Whenever we think about Job, we are reminded of his faith in God as confessed by him in the first chapter of the book. He said "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." (Job 1:21)

Does the above confession really reflect the depth of Job's faith? A few days after the disaster, we notice Job's faith dwindling as recorded in chapter 3. When the sufferings mount up, Job's real faith from his sub-conscious mind is reflected. In Chapter 3 (vs. 1-26) we read Job cursing his birthday. In Chapter 6 we see Job murmuring about God:

"that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!" (Job 6:9) Here we notice the pleas of a dejected man in the above verse. In short, we notice a downward trend in Job's spiritual life, from a faithful and obedient to a rather confused state of mind due to an erosion of absolute faith in God.

Does it not remind us of our spiritual life? Do we experience a spiritual decay during crises in our life? Normally as Christians we all have a good start, but somewhere down the line, when we are exposed to challenges in life, we tend to blame God and people; rather blame anything around us. Although initially some of us may accept that God is in control of the unfavorable situation, our real faith will show up as the situation prolongs/ worsens. In our conscious mind we accept God and confess faith in Him, but our sub-conscious mind (deep inside of us) go astray. What is the level of faith deep inside of us ---the faith we have in each atom of our body? Can we sing with the psalmist "My whole being will exclaim, "Who is like you, O LORD?" (Psalm 35:10).

Praising and glorifying God should come out of our whole being. It is not mere verbal expression of "Praise the Lord", or "Halleluiah". True faith does not stop at lip level, not just at the skin level, nor flesh, but runs deeper into whole being. We really need to ponder on this serious question. As children of God, let us ask our heavenly Father to wash our subconscious mind with His blood and give us the understanding of the depth and mystery of God's love.

In Chapter 12 we read "I have become a laughingstock to my friends, though I called upon God and he answered— a mere laughingstock, though righteous and blameless!" (Job12.4) Job's faith deep inside was "I am a blameless man, then why all these sufferings"?

The thought of self-righteousness is a sin against God as exemplified in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. Bible teaches that there is no righteous man. Man's righteousness is just filth before God. Instead of glorifying God for his uprightness and faith, Job thought that he is in a spiritual status where he should be free from all sufferings and hence no question of punishment. This is an attitude of "better than thou" which is termed as spiritual pride. Job's sins were in his thoughts and mind.

In Chapter 19Job declares his trust and confidence in God "I know that my Redeemer lives" (Job 19:25). This is the spiritual status most of us are in. Having faith in God but not able to get repentance; not able to trust God completely and believe that the Almighty will handle the situation for our good. The faith in God should lead us to repentance and absolute surrender to God.

As Christians, we claim that we have faith in God, at the same time run from pillar to post during undesirable situations. Instead of running around, are we in a position to spend some time with our loving Lord and hand over our difficult situation to Him? Do we enjoy a relationship, which always stay connected with God? Are we in a position to praise God for every situation in our life? If not, we do not have the true faith in Christ. It is for each one of us to have retrospection and repent to God about our unbelief.

Job's self-justification is evident from the later chapters too. For example, "As surely as God lives, who has denied me justice, the Almighty, who has made me taste bitterness of soul,"(v.27:2). Again we read: "I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it;
my conscience will not reproach me as long as I live" (V.27.6)

Job had enough reason to justify, but failed to see the grace of the heavenly Father in moulding him to be an upright man. A more clear evidence of Job's attempts for self-righteousness is seen in the first verse of chapter 32: "So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. (v32.1). Read the following verses along with this.

"I am pure and without sin; I am clean and free from guilt".(v.33:9),

"Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy".( v. 33.10),

"He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths".(v. 33:11),

"Job says, 'I am innocent, but God denies me justice". (v.34.5)

"Although I am right, I am considered a liar; although I am guiltless, his arrow inflicts an incurable wound."' (V.34.6)

The above verses remind the believers about the danger of self-righteousness and self-justification.

God loved Job so much and He wanted him to repent of all sins, however small it may be. Although the sin of self-justification is hidden or he is unaware of, it should be confessed to enter the Kingdom of God and experiment the bliss of eternity with the heavenly Father. The Holy Scripture do not recognize partial fulfillment of the Law. Even if we have one sin, it will prevent us from standing before the holy presence of God. Apostle James warns, "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it"(James 2:10) It is essential to get all our sins washed by the blood of the lamb.

