I’ve had these verses on my mind for days now. This morning I woke up at exactly 2:44am and could not go back to sleep…just laid there wide awake until I got it. Lord? You got something on your mind?
Jesus likened people to trees remember? Matthew 7:17-18 so every good tree bears good fruit and every bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Now go back and read the scriptures from Job again, only this time read them as if you are the tree Jesus speaks of. Viola! There is hope for you!
Remember Job is speaking in this passage. By this time he has already lost all he had except the very breath he breathed. He lost his children, livestock, material possessions and his health. It must have been a horrible sight to see because his own wife said to Job in Job 2:9-10 do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die! But he said to her, you speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Even Job’s friends came to see him when they heard the news of his loss. They were so traumatized by what they saw they couldn’t even speak. Job 2:11-13 Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one come from his own place… For they made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognized him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
Be encouraged, all is not lost. The word "All" may represent something different everyone so you fill in the blank. It may seem like it is and it may look like it is, but I am speaking to you by the Spirit of God. ALL is not lost! No matter the situation; no matter what’s been done to you…all is not lost. I believe the Lord is saying the day is here to sprout again and be fruitful. Isaiah 60:1 Arise and shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
We can learn some lessons from Job’s experience on how we should carry ourselves in times of adversity. One, he did not sin with his lips. He knew to accept the bad with the good. He knew to always stay on God’s side even when it looked like God wasn’t on his. (We know better) Two, Job knew God was not going to leave him in this condition. We know this because of what he says in verse 14 all the days of my struggle, I will wait until my change comes.
He says in Job 13:15 Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him.
We are all going through various trials and tests. Some of us are going through them by divine design, and some of us are going through them because of bad choices, but the promise of God to us is He does not intend for us to stay in our current condition if we trust in Him. The key is in verse 14:9 at the scent of water it will flourish and put forth sprigs like a plant.
Water is symbolic of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Only He can resurrect what seems to be dead or cut off. Only He can heal and deliver. Only He can cause dry stony ground to become fertile soil again. Only He can cause a dried withered root to become tender again going downward and bearing fruit upward. Isaiah 37:31. The ground being our hearts.
So what’s God saying?
When you sense My Spirit moving on your heart about something, yield. Do not harden your heart, but yield to My Spirit and the reward of yielding is blessing and new life coming forth bearing fruit. Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life. NKJV or Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. NLT
When the Bible speaks about the heart it usually is not speaking of the heart of flesh. It is usually speaking of the soul, which is the heart of a person, his inner most being. The soul is made up of the mind, will and emotions. So now we understand why Proverbs says we should guard our hearts, that is, guard our minds, our wills and our emotions because out of them flow the issues of life and they determine the course of our life.
So powerful.
Now we understand Job’s confession… all the days of my struggle, I will wait until my change comes. He understood the importance of guarding his heart even though the thing he feared the most had come upon him; the thing he dreaded the most happened to him Read Job 3:25. Read the rest of his story and you find it pays off for him. God blesses him with double.
Be encouraged, the passage from Job 14 is a word from the Lord to you… better days are coming, better days are here. Things are going to get better. The Lord is watching over these words to perform them. Amen.
A word to those who are not going through any kind of adversity, but seemed to be at a standstill or maybe it seems like you are losing ground for some unexplainable reason. Maybe you were experiencing a season of fruitfulness. No matter what you did, you just seemed to be multiplying in all directions. Ministry, revelations, business, family; all these areas may have been overflowing with fruit, but now it seems like nothing is happening. Be encouraged, you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve not missed the Lord. The Lord Himself is at work, pruning you in ways you know not of, that you may bear more fruit.
John 15:2 He cuts off every branch of mine that does not produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. NLT
Need I say more?
Father,
Help us to put a guard over our mouths while we wait for our change to come. Amen.
Samuel,
Smashing Pillars...raising sons.
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