~ Day Twenty-Six ~

From the depths of his pain and anguish, Job found extraordinary strength to resist the temptation to wallow in self-pity, and worshiped and extolled the greatness of God instead. While Job sat in the dark night of his suffering soul, the bright light of understanding turned on and illuminated the mystery of the cosmos centuries before science would confirm the accuracy of his words. Job had cultivated a life with God of such deep, abiding intimacy, that his perspective regarding his situation was beyond anything his friends had ever considered, and he was able to expand their understanding of God, by teaching them what they never had thought of before. "Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways!"

When God designs to restore and revive His people and strengthen them for spiritual battle, He begins first with our physical frame, by giving it the rest and refreshment it so desperately needs. Because our battles are mostly spiritual in nature, the Lord's calls His people to seasons of fasting and prayer to restore our souls and rid our bodies of the disease of self and sin that corrupt our flesh and weaken our ability to hear our Commander and which prevents us from standing firm on the day of battle. "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matthew 26:41). The Lord knows how weary we have become from our earthly battles, so He purposed this year to give us a much-needed measure of calm and quiet, so our hearts would be tuned to hear the voice of our Shepherd and respond to His calling on the day of battle (Psalm 110). Sadly, over the years we have become so desensitized to His movements, that like His servant Elijah, the violent force of hurricanes, the earthquakes shaking the ground beneath our feet, and the fires that ravage the land hardly cause any alarm. We've lived for so long among the dark elements of wickedness and evil that we are not easily stirred or made afraid. While this brave spirit is necessary for the soldiers of Christ, there is another more needful trait - a listening heart that discerns the whispers of God. What caught the attention of the Lord's servant and drew him out from hiding in the cave, was not a tremendous display of power, it was the still small voice of God. It is true that God will use the winds and hurricanes, the earthquakes and fires, and the pestilences and famines as preliminary siftings to capture the attention of the hearts of all men, but ultimately the greater, mysterious work of God is done by His Spirit in the silence and stillness of the human heart. "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the LORD of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6b). As we've seen through our study of the life of Job, the Lord was working in such tender, mysterious ways within and through His servant that his friends failed to see it at first; may we not miss the hour of our visitation and fail to see how God is working in our day. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Revelation 2:7a, 11a,17a, 29a; 3:6, 13, 22). Oh, and just a little added encouragement regarding the times we are living in - read the account of Elijah in the cave on the mountain of God (1 Kings 19:1-18) - and take special notice that when he came out of the cave to meet with God, he had to put a mask on his face! I pray that you are allowing the Lord tender access to your heart as we travel together through the Book of Job these 42 days in preparation for the final 3 days of prayer and fasting when the Lord leads us through the Book of Joel. We are past the mid-point and have only just begun to touch the outer fringes of His garment - hold on tightly, for He has purposed that we be completely covered with the blanket of His love and righteousness! "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3).

Read: Job Chapter Twenty-Six

Job's friends seemed to have had a vast amount of knowledge about God, but where they erred was in their knowledge of God and how to apply His word to each unique situation. They lacked understanding of the gracious and compassionate way in which the Lord ministers to His hurting children, and how He applies His Word as a healing salve to bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted (not to inflict further pain, as Job's "miserable counselors" had been doing!). "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground" (Psalm 147:3-6). Job's friend's spoke the truth about God's majesty and greatness, but what their suffering friend needed to hear most was about God's grace and mercy, assurance that He was near, and of His personal, tender care for His servant. Job needed someone to come alongside him and offer a little support and strength to help him bear up under the pain and anguish that was slowly taking its' toll on his body, mind, and spirit; but his friends just weren't willing. So, after thanking Bildad for all the wonderful ways in which he had helped him and answered all his prayers (note the sarcasm!), Job took on the role of teacher and gave his friends a lesson in the greatness of the unfathomable God, who had not provided an explanation for all that He had permitted in Job's life, nor was He obligated to do so! "He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing...He covers the face of His throne, and spreads His clouds over it...The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at His rebuke..." (Job 26:7-11). Job set his friends straight on the incredible workings of God in His creation and then put an exclamation point on the end with a beautiful declaration of the power of God: "Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways, and how small a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?" (v. 14). The God, whom his friends were trying to squeeze into a box that they could explain, is inexplicable, incomprehensible, and unfathomable! He fashioned the universe, and "by His Spirit He adorned the heavens," and yet He knows His servants intimately and completely. "You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off...Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it" (Psalm 139:2, 6). All that our Creator has seen fit to reveal to us at this time are just the outer-working of His ways - the mere fringes of His work! We only hear the quiet whisper of His voice! Who are we to think that we can begin to explain the sovereign, omnipotent God? We haven't even seen Him thunder! We have only begun to discover the greatness of our God! Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to strengthen our weak and shallow understanding, and expand the capacity of our hearts, so that we can traverse the undiscovered depths of the Lord's manifold perfections and behold the beauty and majesty of our God (Psalm 24:7)! This is the reward of true spiritual fasting - the spiritual appetite is awakened within an insatiable hunger for the mysteries of God! "Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3).

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that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful" (James 5:10).

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