TestingTesting!

James 1:2 (NASB)

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Job 6 begins a second discourse of grieving and venting. Job responds to the confusing, erroneous counsel of his good friend Eliphaz by explaining to him I'm in total misery. What God has done is more than he can bear...according to Job. If only God would kill him now then it would be over! He is determined to tell it like it is (or as He perceives it!).

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Can you imagine going to your best friend's house who has just lost their children in a car accident. Their home has been leveled by some natural disaster. All their possessions have been looted. They are wounded and horrified at life itself. Would you, like Eliphaz, tell them God did this to you because you did something wrong? Probably not. Would you tell them they did not have enough faith? OOh...I KNOW that one has been used before...way too many times.
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In his eyes, Job had nothing to loose. He unleashed his anger at his friends. For in the midst of total disaster, they were not even allowing him to speak what was in his heart. He believed God had given up on him, so he'd given up on God...there was nothing left except the compassion of his friends which he obviously was not getting. They were full of flattery when life was good, and finger pointing when things got bad. They were as James would put it, unstable.

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As I was waking up this morning, I began thinking about the "red" verse (above) in the book of James. The Lord kept me in James for several years. I will have to admit, I rather tired of reading the same thing over and over again. But James is the only New Testament book which even mentions Job. Parts of the book of James mirrors the theme of the book of Job.

How could James tell us to consider it joy when we encounter various trials? What did he say was being tested? Our faith. Where does "our faith" come from, or is it really "our faith"? Faith comes into our lives by hearing the Word of God. For Job, he had only heard the Word of the servants bringing him bad news, the Word of his wife, and the Word of his friend who was unable to discern what was really going on in Job's suffering. As the book concludes, Job finally gets the Word of God...then faith came...then restoration came.

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The second part of this verse out of James is dealing with asking God for wisdom. I don't want to jump ahead too much, but when God, (Job 40) begins to speak to Job He says..."would you condemn me to justify yourself?" This is exactly what happens in all of our lives when we are lacking wisdom...we condemn God to justify ourselves! It may go something like this..."God, I've followed you all my life and this is the pay I get for obedience?!" Condemning God for not being faithful. Here's another one..."God, why haven't you healed me...I believed you...what happened?" Condemning God for not being true to His Word. The list goes on.

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Should we NEVER complain? Can we not even complain to God? Read in the Psalms to see how David..."a man after God's own heart" handled his open anger and grief.

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The bottom line, stuff will happen when we've been "good" but God ALWAYS turns things for our good. I too have to make myself remember a basic characteristic of Jehovah God...He operates out of love and a desire to give. He gives wisdom freely to all who ask.