“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.” (Job 23:10-11, NIV)
I played golf this past month at a golf course with a lot of lakes. It was beautiful and intimidating at the same time.
Now let’s talk among us amateurs for a minute. When the green is just beyond the water and I am unsure about the distance I need to carry the ball, I think twice: Do I go for it, or do I lay up? But when I decide to go for it, as I take the club back, my brain says maybe. I’m not very committed to my decision! Then during the swing, I pull back and end up skulling the ball way over the green or chunking it into the water. You can feel my pain, can’t you?
In today’s passage from Job, we find a discussion about commitment. Job’s friends kept suggesting that Job was holding back in his obedience to God. “Return to God,” his friend Eliphaz told him. “Remove wickedness from your heart. Pray. Fulfill your vows.” Then he said to Job: “What you decide on will be done and light will shine on your ways.” (See Job 22:22-28.) Eliphaz and the others saw Job as wishy-washy in his faith.
Job didn’t see it their way. “God knows that I have followed his steps,” he argued. And maybe he had. But here’s what hurts: Job faced all kinds of trouble anyway.
Gold is refined in the fire. After it is melted down, it is formed into a fine piece of jewelry—a masterpiece!Job was faithful. But that’s no guarantee everything will go well. Some days you can swing beautifully but your yardages are off and you find all kinds of trouble. Or you stroke so many good putts but nothing drops. As a student, you might study with much discipline then get sick the day of the test. Or as an investor, you can complete a painstaking process of due diligence, put your money in, and watch it all dry up with a failed business.
Maybe Job was like the golfer who says after a bad round, “I’m quitting,” but who never does. That golfer loves the game too much. And Job loved God too much to curse him or give up on his faith. He stayed committed, even when he was bitter and groaned to God (Job 23:1).
God will seem silent at times in your life. Job said that whether he went north, south, east, or west, he did not see God. He could not even catch a glimpse of him! This is a hard way to live. At times like these, you can’t say maybe. You’re faced with a choice: Yes, I am sticking with you, Lord. Or, no I am not.
Let me encourage you to say yes. Here’s why: Gold is refined in the fire. After it is melted down, it is formed into a fine piece of jewelry—a masterpiece! Our troubles in life are often just like that refining; they are God’s way of making us more beautiful than ever, because we are made in his hand. Will we let him do his work, no matter how much it hurts? That’s the commitment we must make.
—
Dereck Wong
March 10, 2021
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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