Let's talk about Job

Hi guys!

So, about 3 years ago, I was determined to read the Bible from the beginning to the end. I wanted to know God more and grow. And I felt like part of my journey in Christ had to include an increase in my reading of God's word (the Bible).

So in 2020, I started a Bible plan which was inspired by a friend and I read the Bible from beginning to end that year in the NLT version. Then I decided the next year to read it in the KJV version and now I'm reading it in the amplified version.

I'm not writing this to boast by the way. It's really been by the grace of God and it became sweeter to read the more I read it. But you know what I realised? I realised that I get a different message almost every time I read the Bible. I could read Genesis 1:1 today and find a meaning to it, then read it another time, and get a different lesson from it.

So this week, I've been reading Job and I was getting so excited to read the part where God talks, but I didn't get why. But as I was reading what God had to say this week in the book of Job, I actually started smiling and just praising. It was like a hidden secret or a new lesson had been opened up to me.

It's like playing a game and at each level you pass and open up a new gift, or whatever. That's what it was like for me, but much more.

It's so funny or sad, because in 2020, before I'd even had a chance to read through Job, a friend of mine had asked me what the whole of Job meant. She said that the major lesson that people said Job was about, was that God tested Job, Job passed and then God blessed him doubly.

At the time, I expressed that while a whole book in the Bible could have a general message, I believed that each verse or even chapter would have its own lesson.

That year, I learnt from Job, that just becomes something sounds right, it doesn't mean it's right. I mean Job's friends at the time sounded like they knew exactly what they were saying and it made sense to them. If you even read what they had to say out of context, it could make total sense. But, their words weren't totally correct and God said that to them later. This doesn't mean that there aren't lessons in each verse because I learnt and gained things from some of the things that they said.

It just means that our thoughts and beliefs about God aren't necessarily correct unless God has revealed Himself to us and exposed those secrets to us.

But this year, I gained so much more from the book of Job. You know Job actually has a lot of chapters for the whole world to assume that the book of Job only has one lesson.

I was reading it this week and I was left in awe of some of the things hidden in there. I'm so sure, that when I read it as a whole again next year, I'll get a different lesson.

But when I was reading Job on Monday, I was left so excited and I was jumping at the lessons in the chapters I was reading. I mean God was talking about the leviathan (a powerful creature that had no fear and was so powerful). He asked Job, if Job could face the creature. Then He said, if Job couldn't even face the creature, how then could Job contend with the God that made that creature.

I mean God was just speaking about certain creatures that He had created and it was painting a picture of power, power so magnificent and fearful. Then God goes, "I made that, how could you contend with the power that made something so fearful". Do we even realise how amazing God is?

If you ever need help just thinking about the magnitude of God's power, just check out Job, especially the parts where God is speaking, because the creatures that God was even speaking about, couldn't even try to compare with the power that God has. He spoke and they became. I don't believe that anything has ever strained God's power.

So if the things that we're so fearful of only exist because God spoke, or because He breathed into man, then how much more fearful and in awe of God should we be?

Funnily enough, this wasn't the only lesson I learned in those scriptures. There was so much more. There was the part where after God had spoken to Job and reprimanded Job, that Job became truly repentant and asked for mercy and God gave it so freely.

Then knowing that God had reprimanded Job, we see God go to Job's friends and tell them that Job was right and that they were wrong. Then He asked them, to ask Job, to pray for them.

I mean, they'd spent the majority of the book of Job insulting Job and belittling him and accusing him of many horrible things. They'd called him names and called him evil, wicked etc. Then God says, go ask him to pray for you. Can you imagine?! I'm sorry, it just has me laughing.

But you know what surprised me and what I hadn't seen before. It's the fact that it wasn't until after Job had prayed for them, that God restored and doubled all that Job had. So the restoration wasn't done, until Job could find it in himself to forgive his friends and pray for them.

Think about it, Job had to pray for the people that were supposedly his friends. Who came to him in his worst of times and instead of helping him, consoling him or even just being silent, they decided to heap coals of fire upon his pain and hurt him even more by trying to destroy his spirit and by throwing false accusations against him as if they were facts.

So imagine, Job having lost his children, his money, his homes, his businesses, his comfort, his health. He was in so much pain that he was asking for death. And instead of his friends to help him, they hurt him even more. Now he had to pray for them. An innocent man, losing everything and then having to pray for people that he'd trusted (who then hurt him at his lowest).

That must have been haaaarrrrrddddddd. But it wasn't until he'd done that. Until he'd truly blessed them, that he regained it all.

I'm sorry (not really), but the Bible is so much more than the lessons we learnt yesterday, or last year. It's full of new revelations and lessons and those lessons are tailored for you. Or for someone that you ought to teach.

Please don't limit the Bible. The Bible is life and I promise you, the Bible is lit!! I genuinely enjoy reading it. I'm waiting for a time when the measurements in the Bible will excite me, cause I haven't gotten there yet (haha). But I'm sure, I'm so so sure, that there's a time that those measurements will have me jumping up and excited.

I'm just gonna pray for you guys: Heavenly Father, I thank You for the revelations that I've received in Your Word. I pray o God, that as the readers of my blog start or continue their journey in Your Word, You will reveal secrets to them and make their hearts and minds excited to learn more. I started with just one verse a day and I'm where I am now and hope to be further along as each day goes. I just pray that You will open the hearts and minds of everyone and anyone who reads this blog post in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

As always guys, I love you and most importantly, God loves you!

Love,

Esther xoxo