God do not want any one of us to loose our eternity. The book of Job gives a glimpse of God's infinite love towards His children. God grieved by Job's sinful nature, which would block him from partaking God's Kingdom. Holiness and love are the very nature of God. Job's afflictions were permitted by God to lift him up to the highest level of holiness; to enable him to partake in the Kingdom experience for infinity. In Hebrews chapter 12 we read about God disciplining us to make us holy.

"Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10).

We learn from the above that God allows sufferings on certain occasions in our life to enable us to partake in His holiness or to make us holy, as He is holy. The standard of holiness is set by God Himself and is not set by us as in the case of job. Again in Hebrews we read that without holiness, no one will see God. It is an emphatic NO ONE, irrespective of any religious / denominational affiliation, at the same time a wake up call to all of us who may be religious or claim to be born-again. "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

In the book of Job and in Job's life, we see God's love, the abundance and extent of which cannot be described in words. God's purpose is to bring all His creations to total surrender and whole-hearted repentance. Job's sufferings, loss of property and children, and all the bodily afflictions are God-given opportunities for repentance and restoration. As Job could not come to repentance during his physical loss and afflictions, God sent His messengers (the three ministers), and again Elihu as a fourth minister to bring Job to repentance. Job's spiritual blindness was so deep that he could not understand and accept the sermon by the ministers nor could experience repentance. But the love of the Father was so deep that He was not willing to let Job go even at this stage. God takes the next step to give another chance for repentance. Here we see the manifestation of one of the most magnificent acts of love. The Creator Himself came down to rescue the created. God lowered Himself to the level of human being to bring him to repentance. God came down to the place and situation where Job was. Our heavenly Father comes down to our level to make us holy and to give us eternal Kingdom. Praise the God for His love for us.

In Job chapters 38 — 41, we read about God's word to Job. Chapter 38 begins with the Heavenly Father coming down in a whirlwind to communicate with Job. In chapter 40 we see God convicting Job of his sins. ""Would you discredit my justice?
Would you condemn me to justify yourself? " (Job 40:8) God directly speaks to Job about his self-justification and bring him to the true understanding and awareness about his sinful self and finally to repentance. In chapter 42 we see Job's actual repentance and accepting God's wisdom. "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:6)

Job's repentance and acceptance of God's divine wisdom is not the culmination of the series of events. He is lifted up to further spiritual heights and thereafter God gave him back all what he lost in double measures. "The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first." (Job 42:12)

This act of redemption was repeated about 2000 years back at the cross of Calvary. God has been sending his prophets throughout centuries to make his children repent. However repentance was light years away from His children. As an infinite act of love, Jesus Christ came down sacrifice Himself at Calvary. His ministry started with a call for repentance (Mathew 4:17) It is heartening to learn that God's love continuously draw us towards repentance and sanctification.

It is important to reflect the divine message of this book in our life. Do we thank God and utilize such God-given opportunities for our surrender and sanctification? It is imperative to look deep inside of us during problems in life. Need to spend more time with God to understand our sinful nature, that God want us to get rid off? If we can humble ourselves before God and accept and glorify His love, He will deal with us. He will cleanse us and guide us amidst our difficulties and will also make us partakers of the eternal Kingdom.

Dear brothers and sisters, are you going through difficult times in life? Do you have a relationship problem with your husband, wife, children, in-laws, friends or anyone else. Are you in deep financial crisis or suffering due to diseases? Is there anything that steal your peace of mind promised by our Lord Jesus Christ? Do not loose heart and blame anyone. It is a God-given opportunity to ask the Creator, our loving Lord Jesus Christ to step into your heart. Give your messy life as it is to your Master. Ask Him to help you understand and repent your sins. Believe in Him and He will make one of the most beautiful creations out of your messy life. We can be confident in Christ that our latter days will be more blessed than that of the former. God is waiting for us like the father of the prodigal son. Let us take a decision to go back to our eternal Father today itself.

Regi Abraham

regi@praisetojesus.org