Pastor John,
On the way home this evening from the book of Job study, Beth and I considered the other-worldly call of God that was on Job to move beyond what Job knew to be perfection. God was calling Job out of what existed into a place that did not exist—for men.
While the book of Job does not tell us that explicitly, we understand that God was calling Job’s heart to Himself when He apparently “punished” Job for being perfect in the earthly sense. By God not accepting the best that Job had to offer (what God Himself had ordained to be acceptable), Job was being told in his heart that God’s approval lay further down the road with Him. God was calling Job, but to what? To where was God calling him? Nothing existed on the other side of that call as far as Job knew. Nothing beyond the experience of being perfectly obedient had ever been revealed to men!
Whew! What a leap of faith for Job then to say, after receiving a pummeling from God for no reason that he could see, that God would ultimately find him faultless and be pleased with him. That response from Job (that faith in more than Job could see) was Job answering in the affirmative God’s call upon him to “come on,” though Job could not possibly perceive where he was going!
Brother John, that unearthly situation makes me think of your testimony about the Spirit of the Lord calling on you many times when you were younger to “come on” when you were down praying, only for you to respond, “Come to where, Lord? I’m here!” Now we know that the call from Jesus was a call to Him—and out of the religious system of Christianity. But at the time, you described it much like Job must have been experiencing in his heart all those years ago— a call to a place that seemingly did not exist!
Wow! What an opportunity (and invitation) that may lie on the other side of God’s dissatisfaction, should we ever feel it in response to our best efforts.
Jerry
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I like Jerry’s comments here. I believe that happened to me when I asked God for truth (before I got your tracts). I believed there was something right out there, and I presently did not have it, but had no clue what I was asking for at the time. The truth lay far beyond my understanding. — Gary