Job – the fighting will not last for ever
James Featherby 17th June 2007
This is the last talk in the Job series.
Job gets a glimpse of Jesus, sees a potentially better future, sees that one day there will be a sinless mediator, a deliverer, saviour, kinsman ...
He begins to see something of the mystery of God, but doesn't see it all. The way God reveals his mystery is that he just asks Job questions, and through that process Job realises what a wonderful knowable but unknowable God he is. ‘My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you’.
God prospered Job and he received twice as much as he had before. Job didn't know the end of the story of course. We know the end of our story, we know we'll be with Jesus and that Jesus will return to Earth.
Our story
How do we live today, knowing at least some of the end of our story. For us most of the story is not about the end, it's about the journey to get there.
James told us a story about his son doing a dissertation about
Las Vegas
, for which the research and the process of producing it was more important than the actual subject of the dissertation. And he talked about ‘road movies’ such as films where the characters end up in
Las Vegas
. The films are not actually about
Las Vegas
, they're about the getting there.
Like us, the story is about the getting there, about the trials and tribulations along the way.
We don't know all the details, and we only have some idea about the ending. Like a good book, we like to have some idea where it's going but we enjoy the journey and don't want to know the details of the ending until we get there.
Connecting with the past
Some people connect very strongly with the past, they value tradition, understand the present by reference to the past, have a strong cultural understanding. They think of the future in terms of the past, for them it is determined by the past. If taken to extremes that can cause problems because it limits possibilities for the future eg forgiveness, or seeing a different future.
Connecting with the present
For people who have a strong sense of the present, relationships are valued strongly, what's happening now and today's problems are most important. Taken to extremes, if you're only tackling today’s problems all you're doing is applying sticking plaster.
Connecting with the future
Future-looking people plan, forecast, look forward, look to renewal. But if you live the whole of your life looking forward to the future you have no patience with the present, you can't earth what you're talking about.
What does God call us to be?
We are called to be all three of the above. We are mostly forward-looking but we are stuck with the reality of the present, with things not happening as we had hoped.
How do we live in the reality of looking forward, but in the grime and reality of the present.
Hang onto promises or pictures eg the assurance of eternal life, a vision of the second coming, the picture of the lion lying down with the lamb.
What is important for you about the future, how do you balance that with the pain of whatever you struggle with today?
James shared about his hopes and dreams for the City of
London
, he's invested time and thought and dreams and prayer. But so little happens. How does he balance this frustration with what he believes God has shown him. We are often promised something big but we don't see it happening so we often end up in a place of disappointment and frustration, and we cut that bit of ourselves off from God.
James was determined not to let this happen. But he struggled with the frustration. Then he had a picture of himself at the end of his life, and God was saying well done for his hard work.
He may never see his plans come to fruition at all, but the picture enabled him to relax and trust God rather than thinking he had to make it all happen. Also understood that he himself is rather insignificant, the story isn't about him. He found this releasing and encouraging.
In the book of Job, the story isn't really about Job, it's about the tussle between God and Satan about what love means.
All God is asking James to do is all he's asking him to do, the results are in God’s power and God's timing.
Somehow, one day, we will see God do it all.
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