Words from WW Blog

WORDS FROM W.W.                                                               February 8, 2013

I’m using the One Year Chronological Bible to read through the Bible this year. As it’s name indicates, the scriptures are arranged in order of occurrence…as best as they can determine. I didn’t realize that Job came after Genesis 10! I almost didn’t make it to Genesis 11.

Right after the story of Noah…right around January 4…Job suddenly sprung up on the pages of January 5.

Understand that I have nothing against Job. After all, he is in the Book! It’s just that I have a hard time listening to his friends Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and late contributor, Elihu. In a modern paraphrase they might appear as a group of Baptist pastors who are all trying out the coming Sunday’s sermon. They seem to have no word quota or time limit. They flapped their jaws more than our neighbor’s barking dog.

You would have thought they were running for office. I fell asleep with the Bible open in front of me. (Kind of like people on Sundays when I speak!) Anytime Eliphaz opened his mouth I started compiling a grocery list. Suddenly I realized I was two chapters later on in the story, but had not clue what it was that I had just read.

About two weeks later in my Bible journey light appeared at the end of the tunnel. It was about the time that God appeared on the scene and set things in perspective. The Almighty has a way of doing that. When he asks, but isn’t really seeking an answer, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand…Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?” (Job 38:4,12) there is the first glimpse of silence in the gap.

It’s better to think through your words before responding to God.

The story of Job tells me that there is much verbosity in the world, a heap of rhetoric, but the voice of God sweeps it all away. It tells me that if we measure how we should believe by the amount of verbiage that is uttered our journey would, more often than not, take us away from the closeness of His wisdom.

Sometimes our lives become based more on the rambling thoughts of others and less on the solid foundation of Christ.

The story of Job also makes me think about the church. Does our ministry flow more out of our opinions or out of the story of hope, the scriptures of wisdom? How often do we say “That sounds like a good idea” as opposed to “What is God leading us to be about?”

I’m done with Job for now. I can remember Bildad’s name, but none of his pontifications. I leave the story behind me and am reminded of “The Five B’s of Preaching”– “Be brief, Bill, be brief!”