Year 5, Day 107: Job 13

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Father

• Father: This is the pinnacle of the Covenant Triangle.  God is the Father.  He is the creator.  He is love.  Our relationship with the Father is rooted in His love for us.  We get our identity through Him.  When the Father is in our life, obedience becomes clear.

There is a huge part of me that wanted to focus on Job’s critique of his friends and their advice.  And while Job has some great things to say about their advice, I think my time is better spent elsewhere.  Rather than focusing upon one human’s critique of another human, I’m going to focus on the root of Job’s faith.

Job talks about God in two different ways in this passage.  In the middle of the passage, Job speaks about contending with God.  Job begs for the opportunity to give his case before God.  Job desires an opportunity to hear God explain away this tragedy.  This may seem arrogant, and it actually is!  Who among us can truly argue against God?  Who among us can truly win a debate regarding God’s character?

But here’s the thing.  Job knows that God is the Father.  What can a father do really well?  A father is in a great position to hear the critique of the child and still love them in spite of the incorrect critique.  A father is in a great position to accept the petulance of the child and show them a better way.  This doesn’t mean the child has the right to be that way.  But the father is the bigger person and meets the brash critique of the child with love.

I believe that this is why Job can talk at the end of the chapter about still having faith in God.  Even if Job would like to give God a piece of his mind, Job knows that it won’t be the end of the relationship with the Father.  Job’s hope will be in Him.  Job’s salvation is in God.  Job knows that a true Father doesn’t walk away just because a child doesn’t understand.  This is why God is our Father.  He’s the only one who can take our worst and still give us His best.

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