The Kind of Person God Brags About

Job 2:3 “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on earth. The man is blameless as well as upright. He fears God and keeps away from evil. He remains firm in his integrity...”  (ISV)

Am I the kind of person God can brag about?  Scholars debate the question of whether God was inciting Satan to evil.  While I don't believe God tempts anyone to evil (even or especially Satan) that's not even the point.  The point is that God is proud of Job.

Consider that for a moment.  Here, God's greatest enemy has come before him.  God could take the occasion to remind Satan how powerful a God He really is.  He could have said, "Have you considered the Grand Canyon?"  Or He might have asked, "Have you noticed the Northern Lights lately?"   But He didn't.  He said, "Have you considered My servant Job?"

The question I ask myself today is whether God can say the same thing about me.  In this meditation, replace your name for Job's name.  See if it fits.  If it doesn't fit, ask God to reveal how you can change your life to make you into the kind of person that God brags about.

MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS:
(Click here to get your own)

Invitatory
Job 2:3 “Have you considered my servant ________?

Cruciform
There is no one like him (her) on earth.

Weeks
The man (woman) is blameless as well as upright. He fears God and keeps away from evil.

Benedictory
He (she) remains firm in his (her) integrity...”

The Patience of Job: Understanding the Balance of Suffering and Pleasure

When Job's faith was tested, he had a choice to make.  He could either rail against God and curse God for being unjust, or he could accept his situation for what it was and try to find some peace in it.  Suffering is an undeniable fact of life.  It doesn't do any good to try to point fingers of blame or to wallow in self-pity.  Instead, Christians need to understand Jesus' words when He said that God makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the righteous as well as the wicked (Matthew 5:45).

The reader must realize that Job's story of suffering is only unusual for two reasons:  First, it is is unusual in the sense of its extremity.  Evil comes to everyone.  Job's story doesn't recount the troubles of his friends or his neighbors--not because they had no troubles, but because it is his story.  No doubt, their stories would, if they were told, also involve suffering on various levels.  

Second, it is unusual because Job's response to suffering was different than that of those around him.  Some told him that he should blame himself.  Others said he should curse God and die.  But only Job showed a righteous response that understood a balance of both pleasure and pain in the world.  The world is full of nakedness and loss, but it is also full of God's gracious gifts.  You can't experience one without the other, for they are inherently interconnected.  So his response is one of praise.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  Psalm 34:1 says, " I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips."  Job took this sentiment literally.

In today's meditation from Job 1:21 (ISV), seek to understand the balance between pleasure and suffering in your own life.  Ask God to give you the patience, and the peace, of Job.

MEDITATION WITH ECUMENICAL PRAYER BEADS:
(Click here to get your own)

Invitatory
...I left my mother’s womb naked,
and I will return to God naked.

Cruciform

May the name of the Lord be blessed.

Weeks

The Lord has given,
and the Lord has taken.

Benedictory
2:10 ...Are we to accept what is good from God but not tragedy?”...

The Prayer of a Weaned Child

The Prayer of a Weaned Child

Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, Or in things too wonderful for me.  Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child with his mother, Like a weaned child is my soul within me.  O Israel, hope in Jehovah From this time forth and for evermore. A Song of Ascents.   (Psalm 131 ASV)

This is one of my favorite psalms because of its simplicity and honesty.  Too often I find myself in a proud and haughty position.  As a father to my children, I must be aware that I'm constantly learning along with them.  As a pastor, I need to remind myself of the servant part of servant-leadership.  As a theologian, I have to constantly recall my own lowliness before the God whom I have the audacity to presume to understand.  This psalm puts a check on my pride and haughtiness, reminding me of my true position before God.

One of the things that bothered Jesus the most as he watched hypocrites pray was the way they would exalt themselves in prayer. In Matthew 6:5-8 (ISV), He said, "And whenever you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. I tell all of you  with certainty, they have their full reward!  But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees from the hidden place will reward you.  When you are praying, don’t say meaningless things  like the gentiles do, because they think they will be heard by being so wordy.  Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

Jesus understood the value of praying differently from the way the rest of the world prays.  Privately rather than pridefully--that was His motto.  If your prayers are going to be intimate then you shouldn't broadcast them to the world.  And you definitely should keep yourself in proper perspective.  In Luke 18:10-14 (ISV) Jesus tells a story about two different kinds of prayers and pray-ers.  “Two men went up to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘O God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—thieves, dishonest people, adulterers, or even this tax collector.   I fast twice a week, and I give a tenth of my entire income.’  But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven. Instead, he continued to beat his chest and said, ‘O God, be merciful to me, the sinner that I am!’   I tell you, this man, rather than the other one, went down to his home justified, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Psalm 131 demonstrates the kind of perspective that Jesus was talking about.  No pride.  No haughtiness.  Not trying to figure out theological puzzles or life conundrums that are too great or lofty, because such such arrogance displeases God.  Instead, the psalmist says that his prayer is altogether different.  What does he do when he goes into his private prayer room?  He stills and quiets his soul, like a weaned child with its mother.  That's it.  Silence and rest.  Perfect contentment in God's presence.  What could be more beautiful than that?

I remember when my children were nursing infants, how they cried after their mother when they were hungry.  One of my children in particular constantly wanted to nurse,  always groping to find a breast and the nourishment it provided.  One day, in despair, my wife said, "You don't want me--you just want Milk Factory".  And she was right.  That's exactly what the baby wanted.  How often we are like that baby, when we go to God in prayer.  We don't really want God.  We are only interested in the blessings we can get from Him.

Instead of ceaselessly grasping after God, the psalmist says he rests himself in the Lord.  Like a weaned child who finally appreciates his mother for who she is and is able to lay his head on her breast without asking for milk, the praying person should be able to rest in God without asking for anything.  "I have stilled and quieted my soul," says the psalmist.  To do this, just relax, understanding that God will feed you when it's time.  As you pray, try not to use words at all, for this is grasping after what you want.  Close your eyes with a contented smile, as a three-year-old would do as she places her head on her mother's breast.  Just be with God.  That is the prayer of a weaned child.