Convo with Pastor - Job 1:1

Once there was a man in the land of Uz

whose name was Job.

This man was blameless and upright. 

He feared God and turned away from evil.

Job 1:1

 

Did you notice how today's lesson began? Read my translation here carefully: "Once upon a time there was a wizard in the land of Oz." The similarities are eerie, huh?!

 

The temptation with many parts of the Bible is to turn them into myth, legend, and fairy tale. The world says, "That's ancient literature. Therefore, if you're enlightened, you need to understand that it's ancient and that the majority of these ancient folk were uneducated and superstitious."

 

That's how I grew up.

 

I grew up as a mythbuster. That's how college, church, and parts of seminary taught me to read the Bible. I felt wise ... proud ... intellectual ... and empty. Then I was humbled in my life and career. And not being able to solve everything for myself, I began turning to a God who was bigger than me -- instead of the one I created in my mind.

 

I started, in fact, to submit myself to God and His Word. And in doing this, God's Word came more and more alive. Powerful truths began to connect. And I started to see strands of God's power weaving their way through our lives together.

 

When you begin to read books like Job, some passages may not always make sense (especially today), and you may just want to excuse it away as myth and legend. But might I suggest a powerful alternative: Sit with it for a while. Keep reading deeply. Trust God's wisdom. And start saying, "God put this here. What is He trying to tell me today." 

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who tries to let

scripture define me,

instead of me defining it

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I was taught not to question scripture. Not to take or add anything to the KJV of the bible. Then I left that denomination and started studying, questioning and learning. I don't see stories like Job as myths or superstition, I see them as proof that God does allow bad things to happen. He does just sit back and watch us suffer. There are times he is no more than a puppet master.