I have always loved the book of Job.  Some of you are grinning right now thinking that the title of this post has something to do with the Packers loss after my ridiculous (and mostly tongue-in-cheek) claims that God was rooting for them.    Actually the thought didn't occur to me until I was typing the title in.....however, it certainly fits doesn't it?  What a game that was!  Hey, we had a great season and it was an exciting finish!  Go, Giants.  (see, I harbor no malice)  Actually, I just really really really want to see the Patriots get beat. 

OK, back to getting this blog spiritually on track!   I've been reading Job for the umpteenth time.  I use the Discipleship Journal's reading plan where they have you reading in four sections of the Bible at once.  I really like this approach because you are always watching God's plan unfold in different times...yet it really underscores how it all correlates.  To me, it's like reading with a bigger perspective.  And I tell you, December was fun.  I was reading in Ezekiel and Daniel (interesting coincidence that I was in the middle of Beth Moore's study), all of the Johns (gospel and end of NT), and in Job...one of my very favorite books b/c it describes like no other place the bigness and sovereignty of God!  Ezekiel was a gem.  It had been a long while since I'd been there.  Anyway, I couldn't imagine a combination of Scripture reading more fun for me than the last two months.

So this morning I finished Job, and read again that lovely verse which reads (NAS) "Then Job answered the Lord and said, "Behold I am insignificant;  what can I reply to Thee?  I lay my hand on my mouth."  Boy, you have to give Job credit that he could stutter at all!  Since he found his voice, he said the only possible thing he could have said!  Of all the Scriptures that I've invoked in my life....this one has to be the one I've used the most.  Or more honestly, perhaps the one I should use the most.  I can't count the times when my mouth has gotten me in trouble.  It still gets me in trouble every day....yes, even just here at home with noone, but my children!  You'd think I could stay out of trouble when I'm not even speaking with adults for 80% of the time.  But no, my tone, the things that snap out of me when I'm impatient or selfish or angry.  Even worse....the things that I say and think in relation to others and their problems.  And in this online age.....an appropriate adaptation of this verse might be "I place my hand over my mouth and I sit on my fingers!"  Because I find myself often writing things that I wish I could take back.  Even as I continue to fail in this area close to home, the Lord is still teaching me and changing me...and giving me new perspectives and small victories! 

When I was younger, I always thought the older you get, the more answers you have.  I am discovering that it's the reverse.  The older you get the more you realize that you don't have answers.  That all answers are found in God.  God is the key to everything....marriage, parenting, finances, relationship, doesn't matter what situation I find myself in....God is the only thing that is sufficient.  And it's interesting...recently we find ourselves more often in advice-giving situations.  And where ten years ago, I'd have been tempted to wax eloquent on theories, strategies and how we handle things....I find myself more and more smiling with understanding and saying "Boy, isn't God good?"  I'm thinking of last week when we had an opportunity to discuss family and ministry over dinner with a couple.  They have a 2 yr old and an infant, and are in a stage of life that frankly, was THE hardest for me of all the parenting stages I've seen thus far.  And she's looking at me asking how to cope, what to do and when will it end?  Sharing her feelings of resentment, claustrophobia, selfishness....Oh, I could just feel them with her.  I've been there.  Yet as much empathy as I could give her, I had to tell her in a nutshell that God was going to use this time in her life for more good than she could imagine.  And the sooner she surrenders to that process, the better!  "He who loses his life for my sake will find it" (Matthew 16)   Die to yourself.  The quicker the better.  Give in to God.  It's the only answer in practically every life situation.  As annoyingly cliche as that might sound to someone who's looking for a step-by-step plan....it's the simple truth.   

"I place my hand over my mouth" 

I had to share at a wedding shower last month.  Sure, I could think of some fun tips to start with.....like don't assume he knows what you're thinking and never argue after 10pm!  But the reality that I felt I had to share was that 'whew', the most important thing you're going to learn in marriage is that you can't do it.  You can't love someone the way they were created to be loved.  And they can't love you that way either.  Only God can really love.  And if your love to your spouse isn't the overflowing of God's love to you....then it will not work.  So fill up!  Every day.  As you bask in God's love for you, then you can unselfishly overflow to your spouse.  It's the way I believe it's designed to be.  Who ever can really obey I Cor. 13 to the letter?  How many times have we heard that chapter and smiled, nodded....all the while thinking "There's no way any person could do all these things at once".  Impossible.  Only one Person could.  So make sure you are constantly in tune with that Person!  Otherwise, buckle up and prepare for some dissonance.

"I place my hand over my mouth"

I had a great talk with my dad last night.  We talked about Job.  I was searching for the lessons that we should learn from Job's friends, and asked his opinion.  He said that the lesson for someone in crisis is that as sincere and loving as friends and family are....they will not be sufficient for you, they will not have what you need...only God will.  And then I asked, "What about the lesson for those of us who are trying to help someone in crisis".  And he said simply, "You point them to God, in all His goodness and sovereignty". 

And place your hand over your mouth!