Do you worship God or ‘god’? | Stop believing these 8 perceptions and assumptions immediately (Job 8-14)
It’s the little things that count. Certainly, that is true. It is the little things that can add up over time to destroy a relationship. The little things that someone does for you that you recognize God’s care for you. Or perhaps, it’s the little ways you’ve veered from God to turn him into your own, personalized ‘god’. Do you worship God or ‘god’? It may be time to reevaluate and challenge your beliefs against the Bible.
We never like to hear we are wrong. In our heads, we often default to an inner protection of self, in that we are right. It’s like the mind’s way of protecting our selfishness since we root ourselves in our own ‘wisdom’.
Job provides many misconceptions applied to God that we best take note of. The book of Job is paramount in our understanding of God’s sovereignty.
It’s never too late to start….
How our viewpoint can skew facts…
Two people can come from the same house and approach the world with a vastly different version of truth. Personalities can alter your views, or even your history has the power of altering the way you view a situation. It is part of what makes the world go round, and why it works best to approach discussions in a manner that acknowledges this.
This boils down to the day-to-day as well. A mother of a disabled child may have a vastly different viewpoint on the way a local park was designed, sure the beauty bark looks pretty but her 7-year old child only crawls and likes to eat everything. A father who was raised in an abusive home might parents his kids in a manner to overly protect his children from all potential bullies. A son who was raised in a poor household with little food, can grow up hoarding and stashing food so he ensures he always has enough to never go hungry again.
The Bible is not meant to be molded into the fabric of our understanding. Our understanding is to be shaped by the Bible! Share on XWhile these are all fine and take a stance that are understandable, when it comes to our viewpoint of God, it is something we need to put the brakes on. We often speed full steam ahead with our perceptions and assumptions tainting the way we read our Bibles. The Bible is not meant to be molded into the fabric of our understanding. Our understanding is to be shaped by the Bible!
Often, this is a very ‘churchy’ phrasing that gets thrown out the window, but it needs to be accepted before a right view of God’s sovereignty can be held. Job provides a plethora of examples for us to review and learn from.
Perceptions and assumptions
We like to think that Job is innocent and that his friends have approached him all wrong. Yet, when we read this, we find that in despair and bitterness, Job has also created some falsities in his mind about God that are not true. Job and his friends portray some things that are accurate, and some twists on truths.
If you are not in your Bible reading it, how will you identify these as untrue? Or will you?
If not, you are at grave risk of creating a false idol to worship. God is God. It does not matter the worldly experiences you have had, He does not change. The Bible provides the foundation for a true relationship with a true God. Do you worship God or ‘god’? This is a question we all need to ask ourselves.
Diving in, we will see how dangerous these perceptions and assumptions can be to our faith (and our friendships).
1.
Suffering is the result of sin…
Bildad starts off his diatribe with a rebuke, claiming Job is actually a liar and a hypocrite. Whereas, Job claimed he was blameless and innocent. He was not saying he was perfect or sinless, but that he was not living in a way that should be punished in this manner.
If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy, if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation.
Job 8:5-6
Let’s break that down. The truth is that it is possible for suffering to occur in our lives; trials and suffering in believers’ lives often leads to a renewed relationship with God. But this provides a limited viewpoint and a boxing in of God. Sure, we can use all situations to learn from and strengthen our relationship with God, but not all suffering is a punishment.
2.
Friends can (un)intentionally lead you astay…
Here, Bildad takes on the same stance as Eliphaz, basing his understanding on God on his limited observations.
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
Job 4:8, ESV
As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
Job 4:8, NIV
Friends are blindly leading each other and encouraging their incorrect stances. Each of Job’s friends get bolder with their accusations. Eliphaz insinuates Job is a liar and hypocrite, Bildad says it directly, and Zophar offers zero compassion as he lambasts his friend.
Yet, look how one half-truth leads to another. Now, Bildad not only reveals his belief that all suffering is the result of sin, but also that all blessings are a result of blameless living.
Your source of truth is the Bible. If you have not read your Bible, how do you know what truth is? Put a pause on your devotionals ABOUT the Bible, and read your actual Bible! Share on XToday, we have the Bible in our hands to read and learn from all these real people who walked the earth. Their lives are recorded for our benefit. They may not have had any written word to base their lives off or check the validity of their understanding of God. We do! Yet, how often do we take that for granted? Your source of truth is the Bible. If you have not read your Bible, how do you know what truth is? Put a pause on your devotionals ABOUT the Bible, and read your actual Bible!
