{"id":7097,"date":"2020-01-08T20:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T03:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=7097"},"modified":"2020-01-05T19:32:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T02:32:00","slug":"job6_1-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/job6_1-13\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Step to Experiencing God\u2019s Strength"},"content":{"rendered":"

Job 6:1-13 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Job 6:1-13.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Job 6:1-4 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then Job replied:
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas– no wonder my words have been impetuous.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-4:\u00a0\u00a0To paraphrase Job, \u201cThere\u2019s no way you can measure how much pain I am in right now (v2-3).\u00a0\u00a0For some reason I\u2019ve become God\u2019s target (v4).\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The fact that the Holy Spirit allowed such words to be in the Bible shows that God wants us to be real and honest with Him about how we feel.\u00a0\u00a0Your emotions are not too much for Him to handle, so come to God honestly.<\/p>\n

Job 6:5-7 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder?
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg?
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-7:\u00a0\u00a0Clearly Job is \u201cnot satisfied with what God had dished out to him\u201d (Alden, Robert L.\u00a0New American Commentary \u2013 Volume 11: Job<\/em>. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, 1993. WORDsearch<\/em>\u00a0CROSS e-book).<\/p>\n

Job 6:8-10 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for,
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off!
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then I would still have this consolation– my joy in unrelenting pain– that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-10:\u00a0\u00a0Now Job\u2019s only hope is that he would die and know that at least he maintained his integrity by not turning his back on God.\u00a0\u00a0Notice that as much as Job wants to die, he is not contemplating suicide.\u00a0\u00a0Rather he\u2019s longing for God to quicken the date of his death, \u201cto let loose his hand and cut me off\u201d (v9).\u00a0\u00a0Even in his immense pain, Job still had respect for the fact that God is the giver and the taker of life.<\/p>\n

Job 6:11-13 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient?
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze?
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 11-13:\u00a0\u00a0To paraphrase Job, \u201cEliphaz, do you think I have all the strength to wait and hope for God\u2019s restoration (v11)?\u00a0\u00a0I have no power in and of myself to get through this time (v12-13).\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Job is aware of his own inability to go through this incredibly difficult time.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this?\u00a0\u00a0Before we can experience God\u2019s power filling our lives, we first need to come to the end of our own power.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>In those tough times when your pain is greater than your ability to persevere, when you realize that you do not have what it takes in and of yourself to get through, consider it a blessing.\u00a0\u00a0For God allows you to see the limits of your strength not to be cruel, but so that in our emptiness and lack we can experience God\u2019s power working in and through our lives.\u00a0The first step to experiencing God\u2019s strength Is realizing my weakness and my desperate need for Him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Paul writes,
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0\u2026Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9b-10)<\/em><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that when I realize just how weak and limited I am, the next step is to invite You to do in me and through me what only You can do.\u00a0\u00a0Today I admit that I can do nothing on my own, so please come, fill me with Your strength and live through me. In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Job 6:1-13.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!
\n\u00a0
\nJob 6:1-4 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Then Job replied:\u00a0
\n2\u00a0\u00a0“If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!\u00a0
\n3\u00a0\u00a0It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas– no wonder my words have been impetuous.\u00a0
\n4\u00a0\u00a0The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses 1-4:\u00a0\u00a0To paraphrase Job, \u201cThere\u2019s no way you can measure how much pain I am in right now (v2-3).\u00a0\u00a0For some reason I\u2019ve become God\u2019s target (v4).\u201d\u00a0\u00a0The fact that the Holy Spirit allowed such words to be in the Bible shows that God wants us to be real and honest with Him about how we feel.\u00a0\u00a0Your emotions are not too much for Him to handle, so come to God honestly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7097"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7100,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7097\/revisions\/7100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}