Reading from Thursday, August 26

Oh man, what a great night. Our church put on a show tonight with a very different structure. It was an acoustic show and each act only played two songs. So about ten minutes per person. Me and my buddy Tim played a couple of songs from our old band, but we changed them around a little with him playing piano. It was great to play those old jamz again. Also, it was awesome to see so many other people playing. I had no idea so many people were so talented.

It was also a very cool atmosphere that I've never experienced at a show before. Because there were so many acts, the majority of the audience were actually performers. But it was kinda like that scene from "Once" where they go to that dinner and everyone sings a song. Everyone was super supportive of each other and there wasn't that pretense that comes from every other show where you're comparing yourself against the other bands and stuff. This was very relaxed and it was really an awesome time.

Reading for August 26
Job 20:1-22:30
I don't know if I can take much more of this. Let's see what happens.

OK - not as bad tonight. We're getting into more of the philosophical reasons behind Job's suffering, and by extension - "Why bad things happen to good people."

To look at that question, Job addressed the opposite of that idea: why do good things happen to bad people. All of chapter 20 is about how people who ignore God and want nothing to do with him live perfectly comfortable lives and never experience anything close to what Job is going through. And yet Job made God his priority and look where it got him. It's one of those things that makes you wonder if it would have happened the same way if you went back and done it differently; gone back and cursed God before even getting into that situation.

So to answer the question of why good things happen to bad people, and vice verse: there is no answer. God does what he wants to whom he wants when he wants. It may seem unfair to us who live in systems governed by reward for good behavior and punishment for bad. I know it's a cop out, but there really is no explaining God's choices sometimes. I believe that the majority of the time my idea of "good" and God's idea are relatively the same, but God isn't as consistent as I think some of us would like to believe. And my fear of him rests in that inconsistency.



Then one of Job's friends finally starts making sense.

^22:2 "Can a man be of benefit to God?
       Can even a wise man benefit him?
 ³ What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
       What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

This is an extremely New Testament idea. This is the root of the "faith over works" mentality. Because think about it - aside from bragging rights to Satan, how would it benefit God if I never broke a rule? I don't think it would at all.

Then he busts into some real NT stuff:

^22:5 Is not your wickedness great?
       Are not your sins endless?
 ⁶ You demanded security from your brothers for no reason;
       you stripped men of their clothing, leaving them naked.
 ⁷ You gave no water to the weary
       and you withheld food from the hungry,
 ⁸ though you were a powerful man, owning land—
       an honored man, living on it.
 ⁹ And you sent widows away empty-handed
       and broke the strength of the fatherless.
 ¹⁰ That is why snares are all around you,
       why sudden peril terrifies you,
 ¹¹ why it is so dark you cannot see,
       and why a flood of water covers you.

Close your eyes and this sounds exactly like Jesus. He's saying "hey man - no one is blameless. We're all under the same umbrella of sin. And you - with your fancy farm land and bags of money - never helped anyone in need. Shame on you. That's why you're suffering."


While I don't think his friend was right about the reason for Job's suffering, he was right to call Job out on those things. But the cool thing is that you never see that kind of rhetoric in the Old Testament. The stigma of the OT is avoiding breaking rules, not this charitable stuff. Kinda makes you wonder when it was written. Anyway, I thought that was really cool.

2 Corinthians 1:1-11
New book.

⁶If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. ⁷And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

This is something I often forget about. Whenever we're suffering, no matter what the issue is, Jesus can relate. And if anyone at all can relate to Job, it's Jesus. So through that idea, we are comforted that someone else has been there. 

Psalm 40:11-17
There's an interesting distinction here.

Have you noticed how Job never actually prays to God for salvation from these troubles? He never goes to him to say "hey, can you tone it down a little? This is pretty awful..." Where David spent 90% of his time praying for mercy and salvation.

 ¹¹ Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
       may your love and your truth always protect me.
 ¹² For troubles without number surround me;
       my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
       They are more than the hairs of my head,
       and my heart fails within me.
 ¹³ Be pleased, O LORD, to save me;
       O LORD, come quickly to help me.

See? And David and Job had similarly terrible things happen to each of them. That could be a key to Job's extended suffering. 

Gosh - shut up about Job already.

Proverbs 22:2-4
 ² Rich and poor have this in common:
       The LORD is the Maker of them all.
 ³ A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge,
       but the simple keep going and suffer for it.
 ⁴ Humility and the fear of the LORD
       bring wealth and honor and life.

Indeed. And I am exhausted so good night, friends.