Line of Sight

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Job 9:1

Yet when He comes near, I cannot see Him. When He moves by, I do not see Him go (v.11).

When our son learned to shoot with a bow and arrow, I found my interest in the sport piqued by its grace and artistry. One afternoon I decided to join him in the backyard to take a few shots. Doing something that contradicted his training, I moved the bow left of the target. I knew that I couldn’t hold my left eye closed, so I closed my right eye instead and compensated for the difference it would make in the flight of the arrow. Understandably, few shots made it to the center. Because my lack of training limited my vision, I lacked accuracy in sending the arrow to the bull’s-eye.

 

Like Job, when difficulties arise, we may begin to feel as if God has some personal vendetta against us. Tracing back our choices, we don’t see how our decisions (and even our sacrifices for or faithfulness to the Lord) have merited the situations we now encounter.

 

Recognizing the majesty of God, Job acknowledged His power. But that same sovereignty caused Job to wonder if God really was good and just (9:24). If God is all-powerful, then He has the ability to superimpose His authority in any circumstance. To Job, the question wasn’t whether God was able to change his situation; the question was why God was choosing not to intervene.

 

Interestingly, Job admitted his own limitations in his perspective. But because he couched his confession in complaint, he could not see that he had placed himself as a judge over God’s response to mankind (vv.17-18,22-23).

 

We are not unlike Job. When we don’t understand the situations around us, we must be careful not to define the ways of God through untrained eyes and in so doing miss the target of God’s hand as He works in our lives. 

—Regina Franklin

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Read Isaiah 59:15. How is God’s covenant with His children intricately woven into the righteousness and justice of His character? What is our role in the covenant?

 

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How have you been looking at a situation with skewed vision? What does God see?

 

are you a trader? from littlejoey on godtube.