Daily Devotions

No doubt we have all heard the title, “Job's Comforter” - a person who aggravates distress under the guise of giving comfort. Such was circumstance that Job of the Old Testament faced.

The story of Job is a famous tale which shows how devotion to God can sustain a person through any adversity. The character of Job from the Bible is now virtually synonymous with suffering, as he becomes the focus of a wager between God and Satan as to how much someone can suffer and still remain loyal to God.

Job is presented as such a good man that God boasts about him in a conversation with Satan. Satan is then given permission to test how faithful Job would be if he had to endure loss, grief, and pain. Job’s friends come to bring comfort to Job, but fail miserably. After an extended series of dialogues between Job and four friends, God speaks and Job’s good fortunes return. Questions about why good people like Job suffer are left unanswered, but Job’s relationship with God is renewed.

 In Job 38 we read “And now, finally, God answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said, “Why do you confuse the issue? Why do you talk without knowing what you’re talking about? Pull yourself together, Job! Up on your feet! Stand tall! I have some questions for you, and I want some straight answers.

Some neuroscientists go so far as to say that we have one brain but two minds—or even, two people living inside our mind. There’s the version of us that acts on impulse and seeks immediate gratification, and the version of us that controls our impulses and delays gratification to protect our long-term goals. They’re both us, but we switch back and forth between these two selves. Sometimes we identify with the person who wants to lose weight, and sometimes we identify with the person who just wants that delicious slice of cake. 

This is what defines a willpower challenge: Part of you wants one thing, and another part of you wants something else. Or your present self wants one thing, but your future self would be better off if you did something else. When these two selves disagree, one version of us has to override the other. A. W. Tozer says “True obedience is the refusal to compromise in any regard our relationship with God, regardless of the consequences.” 

Eternal One, whose thoughts and ways are not ours,

you alone are God, awesome, holy, and most high.

School us in the ways of faith and wisdom,

that we, like Job,

may learn to truly see and hear,

and in humility find blessing. Amen.