~ Day Four ~

Without warning Job was taken from living in the lap of luxury to dwelling in the garbage dump. In moments, and without explanation, the Lord's favored servant went from being healthy, wealthy, and wise, to homeless, helpless, and hopeless. The tragic story of Job's life has provided a source of comfort to countless sufferers over the years, but it also paints for us a graphic picture of just how desperate our situation became the moment Adam stumbled and fell in the garden, forgetting his way, and forever severing his, and all mankind's, relationship with our Creator. Because of his sin, in an instant, man was locked out of the fruitful garden of fellowship with the Lord and cast into a dry, desert wasteland as a poor wanderer in a wilderness world of suffering and pain. In Job's case, however, he didn't stumble and fall; he was purposely knocked down and made to suffer cruelly under the dismal clouds of a closed heaven, so that the light of the Son could shine brighter through His servant without the works of man or the things of this world obstructing the view. The hand of God moved in the heart of His servant to prove that the Lord God alone is worthy of worship even when (and especially when) all else has been taken away!

Through the devastating circumstance and difficult trials of Job's life we not only see a man of enduring faith, but the coming Messiah who, Himself, was pictured as a discarded stone that would be reused as the most significant stone of all, the chief cornerstone, the central stone in the work of salvation. "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD'S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:22-24). Just as Job was restored to greater prosperity and position after his rejection, Jesus, the Righteous One, was exalted and raised to be seated at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56) to become our sure foundation, after He was despised and rejected among men. Jesus humbly stepped down from heaven, and set aside His royal robes. He settled in the ash heap of our human existence and wore our rags of sin, then He obediently went to the Cross to restore what was lost in the garden, reconciling sinful man with holy God (Philippians 2:5-11). "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). In the exalted place of power and authority, Christ Jesus has become a sanctuary for believers, but "a stone of stumbling" and a "rock of offense" for unbelievers (Psalm 118:22). The rejected stone has become the chief cornerstone in the new, more marvelous building He came to build, made not with human hands, that is His church. "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder" (Matthew 21:43, 44). In Christ alone we find stability and trustworthiness - He is our sure foundation. "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus" (1 Corinthians 3:11). Let us give glory and honor that is due His magnificent name as we walk with assurance on the foundation He has laid for us, knowing that whatever crisis or criticisms may come our way, nothing will move us away from His love. "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3).

Read: Job Chapter Four

Job's friends sat with him for a week, but never truly entered into the depths of his grief and pain. They only heard his words, not his heart, and so found reason to rebuke him. Their words did little to lift him up and assure him of God's love; they served only to bring him down lower than he already was and confirm how truly alone he was. Little did they know that they were tearing down the house that God was building up; like their friend, they couldn't see past the ashes. How much like them we are with our Lord, when we simply read His Word, seeking knowledge so we will have the right answers and explanations, but failing to earnestly search out His heart and enter into that life of deepening intimacy with Him that He so desires with His children most of all; that joyful fellowship and tender union that was destroyed in the garden for which He came and gave His life as a ransom to restore. My prayer for the Bride of Christ in this journey is that we would have the spiritual eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church in this season as we answer His call to "return to Him with all our heart, with fasting and weeping, and with mourning" (Joel 2:12); understanding that the power that lives within the believer and dwells within the heart of the church to unlock the floodgates of heaven's blessings upon this spiritual parched earth is fully activated only when we enter into that true bridal union of deepening intimacy and consecration with our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:7-12). It is for this reason that our Lord Jesus said we would fast (Matthew 9:15b). When we make the pursuit of our love relationship with the Lord our highest priority, we do the greatest service to the world for whom He loves and died to save. As the well-beloved sons and daughters of the Most High, it is our presence in the throne room each day, sitting at His feet in joyful expectation and listening to His heart with tearful adoration, that will touch our Father's heart and move his hand and bring healing to our lives and land. We will lift people up out of the ash heap of anguish when the Lord Jesus is seated on the throne of our hearts as He is seated in heaven, and permitted to rule and reign there without rival, high above everything else we hold dear in our lives. "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself" (John 12:32).

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"Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord - that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful" (James 5:10).

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