Meditations On Faith - 2

Faith sees beyond
our present trials and troubles.

`I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end He will stand upon the earth.'
(Job 19:25)

It was under the most daunting of circumstances that Job burst forth with these words. Just prior to this tremendous utterance of faith Job spoke of his dilemma . . .

`My kinsmen have gone away; my friends have forgotten me. My guests and my maidservants count me a stranger; they look upon me as an alien. I summon my servant but he does not answer, though I beg him with my own mouth. My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own brothers. Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me. All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me  . . . '
(Job 19:14-19).

Put yourself in Job's situation. Would your faith still be able to see a living God through such dark clouds?

Could Job's situation have been any worse? Yet, despite his awful predicament, Job nevertheless declares his innermost conviction - "I know that my Redeemer lives." He does not say "I think . . ." or "I hope . . ." but he echoes the deepest conviction of his heart - though my situation could not be worse, I am thoroughly convinced that my Redeemer lives.

Yet, just a little earlier in this same chapter, Job actually accuses God of wronging him (Job 19:6). He declares further that God has stripped him of his honour, removed his crown from his head, torn him down and uprooted his hope, yet despite these inner feelings, Job's faith is unwavering. (Job 19:9,10). He holds onto the promises and refers to God, not just as God, but as "my Redeemer" - his personal Saviour. Even though it is Job's opinion that God has "stripped Him of His honour," he has no doubt whatsoever that God is honourable - that God is alive and in control and working out his Redemption.

Adding further to his declaration of unflinching faith, Job continues: "Though this body has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God." (Job 19:26)

No circumstance of an earthly nature could tarnish his absolute conviction that God was His Redeemer, that God would one day stand upon the earth, and that he, regardless of what happens to his body, would see God. This is faith at its best!

Job's faith transcended both time and distance, and he saw the hope of the future as the reality and the comfort of the present. Nothing can shake such a faith - nobody could persuade Job that his hope was groundless - for his hope, through faith, was as real to him at that point in time as was his rotting flesh.

Let us remember Job, therefore, when the circumstances surrounding our lives are not quite what we would want them to be. Regardless of the intensity of our trial, regardless of how deep our sorrow, let us ever remember that our Redeemer lives, and that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him." (Romans 8:28)

`Faith . . . enables us to look beyond the present, with its burdens and cares, to the great hereafter, where all that now perplexes us shall be made plain. Faith sees Jesus standing as our Mediator at the right hand of God. Faith beholds the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those who love Him. Faith sees the robe and crown prepared for the overcomer, and hears the song of the redeemed.' (FLB126)

As difficult as it may be to believe this, the absolute truth is that . . .

"ALL our suffering and sorrows, ALL our temptations and trials, ALL our sadness and griefs, ALL our persecutions and privations; in short, ALL things work together for our good. ALL experiences and circumstances are God's workmen whereby good is brought to us." (MH489, Emphasis my own)

Was this not the case with Job - even though he lost so much, in the end, after his faith had been tried to the outer limit, He gained even more?

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Let us remember, therefore, that though we see our flesh wasting away, this is only temporary; though we see affliction and sorrow all around us, this is only temporary; though we see death and the grave just before us, this is only temporary . . .

But God, He whom we cannot see, is infinite, His love is immeasurable and unconditional and eternal, the Sacrifice that He made on our behalf is all-encompassing, all-sufficient, and it has eternal efficacy. His promises, including the promises of forgiveness, mercy and the resurrection, all are eternal - they cannot fail for our Redeemer lives - and He has lived from eternity in the past and He will live unto eternity in the future with all who saw Him through the eye of faith - with all who saw Him in the night of trial and sorrow - with all who saw Him even when earthly circumstances might have suggested that He was not there.

Soon, "He will stand upon the earth," and then, at last, the unseen God will be seen, His purposes will be understood, our trials will be explained, and He will welcome us into an eternal, face-to-face friendship with Him.

And He will "wipe away all tears." (Isaiah 25:8)

`I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end
He will stand upon the earth.' (Job 19:25)