The book of Job.

I know this is the second post for me in the last...hour...but I was just thinking through my day, and remembered that the sermon I heard today was, well, timely. Our pastor has been doing a sermon series on Satan's Favorite Lies, which has been really interesting. Today, however, our pastor said he just felt compelled to preach on something a little different. (coincidence? I think not.) Today's sermon was called "God Isn't Fair," and the main scriptures he used were from the book of Job. I'm not going to lie - I cried more than once during church today. I probably should have run to grab tissue or something, but I didn't want to miss a sentence of this sermon, so I sniffed and stuck it out. (sorry for the mental picture!)

Anyway, back to tonight. I am sitting here, looking through my sermon notes (does anyone out there besides me and my BIL Nate take sermon notes?) and I decided to re-read some of Job. I have The Message version of the Bible, and before each book, it gives a little "Introduction" to that particular book. I decided to see what Mr. Eugene Peterson had to say about the book of Job. If you have The Message, I totally recommend reading this introduction. Here are the main points that struck me in relation to my present physical circumstances...

(Job) "Refuses to accept the role of a defeated victim."
"Perhaps the greatest mystery in suffering is how it can bring a person into the presence of God in a state of worship, full of wonder, love, and praise."
"Job rages against this secularized wisdom that has lost its touch with the living realities of God."
"He rejects the kind of advice and teaching that has God all figured out, that provides glib explanations for every circumstance."
"At first Job rages in pain and roars out his protests, but then he becomes silent in awestruck faith before God, who speaks from out of a storm - a whirlwind of Deity."
"Real faith cannot be reduced to spiritual bromides and merchandised in success stories. It is refined by the fires and storms of pain."
"When (these) people go through suffering, their lives are often transformed, deepened, marked wtih beauty and holiness, in remarkable ways that could never have been anticipated before the suffering."

Whew. If that is not timely - I don't know what is. Happy reading!