SCRIPTURE: Job 19: 15-25

The Bible tells us that Job was a righteous, godly, “blameless and upright man” who “feared God and shunned evil”. Job was not only righteous but also wealthy. We know that Job was a man that was greatly tested by God and even more blessed by God. Scripture tells us of Job’s unwavering hope and trust in God in the present and the future. God appeared to Job as insight and inspiration in a kind of eureka experience. Moments before Job praised God as the redeemer, he was the picture of despair and self-hatred.

Job 19:17-19 “My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family. Even the little boys scorn me. When I appear, they ridicule me. All my intimate friends detest me. Those who I love have turned against me.” Job laments his loneliness as well as the loss of his friends and even his wife. God came to Job as insight and interrupts him in spite of his depression.

When God interrupts us, do we realize his presence? We can learn from Job that God always interrupts us when we least expect it. He comes in the middle of the winter of our lives as a ray of summer. God can often be inconvenient, but we always need to be looking and listening for Him.

God appeared as a whirlwind to Job, stirring up, tearing down, and building up again.
Job 37:9 “The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds.”
Job 38:1-3 “Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.'”
The image of God was like a whirlwind to Job. The image of a whirlwind carries with it the sense of coming out of nowhere. In the whirlwind of his life, Job finally understood that God was apart from himself and his personal needs. He realized that he could not push God into a corner for his own needs and desires.  Job had thought of God as the one from whom all blessings flow. He thought of him as the king who would always care for his loyal subjects. When the blessings stopped flowing, he wondered if there really was a God. Then Job realized that God wasn’t there to just give him anything that he wanted. He realized that only God know what we and others need.

The moment that we begin to see God as a God for others, not just ourselves, our lives will change. The example of this is Job. When he began to stop thinking about himself and started to focus on God, God spoke to him. Will you be listening when God speaks to you?