Today's Video Devotion

Thursday 7/27/23

Keeping Our Faith in Adversity

📺️ Job 3 🔊

¹After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.

 ²And Job spake, and said,

 ³Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.

 ⁴Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

 ⁵Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.

 ⁶As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

 ⁷Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.

 ⁸Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning.

 ⁹Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day:

 ¹⁰Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.

 ¹¹Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?

 ¹²Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck?

 ¹³For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest,

 ¹⁴With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves;

 ¹⁵Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver:

 ¹⁶Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

 ¹⁷There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.

 ¹⁸There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor.

 ¹⁹The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.

 ²⁰Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

 ²¹Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures;

 ²²Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave?

 ²³Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

 ²⁴For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.

 ²⁵For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.

 ²⁶I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Unknown, possibly Job, Moses, Solomon, and Elihu

Date Penned: (2000-1800 BC)

Overview: Faith in God's Sovereignty Through Trials (c 1-42)

Theme: Three Friends Answer Job (c 3-31)

Message: Job Speaks in the First Round of Discussion  (v 1-26)

Job 3 Commentary

(3:1) Job's Response to His Second Test - Job's response to his second test--physical affliction- contrasts greatly to his attitude after the first test (1:20-22). Job still did not curse God, but he cursed the day of his birth. He felt it would be better never to be born than to be forsaken by God. Job was struggling emotionally, physically, and spiritually; his misery was pervasive and deep. Never underestimate your vulnerability during times of suffering and pain. Hold on to your faith even if no relief is in sight.

(3:8) The Curse -  In Job's day, people were hired to pronounce curses. Job desired that those expert at cursing would loudly curse the day of his birth.

(3:11) Cursing God or Having Faith - Job was experiencing extreme physical pain as well as grief over the loss of his children and possessions. He can't be blamed for wishing he were dead. Job's grief placed him at the crossroads of his faith, shattering many misconceptions about God (like the belief that he will make you materially wealthy, always keep you from trouble and pain, or always protect your loved ones). Job was driven back to the basics of his faith in God. He had only two choices: (a) He could curse God and give up, or (2) he could trust God and draw strength from him to continue.

(3:23-26) Losing Our Perspective - Job had been careful not to worship material possessions but to worship God alone. Here he was overwhelmed by calamities that mocked his restraint, and he complained about trials that had come despite his right living. All the principles by which he had lived were crumbling, and Job began to lose his perspective. Trials and grief, whether temporary or enduring, do not destroy the real purpose of life. God gives us life not merely for our happiness and personal fulfillment but for us to serve and honor him. We find worth and meaning in life not based on what we feel but on the one reality no one can take away--God's love for us. Don't assume that because God truly loves you he will shelter you from all suffering. The opposite may be true. God's love cannot be measured or limited by how great or how little we may suffer. Romans 8:38-39 teaches us that nothing can separate us from his love.

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue in the Book of Job with Chapter 3. In our text today we see Job speak under the affliction and pain of his current circumstances. Although he is upset and speaks of his death in travail, he does not curse God but rather had faith that if God has him alive he must cling to his faith. In making application we can see the importance in faith in the midst of our personal storms. Once we realize God is in control and have placed out faith in Him we must cling to our Lord with the same attitude of Job. If it is my time to go I am ready but as long as God puts breath in my lungs I will serve the Lord. How about you? Are you facing tough times that test your faith? Let us learn from our text today and the faithfulness of Job to remember to keep our faith in the midst of adversity.