Stephen Diehl is pastor of the Garden Hills Baptist Church in Champaign, Illinois.

Check your Church Health at www.edhandkinsministries.com

November 4         The Fringes of His Ways

These are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the word we hear of Him! Who can understand His mighty thunder?  Job 26:14 HCSB

Today’s Readings: Job 26, 27     Mark 15, 16

A spring thunderstorm sweeps through our neighborhood.  The air is pleasant enough, though the wind is bending the trees as the rain splatters on the deck just outside the screen porch door.  This storm blew up quite suddenly, darkening the sky and filling it with lightning and thunder.  It is tornado season in the Midwest, and every thunderstorm is a reminder of the power unleashed in nature.

Job in his anguish recalled the power and majesty revealed throughout creation.  He marveled at the capacity of clouds to hold rain, at the unknown expanse of the sea, and the power of its waves.  Job recognized that God created these things and expresses His power through them, though they are only the fringes of His ways.

On occasion I have heard someone claim, “I can worship God just as well out in nature as in church.”  This is usually part of an attempt to explain why the speaker spends Sunday fishing or playing golf rather than attending worship.  My question is, “Perhaps, but be honest - do you?”  Personally I enjoy fishing and golf when weather and time allow.  Worship is seldom the first thing on my mind when I fish or play golf, however. 

Even if we did worship on the lake or on the links, Job’s point is that nature and the power unleashed through it, is insufficient to enable us to truly know God.  Those are only “the fringes of His ways”, mere hints of God’s majesty, power and glory.  What about His holiness, His mercy, and His amazing grace?  What about truth, righteousness, and judgment?  These things are not discovered by observing creation.

As Hebrews 1:2 reminds us, God has spoken finally and completely only in His Son, Jesus.  To truly worship God, we must move on past “the fringes of His ways” and know Christ, the risen Savior and Lord!

Prayer: Ask God to show you how to worship.                 Stephen Diehl

November 5        Where Does Wisdom Come From?

Where then does wisdom come from, and where is understanding located? Job 28:20 (HCSB)

Today’s Readings: Job 28, 29     Galatians 1, 2

The mining industry has long held an important place in the economy of Illinois.  Though coal mining has declined in recent history, it remains significant.  The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago exhibits a “coal mine” designed to acquaint visitors with the underground world and work of a coal miner.

Job knew something about mining in ancient times.  Metals and gems have been valued and sought for many centuries, and the business of searching for them deep in the ground was well-known by the time of this earliest book of the Bible.  Job’s hymn to wisdom in chapter 28 shows more than a passing awareness of what was involved in mining.

Job compared the search for wisdom to the difficulty of mining in the earth.  The darkness, danger and sheer effort seemed to him a fitting parallel to his own struggle for understanding.  Perhaps you have faced a time of similar struggle.  The loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or a prolonged illness can bring us to dark and difficult places.

Early in 1992 my father contracted Alzheimer’s disease, and his decline was extremely rapid.  By summer of 1993 he was in a nursing home, virtually helpless and without awareness of his own family.  He died, gaunt and aged beyond his years, in January of 1994.  This was a good Christian man, who long served faithfully in his church, and whose prayers were instrumental in my own call to ministry.  Why did he have to suffer such painful indignity?

At a time like that, there is nothing better than to know the God of perfect wisdom.  Finding no answer to the question of his own suffering, Job nevertheless took comfort in knowing that wisdom is found in God.  He knew that the fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to turn from evil is understanding (verse 28).  Job was able to continue his search – like a miner in the dark depths of the earth – trusting that if he did not find answers, he would yet find the God whom he knew.

The same God calls us to seek and know Him from whom wisdom comes!

Prayer: Ask God to show you His Wisdom.          
Stephen Diehl

November 6                                  Evil for Good?

But when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, darkness came.  Job 30:26 HCSB

Today’s Readings: Job 30     Psalms 120     Galatians 3, 4

The most difficult funeral I have conducted was for stillborn twin baby girls.  Loving, proud parents made all the preparations to welcome two new lives into their family.  Both parents were healthy, as was their first daughter.  But something went wrong, and hopes and expectations were horribly dashed.  Driving into the Mt. Zion Cemetery near the campus of the University of Illinois, I passed a large marker inscribed with the name, Dust.  My thought was, “Oh, Lord, what can I say to these broken-hearted parents whose dreams have been turned to dust?”

Perhaps we give Job too much credit for “patience.”  Job was not shy about complaining to God.  The essence of his complaint is that life, even under the hands of Almighty God, is not fair.  When we consider the magnitude of Job’s losses, it’s not hard to see his point.  The problem of evil remains a vexing stumbling block to some who cannot harmonize real evil and a good God.  

Give Job credit for great faith, though.  Facing the evil and darkness about him, he said, But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh.  Job 19:25-26 (HCSB) 

Driving through the cemetery that day, I soon passed another large stone inscribed with the name Rising.  Thank You, Lord!  Neither evil nor darkness nor death has the last word!  That word belongs to our Risen Lord alone!

Prayer: Ask God to show you His hope in your life.        Stephen Diehl

November 7     Crimes Deserving Punishment

…This would also be a crime deserving punishment, for I would have denied God above.  Job 31:28 HCSB

Today’s Readings: Job 31, 32     Galatians 5, 6

During my ministry I have visited several in jail and prison inmates.  I have learned something very interesting about them: everyone is innocent!  Or so they would have us believe.  Almost every inmate I have spoken with either believed himself innocent or at least thought his deeds did not merit the punishment levied against him.  It is rare and refreshing to find someone who will truly own up to his misdeeds.

