Daily Devotional

Word of the Day

God Does Right

Job makes two of the greatest statements ever made to sustain us in the midst of our trials--"The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord," and "Shall we receive good at the hand of God and not receive evil?" Those two truths will sustain you through anything that you'll ever experience. Get them into your heart. Beloved, if those become the foundational truths of your life, then trials will only work in you character, not bitterness and defeat. As you mediate on the principle of patience, the fear will be alleviated and the joy will come. Because the Judge of all the earth surely does right, you're not afraid of the trial you are in. Naturally you don't want to go through the trial, but in the midst of the trial you can say, "God is working in me for His good pleasure." You don't fear the trials but count them joy.

The exceedingly great and precious promises work faith in your heart and cause you to rejoice in the greatness of God. How do you reconcile this with the trials that you're in? The necessity of patiently standing in the midst of trials in no way supersedes the declaration of faith and the expectation of the miraculous, but in fact works in perfect cooperation. You pray in faith and believe for the miraculous, re-creative power of God to manifest. But while you wait for the promise, don't faint but declare the victory, as the peaceable fruit of righteousness manifests in your heart. In due season, you will reap if you don't faint.

Over the years I have looked to Job's example and understand there is no strength in myself naturally. I ask the Lord for grace--that ability to stand in dependence upon God alone. There is absolutely no question in my mind that very principle has caused the faith to rise and understand God's sustaining power. You are never in a safer place than when God allows you to be in a position beyond your ability. Then you look to Him, the Author and Finisher of your faith; and He gets all the glory.

Be thankful for the hedge that is around you. Rejoice in the exceeding great and precious promises of God that declare you victorious. You are at war, and you have need of patience. You need to consistently put on the whole armor of God. Don't walk into the presence of the enemy presumptuously just assuming all will be okay. God says to put the armor on. Concentrate on the warfare at hand. Be mature enough to be careful. Carefulness is not fearfulness. Check your heart twice. Check your motives twice. Check that decision twice. Then when you find yourself in that situation, you can know that it's not presumption or foolishness. It's God working something in you, and you can rejoice.

Through the initial shock Job made some great statements that are the anchor of our soul, yet as he and his comforters sat in silence, it's obvious what the comforters were thinking. Their theology said if something bad has happened to you, it's because you've done something bad. The comforters said that God would never allow this to happen to an innocent person. Job said he hadn't done anything wrong. Then as the smoke clears in the end of the book, both parties have a fuller understanding of the majesty of God--His unsearchable ways, sovereignty, love and mercy. They put their hands over their mouths and let God be God, worshipping Him because He does all things right. Father, cause it to be real in our hearts, and we will glorify You, in Jesus' name.

Previous Devotional | Next Devotional

• Subscribe to the Daily Devotional
• Unsubscribe from the Daily Devotional