MY REFUGE!

MY REFUGE!

And Job continued his discourse: “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me…” —Job 29:1-2

Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.  The churning inside me never stops; days of suffering confront me. —Job 30:26-27

Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; no one is concerned for me.  I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.  I cry to you, Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” —Psalm 142:4

            Job longed for bygone days when his business was thriving, when his children were alive, when he had his health, when he had support from his wife, when he was respected by his friends and people in general.  Those were the days when God watched over him and now he did not think He cared.  Evil had come upon him.  Darkness shrouded him.  His insides were continually churning.  Days of suffering were upon him.

            He surely felt like “no one is concerned for me.  I have no refuge; no one cares for my life.”  Job felt so alone with all that was happening to him.  But he also did not understand Satan’s role in what was happening to him.  We are in spiritual warfare and Satan will use anything he can to bring us down.

            Job was definitely going through highly sorrowful events and thought God was against him.  But God was not against him.  Indeed, God was for him and had said of him— “my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8).  Be careful how we interpret events.  Job’s friends spoke truth in many ways, but not when it came down to why these things were happening to Job.  They had it all wrong.  Job was also wrong in his thinking as well, even though he too spoke much truth.  He did not understand correctly why these events were happening.

I cry to you, Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”  Dear Father, may this be my cry anytime I go through difficulty.  You and You alone and my relationship with You through Jesus is what truly counts.  Please help me to keep this in focus by the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus.  Yes, may this be so and all for Your honor and glory.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXMPNXXnCls