Week 4 - Day 3

The Curse

Though he openly questioned the “why” of his suffering, Job held firmly to the hope he had in God – and he expressed it beautifully in Job 19:25-27. “Somehow Job saw into the distant future and he recognized the only hope you and I have in the midst of the pain of this life – our suffering Savior." (Holding On To Hope, pg. 54) He saw a Redeemer. He saw God in Jesus Christ, who would take the pieces of Job’s broken life and make something beautiful out of them (Isaiah 61:3). As we think of our difficulties, trials and sorrows, it can become overwhelming. Better to be overwhelmed by the sense of God’s love and sacrifice – and of His coming – as Job was!

In studying about “The Curse” today, it struck me once again how temporary this life is! Okay, granted 6,000 years of history doesn’t seem temporary to you and me, but it most definitely is temporary to God! So our dilemma is this – do we keep looking at our suffering from our very limited perspective (and probably succumb to despair) or do we trust the God who holds our lives and everything else in His hands and who sees our problems for what they are – temporary? From God’s eternal perspective, even a lifelong illness or disability is extremely temporary! What a perspective to have! What hope!

This is why Paul writes of suffering with such confidence – he chose to trust God’s perspective over his own. In 2 Corinthians 4, he twice writes, “This is why we never give up!” Jesus has come to be our Redeemer and He will come again to take the believer to be with Him forever and ever! This is our HOPE and our FUTURE that Jeremiah 29:11 speaks of! Our afflictions are light - they are small and temporary - when viewed through God’s eyes, BUT they produce in us an immeasurable great glory that will last forever!

So, what can we do to raise our perspective? (There are times when my head might know it’s true, but my heart just isn’t feeling it!) First, turn to God’s Word. Remember His promises. Remember all He has done. Read and meditate on passages such as Psalm 139 and Romans 8. Choose to offer Him praise even though you don’t feel like it. Call someone who will help you to praise God in your weakness. Memorize verses such as Job 19:25-27 and 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 and so you can recall them quickly in moments of discouragement. We serve an amazing God – there is none like Him!!

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever. (2 Cor. 4:16-18)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation God’s sons to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it – in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. And that not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits – we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. (Rom. 8:24-25)