring His word more than my necessary food.