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He Knows the Way I Take

 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.  (Job 23:10)

 

Wouldn’t you love to feel confident enough to say this? Oh, I know that those of us who trust in Jesus can say it. Those of us living by the Spirit can say it with confidence. But do we feel confident enough to say it? And do we feel confident enough in saying it that we are willing to risk some of Job’s helpers telling us what arrogant, blind fools we are that we can’t see our many and grievous sins?

Testing is trying. We don’t like tests. Someone puts one in front of us and everything we thought we’d learned goes out the window. We knew it three seconds ago. We could do it one second ago and now we sigh with exasperation. If God knows everything the way He’s supposed to, why does He test us? It’s really not fair.

But it is when we are tried and purified, and when we come forth as gold that we learn to trust God’s purification process. It is also when we are tried, purified, and come forth as gold that we gain the confidence to make that claim. It’s happened before. It happened this time. It will happen next time. And, when we come forth as gold is when others will learn to believe in God and believe in us.

            Does yesterday’s ability to do, love, and ability not to do come into this? How can we fan the flame of the Gift of God based on this passage? The Bible is the inspired Word of God. It’s God-breathed. So, repeating the passage to ourselves is a way to fan that flame.

1)     He knows the way I take. I’m not lost. He is in control.

2)     When He has tested me (the test is over) I will come forth as gold. That means I will survive. I will be better for it. There is hope.

3)     Return to statement one.

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