Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Job 11-13
Job 13:15
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
What were Job’s ways? He was perfect and upright, one that escheweth evil and feared the Lord (1:1). Those were his ways, perfectness, uprightness, he stayed away from evil and reverentially feared His Lord God. So, when he says: I will maintain mine own ways before him he is saying that he would stay the course regardless of anything that the Lord allows to happen to him: including death.
Many will trust God for blessings of this life. For money, success, beauty, talents, fortunate opportunities and all the like. But for a person to say, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: that is an entirely different level of trust. Factually, Job may have seriously entertained the idea that the Lord would “slay him.” He had lost everything. He had lost his children. His wife was teetering on turning against the Lord. His friends were no help. He was alone, from his words it is known that he was despondent, discouraged, and perhaps even depressed. He spoke of death often because to him, at that moment death was the next logical step.
Yet, he had hope. Notice that on one hand he spoke of the Lord slaying him, yet on the other he spoke of his ways continuing on. It is as if he were saying “no matter how long I have left to live, I am going to maintain my ways of life. He innately knew he had some more life to live.
So do you! There is a lot of life to live. Some of it will be difficult, confusing, sad, and even full of doubt. Some of it will be wonderful, peaceful, filled with love, and even victory. After all, God has given us the victory, has He not? In the time left to live, maintain your own ways, that is if they be perfect, upright, staying away from evil, and a Biblical fear of the Lord. If not, change your ways. Plus, trust Him. Life or death, poverty or riches, ease or hardship, at peace or in battles, trust in Him.
Many times, I suffer from fear, heartaches and the attacks of the “what ifs of life.” When this happens, I always do the same thing. I attend church, go to the altar after the message and pray something like this. “Lord, I plead with you to help me, yet I trust you with everything I have. If bringing something awful into my life will glorify you, please allow it. If unmeasured success would glorify you, please bring it. I only wish to do what would be your will for my life. All I ask is that you be with me through it all. I lay my life on this altar of service to you once again.”
Sometimes when things are really bad, I recite this simple prayer I wrote years ago. “Lord, be real to me when I read your Word, be real to me when I pray, be real to me when I need you most, please be real to me each day.”
May the words of this devotion help some struggling soul today.
Dr. William T. Howe
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