An Invitation…

(Thanks to my sister Tammy Enns for contributing this thought-provoking essay on Job.)

What if God had written Job this invitation:

My blameless servant Job, (cf. Job 1:8)

I am writing a book to show all peoples in all times who I AM, so that they might know me and I may show my glory. This Book will be timeless, lasting for eternity, long after heaven and earth have passed away. Al the stories will be about me and my great glory, righteousness, and love for all. I will be the hero of this Book, but I am offering you the opportunity to have your story written in its pages as well. I want to invite you to be part of the message that I want to share with others.  But I must warn you this will be very difficult; in fact, everything you have ever feared happening to you will actually take place. Job, you will lose everything. When things can’t get worse, they will. You have only to trust me no matter what happens. In return not only will you become a part of this eternal book sharing who I am with people throughout all of time, but you will also be watched by the angels who will wonder at you. You will prove Satan wrong. But best of all you will come to know Me. In the end you and I will have a face to face conversation that will blow your mind. So what do you say, Job? Are you willing to face the trials for the rewards? Can you trust me? What am I worth to you?

I know Go didn’t write this invitation to Job. Instead His invitation arrived with all the fanfare of unwelcome calamity.  What is really cool though is that Job actually answers this invitation in Job 13:15, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him.”

In Job’s situation, we get the benefit of the big picture. We know the end of the story. We see how God proved his goodness, his faithfulness, even his power in the life of Job. And we get the benefit of all Job’s suffering. Would Job have found that a worthy reason to suffer?  Would it have helped if God gave him a glimpse of the big picture? In reality what is stunning to me, is that Job did find God to be worth it. He proclaims, “Before I had only heard of you, but now I have seen you face to face.”

In my own situation, I can get stuck in the minutia. I can beg God for a big-picture reality that is impossible for me to comprehend or appreciate. What I ultimately find is that true comfort, true hope comes in knowing that He is worth it all. One day I will proclaim with Job, “Now I have seen you face to face.”

What about you? What would you do with an invitation from God?


No Comments (yet)

Leave a Reply

Current day month ye@r *

Comments RSS Subscribe to the Comments RSS.
Trackback Leave a trackback from your site.
Trackback URL: http://tabithaprice.com/an-invitation-3/trackback/