Devotional by Ray Stedman – A Vision Of Faith – A daily devotion for December 13

TopicA Vision Of Faith

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes — I, and not another.
Job 19:25-27a

This is one of the great words of faith in the Old Testament, one of the earliest intimations of the resurrection of the body found in the Word of God. Slowly, through the anguish and gloom of this man’s heart, born out of the passion and the pathos that he feels, comes the dawning realization that God is working out a great and mighty purpose, and that one of these days God Himself (Job has never failed to see God’s great majesty and power) shall be visibly present before people. God will come Himself and vindicate all that He does. This is a marvelous glance ahead by faith to the incarnation of the Lord. Job calls him my Redeemer and my Vindicator, the one who will defend me and vindicate all that has happened to me.

I think there is nothing that the study of this book of Job does for us more than to understand that life is basically a mystery. We are surrounded by mystery. We cannot comprehend it all; it is painted on too large a canvas. It is too great and involved for us to grasp it all. The ways of God are beyond us many times, and yet Job is gradually learning in the midst of his pain to trust the God who is there, to trust that He will come up with answers and that He is working out a purpose in line with His love. That is what life gradually teaches us.

Elisabeth Elliot described briefly her first widowhood. Her husband was slain along with four companions in the jungles of Ecuador by members of the Auca tribe. She spent thirteen years as a widow, and then she married a gracious and wonderful man with whom she was very happy for just a few more years. Then he died, taken by cancer. She said, I have spent six-sevenths of my life single, though I have been married twice. I did not choose the gift of widowhood, but I accepted it as the sphere in which I am to live to the glory of God.

This is what Job is gradually learning. God is working out a purpose. It is not related to specific sin, although, as we will see before the book is over, Job learns much more about the depravity of his own nature.

Thank You, Lord, that You have sent Jesus to be my Redeemer, and I can trust that You are working out Your purposes. Help me to accept what You have in store for me as the sphere in which I am to live to the glory of God

Life Application
When life tumbles in, leaving us mystified, are we allowing God to plant hope and faith in our minds and hearts? Do we humbly recognize his inscrutable wisdom?