** What ye know, the same do I know also: I am not inferior unto you. ** Job 13:2
The Book of Job is an amazing book on humanity. It covers nearly all aspects of life and its ups and downs. Things like prosperity, poverty, righteousness, wickedness, critics, friendships, enemies, trials and triumphs.
Job deals with all of these aspects throughout its 42 chapters. If you have read this book, you know that fter much great tragedy and heartache, Job struggles within himself and with his relationships. He wrestles with his past and mourns his future. He lives at the peak of prosperity and health and then overnight he is destitute and suffers from a horrific and painful illness.
All of us know how hard it is to stay on track physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually all the time. If in only one of these 4 categories we are off our game, it can spill over into all of the other three. Something as simple and as common as weariness can affect how we think and how we respond to others.
Even more draining on us can be financial problems that can take a toll on our mental and emotional state. Health issues can get us focused on the moment to moment and make us lose sight of the bigger picture of eternity. Broken relationships can affect us in every single category. Heartache can eat away at our mental peace, our emotional stability, our spiritual strength and our physical state. Life is hard. For everyone, no matter where we live.
At the root of all of Job’s trouble, is an underlying issue.
Pride. Arrogance. Self-righteousness. ** I am not inferior unto you **
I believe that life is one long test. Every choice, every opinion, every word, every circumstance is a test. They are tests of how deep our faith runs, how true we are to our God, how real and how transparent are our actions and words. And they test the origin of our thoughts, feelings and actions. Are they self-motivated or God-motivated?
The Book of Job, and his interaction with his so-called friends, is a full on example of all of these things. It is a real and raw picture of how we all might handle our problems, big or small that they may be. It shows Job’s strength and determination to stay true to his God and also Job’s weaknesses and cracks in his faith. It also shows how his trials and his pain dig deep into his heart to show him and all of us that he had some pride issues. Just like all of us do. Just like our pride rises up when our perfect world is knocked off balance.
Sooner or later, something or someone is going to crash head on into our life and is going to get our pride all revved up and shining for all to see. Someone is going to come up against us and challenge our credibility, our walk, our true faith or our lack of any of these things. And our pride is going to make the challenge last for some time. We are not going to want to back down. We are going to hold our ground, just like Job did.
**I am not inferior unto you**
Mankind’s theme throughout the ages.
From kings and presidents, to neighbors and co-workers, the battle for dominance reigns above any other priority. Even amongst the brethren.
” I want the kind of songs that I like or approve of. I want the color of the walls to be at my choosing. I want the chairs two inches to the right. I want the church meal set up to my specifications. I want to serve only where I feel comfortable and happy.”
Pride. It seeps into every corner of our lives. Sometimes it takes a big test to bring it out, but it is there, waiting to be discovered and then purged by the gracious Hand of God.
Life is a test. A test of our pride. A test of who is truly sovereign in our heart.
The Pride of Life.