The Flipside of Job
That’s Job, the Bible book, and not job: your vocation.
As a reader of The Family Table Devotions, I believe that you, to a certain degree agree with Socrates that “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Looking at culture and life in general, trying to apply biblical truths, and live life as the First Epistle of John (1 John 4: 17 ESV) states, “in this world we are just like Jesus.” We want to make sense of our lives. We want to live a life pleasing to God and in service to our neighbor. That would be on a good day. On the other days, we get pulled into Job’s dilemma, questioning, complaining, waiting for answers. I have been in on conversations recently where discussions about Job have occurred. There is a general tone of despair and frustration with living in a sin cursed world. We try to offer comfort with a “God is in control” theodicy.
However, there is a flipside to Job. I am using an LP record as metaphor, one album different side. Just as the life of Job is used to examine our existence, the life of Ecclesiastes [EHV or the Preacher in ESV] should be used to examine as well. “All is vanity and a striving after wind.” (ESV) Or, “Everything is vapor and chasing the wind.” (EHV) The world has a difficult time parsing, what it perceives as the “Preachers” good and abundant lifestyle and why it is called “vanity and chasing after the wind”. Why examine life when things are good? It is not until Ecclesiastes, as Job did, hits rock bottom that questioning, complaining, and waiting for answers begin.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and is already in the world. You are from God, dear children, and you have overcome the false prophets, because the one in you is greater than the one in the world. They are from the world. That is why they speak from a worldly perspective and the world listens to them. We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we can distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love has not known God, because God is love. This is how God’s love for us was revealed: God has sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we may live through him. This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us so much, we also should love one another.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204&version=EHV>
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the God who has given birth also loves one who has been born of him. This is how we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep his commands. In fact, this is love for God: that we keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, because everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%205&version=EHV>
When discussions and examinations of the fallen world, long suffering like Job, try playing the flipside all is vanity of Ecclesiastes. However, remember that the entire concept album is conceived and created by and through Jesus. (Turn that up to 11!)
Trust the Promises,
Steve Skiver
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