Page 23 - Reading Job to Know God
P. 23

into your life. See your feelings. See your motives. That is against the
           Bible. The Bible does not tell you to do that. The Bible says look to the
           Lord,  and  then  you  will  see  your  heart.  Otherwise,  you  will  get
           discouraged. There is a cesspool down there. It is not pleasant at all to
           look  inside  your  heart.  It  frustrates.  It  drives  people  to  buildings  and
           bridges.
           David cried out in Psalm 139:22-23,
          “Search  me,  O  God,  and  know  my  heart:  try  me,  and  know  my
          thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
          way everlasting”.
          Let the Lord who is infinitely more wise and kind than you do the surgery.
          The enemy will help you dig and find all kinds of stuff the Lord is not quite
          ready to deal with. “When you see Him, you will be like Him.” Did Job see
          his  self-righteousness?  He  sure  did.  But  not,  by  discussions  on  human
          depravity. Nobody sees their self-righteousness by discussing theology or by
          psychological examination. Job saw his self-righteousness when he saw his
          God. Now he says, “My eyes seeth Thee; therefore I repent.” And now I
          see myself, but through Your eyes.

          After he saw God, two things changed. He did not say I do not deserve this,
          and he did not say God is  my enemy. You see, after he saw the Lord  he
          realized that God was the best friend he ever had. God was the bridegroom
          of his soul. God was the lover of his heart. So the answer to the mysteries of
          life, God’s full answer, is not to make you patient. It is not to show you how
          vile you are, to teach you depravity, to show you the possibilities and the
          propensities of your wicked heart. Not at all! And it is not even to prove
          some silly thing to Satan. That is not the purpose of Job. The purpose of Job
          is to reveal El Shaddai. To see the love of God.

          You can apply it in a million and one ways. God will never allow anything
          in your life for a better reason than that you might know Him.  Know Him
          as the God who is more than enough. Galatians 3:7-8
           “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as
           loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be
           loss  in  view  of  the  surpassing  value  of  knowing  Christ  Jesus  my
           Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them
           but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,”

           He  always  presents  Himself  as  the  God  who  over  answers  prayers
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