In chapter 31 of his book Job is professing his innocence.  There is a difference here, though: Job repented of his accusations against God, and God agreed that Job had “spoken the truth” about Him (see 42:6-7).  Job no doubt received a fresh and clear understanding of the truth in Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 

Surely in the light of God’s awesome presence Job found it easy to see what we easily forget: our sins are crimes deserving punishment. 

It’s simple, really.  1 John 3:4 states that sin is breaking of the law.  Now we all know that breaking a law is a crime, but we don’t think of our own actions in those terms.  In our “churchianity” we find it easier to regard sin as something someone else does, or something readily forgiven.  We seldom think of our own wrong thoughts, words or actions as crimes deserving punishment.

How much more careful, how much more motivated to turn from sin and live holy lives would we be, if we, like Job, would consistently think of our sins – even the ones we call “little” – as crimes deserving punishment?

Prayer: Thank God, the Lord Jesus Christ came to willingly bear our crimes deserving punishment on Calvary’s cross.  God in Christ provided a great and infinitely costly redemption, because He took our sin very, very seriously.  So must we.                            Stephen Diehl

November 8                      Is God Speaking?

For God speaks time and again, but a person may not notice it. Job 33:14 HCSB

Today’s Readings: Job 33     I Corinthians 1, 2, 3

I’m writing less than 48 hours since the last time my wife said, “I called to you again and again, and you never heard me!”  I could have blamed it on being in a different room, on the sound of the fan nearby, or something else.  In fact, I was deeply absorbed in a favorite hobby magazine, and I wasn’t paying attention to her.

In Job 33, Job’s ‘friend’ Elihu made this argument: God has probably already told you where you went wrong, Job, and you weren’t paying attention.  Though he was mostly wrong, Elihu got a piece of truth here.  God never has trouble speaking to people.  People, however, often have trouble hearing God. 

In Numbers 22, Balaam was absorbed in an offer of wealth, and wasn’t paying attention. God used a donkey to speak to him and save his life.

In Acts 26:14 the Apostle Paul said when Christ appeared to him He reminded him that it was painful to “kick against the goads.”  God had spoken “time and again,” probably through painful experiences, but the man was so absorbed in his desire to punish Christ-followers that he wasn’t paying attention.

Have you recently experienced painful setbacks or unexpected difficulties?  Have you been dealing with one or more unusual circumstances?  Do the plans you’re absorbed in meet repeated resistance?  This would be a good time to stop and listen to God.  Let his Word speak to you again.  If you’re ready to hear, God can speak clearly.

Prayer: Be still for a few minutes. Ask God to guide your thoughts.                                        Stephen Diehl

November 9                              Being Watched

For His eyes [watch] over a man’s ways, and He observes all his steps.

Job 34:21 HCSB

Today’s Readings: Job 34     I Corinthians 4, 5, 6

One sunny day in my childhood, I discovered the bright red berries on a neighbor’s shrubbery.  Picking one, I observed that they were good for throwing.  I picked and threw several, making wet, red spots on the sidewalk.

This was great fun until the front door opened and our neighbor stepped out onto the porch.  She asked, “Does your mother know you’re here picking the berries off my bushes?”  “Well, I only picked that one…” “No, that’s not true.  I’ve been at the window watching you since you came here.”

Watching me!  I was caught.  What I thought was my secret had been observed from start to finish.  She would tell my mother.  Now there would be punishment for sure.  In my childish misbehavior I didn’t realize that eyes were watching me.

How easily we forget that God’s eyes see all that we do, His ears hear all that we say, and His perfect righteousness evaluates all the motives and thoughts of our hearts.  We are being watched.  Have you considered that truth today?

Elihu’s observation in Job 34:21 gives the precise reason why Solomon wrote, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  (Prov 9:10 HCSB)  “The fear of the Lord” involves guiding our living by the daily awareness that God watches, hears, and evaluates all we think, say, and do. 

How much wiser would our behavior be day by day if we stopped to remember that we are always being watched?

Prayer: Ask God to show you the things in your life you need to turn over to Him.                               Stephen Diehl

November 10                              Exalted Beyond

Look, God is exalted beyond our knowledge; the number of His years cannot be counted. Job 36:26 HCSB

Today’s Readings: Job 35, 36     I Corinthians 7, 8

How big is your God?  Biblically-informed Christians would say that God is infinitely great and grand.  We know in our heads that God is almighty, omniscient, omnipresent, and eternally holy, righteous and pure.  We know that there is no other being that can be compared with Him.  We know that He is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think… (Ephesians 3:20 HCSB).

You’ll find Christians at church talking easily and enthusiastically about the greatness of God.  We are confident that He does indeed cause all things to work together for good to those who love Him. 

But what happens when tragedy befalls us?  What do we say about God when we encounter serious illness, or a major financial setback, or the death of a loved one?  What do we see in the dark, lonely night?  How big is God then?

When illness comes, do we fret over doctors’ responses and diagnoses?  Or do we truly consider God and prayer our first resort and not the last?  When financial need comes, do we turn to the loan officer or to the Lord?  When death strikes, do we only groan at the grave, or do we also rejoice in the Resurrected One?

Tragedy and pain are real.  Life delivers staggering blows to us all.  In the midst of such things there is real comfort and real strength in experimental knowledge of the God who is exalted beyond our knowledge, who is eternal and unchanging.  Cling to a big God, and enjoy Him!

Prayer: Make a list of things that remind you of God’s greatness.

Stephen Diehl