<\/p>\n
But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
\n\u2013Job 23:10<\/p>\n
You probably know the story of Job. He was a righteous man, yet in a short space of time, he lost his children, his possessions, and his health. What was his response to this sudden loss? \u201cThe Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord\u201d (Job 1:21). We like to point to that passage and say, \u201cHere is a man who never questioned God.\u201d But Job actually had some deep questions about God\u2019s role in his suffering. Look at Job 23:8-9: \u201cBehold, I go forward but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; when He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.\u201d Have you ever felt that way? Maybe you called on God when you wanted to feel His embrace, but He seemed distant. He seemed absent. That is how Job felt. And not only was he frustrated by God\u2019s absence; he was terrified by God\u2019s plan for his life. Look at verse 14: \u201cHe performs what is appointed for me, and many such decrees are with Him. Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence; when I consider, I am terrified of Him.\u201d Sometimes I get nauseated by all the Christians who walk around with this plastic grin on their faces, saying, \u201cGod has a happy plan for your life. If you are going through suffering, you just need to buck up!\u201d No, God\u2019s plan for your life and my life is not always a happy plan. Job was starting to find that out. He was saying, \u201cWhen I think about what You still might have in store for me, I am terrified.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Hebrews 11, the writer gave a roll call of men and women of faith who did all these victorious things. They \u201cconquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight\u201d (vv. 33-34). What a great group to be a part of! But then the writer said, \u201cOthers experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated\u201d (vv. 36-37). Have you ever heard a TV preacher say, \u201cGive us a call today if you want to be among the destitute and the afflicted\u201d? And yet God\u2019s plan for our life may be to be a part of that second group. It certainly was God\u2019s plan for Job. But despite being frustrated by God\u2019s absence and terrified at God\u2019s plan, Job still had faith. He said in Job 23:10-11, \u201cBut He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and I have not turned aside.\u201d Job was saying, \u201cEven though I do not know what You are doing in my life, I am going to obey You, believing that in the end my faith will come out as gold.\u201d Job trusted in not only the sovereignty, but the goodness of God. Maybe you are in a storm right now. You do not understand what is happening in your life, or why it is happening. Are you willing to say, \u201cGod, even though I do not understand what You are doing, I am going to obey You regardless\u201d? Are you willing to trust in God\u2019s sovereignty?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. \u2013Job 23:10 You probably know the story of Job. He was a righteous man, yet in a short space of time, he lost his children, his possessions, and his health. What was his response to this … Continue reading “26.s. From Pathway to Victory”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124584"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124743,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124584\/revisions\/124743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}