These are a few of our SOAP notes from today’s reading. We encourage you to read and journal on your own first, then join us in conversation about what God revealed to YOU today. Click HERE to go directly to the daily reading if you wish.
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When the Lord Takes Away | Kelley Deases
S~ The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. Job 1:21b (NIV)
O~ After hearing the news that all his children, his servants and his livestock had all perished, Job was bitterly grieving. Yet he worshiped God in the midst of his unimaginable pain, acknowledging he came into the world with nothing and will leave it the same way and that everything he ever had came from the Lord’s hand. As God pleases, He can give and He can take away.
A~ I would like to say I want to possess this kind of faith, but I would hate to have it tested in so devastating a manner. But as I reflect back over my life, it has been the “Lord takes away” moments which have grown me up in spiritual maturity.
When I was only 10-years-old, my family moved from a Chicago suburb to Omaha, Nebraska. It was a very hard move for me, to be taken from my friends and the life I knew to start all over in another neighborhood and school. As painful as it was at the time, I learned to cope and adapt and make the most of a move I did not choose or want.
Over the years I have lost three grandparents who were all instrumental in shaping who I am and my outlook on life and faith. Not being able to see them or hear their stories or share a holiday meal still leaves a void, but God reminds me of their legacies to me and how I will one day see them again.
Through a divorce, God taught me He is my husband and provider during a long season of anger, grieving, recovery and single parenting.
He took away a job I truly loved when the staff changed, but unbeknownst to me, He had a better position in the works elsewhere.
Time and again, I have had to trust His Sovereignty, His givings and takings, and lay down my personal wants and desires. But He has used it all for my good, if not my short-term comfort, then my growth and refinement as a Christ-follower.
P~ Father, I don’t think it ever gets easier when You choose to take away. But I have learned to have confidence that You love me immeasurably and will ultimately use it for Your purpose and for my good.
The Greater the Loss, the Fewer the Words | Kimi Miller
S~ Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words. Job 2:13 (NLT)
O~ I think this is one of the most powerful life verses in the book of Job. His friends recognized his suffering, and didn’t try to say the right thing or fix it. They were just there.
A~ We often wonder sometimes why God is silent? Why He doesn’t speak when we are so desperate for a word from Him. When I read this account of Job and his friends, I imagine that Jesus is next to us – silent not so much because of suffering is so great, but because His heart is so grieved. Because it was never meant to be this way. The fall and decay of the earth and mankind…it wasn’t meant to be that way. But here we are. Broken. Confused. Angry. And…silent.
But Job’s friends were there. And like his friends, You, Jesus, are always near to us. Right there, sitting with us. And unlike Job’s friends, when You speak, it is not based on human wisdom, assumptions or expectations. It is Truth. Truth we can hold onto. But sometimes, we can’t hear You, because our friends are trying to “fix” it with their words – when their presence speaks louder than their voice. One of the greatest things I learned from a pastor friend was this, “The greater the loss, the fewer the words.” He was reminding me that when one of God’s little lambs are hurting, sometimes, just being there – sitting next to them – is the kindest act of all.
P~ Jesus, I have so much to learn. I’m a “helper” and want to help my friends – especially when they are suffering. Help me to be more like You. Help me to love like You love. Help me to show that love without any words at all.
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