3.
A wicked man will see his due judgment…
“Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers. He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting. Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”
Job 8:20-22
Often, this misconception is a hard truth for even seasoned Christians to deny. It does not seem right to us on earth that during our lives a wicked person does not receive justice. Bildad clearly believed that punishment on earth was a result of wickedness. Can it be? Yes! Is it always? No.
The Bible is to be read from a perspective not our own, with a focus on what really matters. What is our chief end on this earth? What is the reward?
Consider the end of your time on earth. Job’s friends were correct when they say it is but a shadow. For those who live in right relationship with God, we get to enter into eternity with God. Conversely, the majority of people on this earth will not receive that same gift, and they will end up in Hell.
That is really scary to think about! The Bible shares important aspects about Hell so we understand the true consequences of our choices on earth. When we consider the ultimate punishment for the wicked, it helps ease that burdensome feeling we get on earth when they live unaffected by their wickedness.
God is just. He will not let sin go unpunished. Either in this life and/or the one after, those who deny God will receive true justice.
4.
Bad things only come from God…
For he crushes me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause; he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness.
Job 9:17-18
Blessings and curses can originate with God. In multiple chapters leading up this point, the Bible makes it clear that God controls all things.
It is oft overlooked, or blindly ignored, that the Bible makes clear Satan is gunning for your failure.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
We are on the other side of this story, having the benefit of understanding that God was allowing for Job’s distress, not causing it. Let us not let that stop there, but carry it into our own lives and our understanding of who God really is.
5.
The power of repentance…
Have you ever had a friend insist so hard that you are wrong, that they say it would be a miracle for you to change your view? Maybe you dig in further to your belief at that point instead of relent.
Zophar comes out swinging with punches against Job’s character.
Here, Zophar begins with mischaracterizing Job’s laments by claiming Job mocked God and was claiming sinless perfection. Piling on, he then says Job is so stubborn that it would essentially take a miracle for him to accept their ‘truth’.
For he knows worthless men; when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it? But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey’s colt is born a man!
Job 11:11-12
Zophar’s truth is that Job is a liar and hypocrite, and needs to repent of his hidden sin. Is Zophar right in buckling down and trying to be a firm friend to help guide his friend? Not when pieces are missing from the whole picture.
Can repentance bring about a change in your life? Yes! All throughout the Bible there are examples of the Israelites repenting and God relenting. However, that is not always the case. Reflect back, to the story of the Israelites being burdened with snakes. When they repented, did God take away the snakes? No, but He did provide them with something that would heal their physical bodies.
The people requested a specific thing to happen: that the snakes would be taken away.
The response they received, though, was different. It does not say God removed the snakes. It says God provided a way of healing for anyone who was bit by a snake.
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Do you Worship God or ‘god’?
Job was a man of God, he was defined by God as “a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil”. Yet, the point Job was at in his life, he still did not have a fully true understanding of who God is.
To a degree, we need to take into account that we are all at different stages into a right relationship with God. Like Job, he was blameless, but his view was limited. Ours also needs blinders taken off.
However, that is no excuse for not studying the gift of the Bible. The very instruction book and guide for our life often is impressive only in the amount of dust it collects as it sits alone on the bookshelf. Is that true for your life? The sovereignty of God is so awe-inspiring it ought to be the driving factor for our days, not an afterthought.
Might you challenge yourself today, if you are not actively in the Word, can you claim you are living in right relationship with Him? Or, have you created a ‘god’ that you have molded from the bits and pieces you have read and heard about, which you force to align with your worldview, politics, and life experiences?
If so, you are treading on very dangerous ground. Remember, the way is narrow! There are few who find it. This should be a call to action for your life! Are you serving God? Do you want to know God? Do you seek Him?
Or are you content with your idol?
In the end, do you think God will accept your idol as entrance into Heaven?
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So crucial that we look carefully at the characteristics of the “god” we claim to worship. He might have little resemblance to the God revealed in scripture…
And having just reread Disappointment with God by Philip Yancey, this post on Job resonates!