Today in God's Word—June 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
June 22, Job 27
”Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me."
- Job 27:5
Former captives and prisoners who survived to talk about their incarceration often tell about deprivation — the things their captors took away. They speak of their freedom, their dignity or the years that were lost. They talk about how they were deprived of all possessions they could call their own. But many of them speak with a defiant tone about something their captors could not take away from them. Some express it as their hope. Others express it as their faith. Some have spoken of it as their sense of self, their identity.
Job was not a prisoner who lived in a labor camp or was locked in a cell. But his shackles were forged from the awful consequences of Satan's unrelenting cruelty. Apparently unaware of Satan and his hateful hand in the dark circumstances of his life, Job said that God had taken away his right and made his soul bitter. I suppose that is ultimately true, because Satan did what he did only with the permission of God. But the devil took away so much from Job! He robbed him of every material blessing. He killed all ten of his children. He ruined Job's health. He even turned Job's wife and friends away from Job to discourage and accuse him. God restrained Satan from killing Job, so he could not take away Job's life.
But Job spoke of another thing that no one was going to take away from him. He would not let go of his integrity. Regardless of what happened, regardless of what his cruel friends said, Job vowed by the name of the living God that he would not lie or put away his integrity.
It's interesting that Job swore by the name of the God who, as he understood it, had taken away so much from him. He did not stop believing in or trusting God, even in his dark and bitter experience. When he lost all his flocks and all his children in one day, he said,
"The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." After his wife taunted him, suggesting that he should curse God and die, Job replied, "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" After all that happened to him, even while thinking that God had done it, he would not speak against his God or stop trusting the Lord.
Job's conscience was clear. He would not lie and confess to sins his friends were so sure he had committed. Job still had hope, and said the godless had none. He still called on God, which he said the wicked did not do. A man or woman who continues to pray and rely on God in adversity is clinging to his or her authentic faith.
Job's friends had presumed to teach him, but now Job said he would teach them instead. He said that the wicked, for all they may gain and have in this life, would still be judged. God would repay them for their wickedness when he took away their souls. That reminded me of Jesus' question: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?"
Job told his friends that his trust in God was evident in the fact that he called on God in both good times and bad. He trusted God when he was prosperous, and he now trusted God from his miserable poverty. He trusted God all the time, not just some of the time.
What an example of a life shaped by deep trust in God! Let’s remember that spirituality and godliness go far beyond emotional fervor and short-term excitement. Genuine trust in God is demonstrated by the way we speak and react in all the varied circumstances of a lifetime and everyday life. We will cling to our integrity like Job did when we hope and trust in God like Job did.
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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