Thoughts on a Verse: Job 23:10

 As it seems the coronavirus mess isn't going away anytime soon, I have found myself a little despondent for the past few days.  It was a good time to work on an edit of an old piece...

Job 23:10 KJV "But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." This verse remains a favorite of mine. It was the verse of my graduating class at Roanoke Valley Christian School in Virginia.  I was a speaker at the graduation commencement of 1983.  I remembered mentioning how God will one day reward us for our faithfulness. 

I think many times as a young woman I looked at this verse incorrectly.  I looked to myself, and saw that I only needed to be strong enough to make it through the trials and would as a result "get that gold." I often assumed that trials and tests are all part of the Christian walk to be accepted with great humility, as I have considered over the lonely times of missionary service far from family and loved ones.  

It is possible that we need to reexamine the verse and put God in front, and not ourselves.  Instead of "Look who I am, I am strong and I can deal with tribulation," we need to say, "Look who God is, He is in control.  He will cares for me.  He will bring me through."  As I grow older, I find myself looking more to who God is, and I have reconsidered the thrust of this verse.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic I found myself feeling anxious many times.  What kept me moving along was much prayer, and recalling the trials that God had already placed in my path.  One came to mind over and over, a two year span between 2014 and 2016 of crazy rebellion and grief with one of our three sons.  Many times during those days, I wondered how Byron, my dear husband, and I could possibly go on.  God did make a way.  God did it, He alone, the Sovereign and Omnipotent God. He took care of me then, and He would do it now. Those thoughts kept me "going for the gold" in the midst of the gloomy days of 2020, not for my own gain, but for God's golden glory.

Yes, we suffer from time to time. No, this world will not get any better, but we have a hope and a future that makes it worth it all. Christ provides the hope that we need for each day to overcome this world's mess. We can trust that God is in control, and He knows the way that we take.