Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Jun 7 2019 - Job 2 – Loss of health

Job has lost his wealth and his children. Satan the Accuser now says that if Job were to be deprived of his health, then he would surely curse God to his face. Again God allows this accusation to be put to the test. Job was afflicted with painful sores from head to toe. He seems to have been exiled from his house – his wife, perhaps, seeking to ensure that she did not contract any infection from him. We now meet him sitting on a heap of rubbish, scraping his skin with a piece of broken pottery.

This must have been a terrible trial for Job, particularly on top of all that had recently happened to him. But his situation is then exacerbated by his wife seeming to side with the unseen Accuser as she urges Job to "Curse God and die!" (v. 9).

We should be careful not to be too quick in condemning Job's wife. Thus far she had suffered the same losses as her husband and she must have been grieving deeply for the loss of her children. It is sobering to ask how we might have responded in such circumstances. But Job's response was  unhesitating: "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (v. 10). We are told that, "In all this, Job did not sin in what he said." The apostle James may have been thinking of Job when he wrote, "Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check" (James 3:2). Job shows remarkable faith in God in the face of all that he is suffering.

The chapter we have read then concludes with the account of three of Job's friends turning up to, "sympathise with him and comfort him" (v.11). As they approached the place where Job lived they saw a man sitting on a rubbish heap. At first they did not recognise that this was Job. When they did, "they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was." (vv. 12-13).

This was sympathy indeed. They felt Job's plight and joined him in his exile in dust and ashes. Job must surely have felt some measure of comfort from such friends who were willing to come and share his humiliation. The problem starts when they cease to sit in silence and open their mouths.

How have we responded to times of loss, perhaps particularly loss of health? Have we complained against God as if we have a right always to be healthy and strong or have we replied with Job, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" Such acceptance of loss and suffering is not a form of fatalism but recognition that suffering is common in a fallen world and that we can trust God even at such times. When we hear of friends who face times of suffering and loss, how do we show our love and support for them?

Our precious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, looked down upon us in all our suffering and need. He took pity upon us in our humiliation, when we were facing death. He came and identified with us – he sat where we sit and felt what we feel. But he did not merely come to share our suffering, he came to save us. He died for us, breaking the power of sin and removing its sentence upon us. He rose again from the dead as the author and giver of eternal life. He does more than sympathise with us, he gives us the sure and certain hope that beyond any suffering we may experience now, there is the prospect of an eternal weight of glory.

I have witnessed the powerful testimony of those who have lost children and health and are facing a lingering and cruel death, who have yet spoken of God's unfailing goodness to them in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their lives are a living demonstration that it is our gracious God and not the cruel Accuser who has the last word.

Father God, teach me to trust you in all circumstances and to be a genuine comforter to those who are facing suffering and loss. May we be more than conquerors through Christ who has loved us.

Jun 7 2020 - Romans 5:6-21 – The reign of grace

A few years ago I was in Madagascar where I learned of Queen Ranavolona 1st who reigned there from 1826-1861. She put to death about 800,000 of her own subjects, out of an original population of about 2 million. Her reign of terror earned her the name Ranavolona the Cruel and has gained her third place on a website listing the ten most villainous rulers of history – ahead of Stalin, Idi Amin and Mao Zedong. Hers truly was a reign of terror.

But there is a far worse and far more deadly reign than hers. In Romans 5, Paul speaks about the universal reign of sin which brings death not to 40% of its subjects but to all. However, he also speaks of the one who has unseated this most cruel of all powers. God loved us so much that when we were held fast by sin and doomed to death he sent his Son to die for us. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead has broken the power of sin and death, bringing liberty to the captives and life to those sentenced to die. This reign of terror has been supplanted by the all-conquering power of Jesus’ reign of grace: where sin once reigned bringing death, grace now reigns through righteousness bringing eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Nor is this abstract theology; this is full of practical application to our daily lives and brimming with encouragement. Our past sins cannot condemn us, for despite our “many trespasses” we are justified and can come before God confident of his acceptance and love. And we know that Jesus is now at work in us by his Spirit to conquer everything in our lives that falls short of all God created us to be – we are undergoing regime change.

But all too often, when we begin to think that we have conquered a particular sin or failing it trips us up yet again and we are plunged into despair. We need to be reminded that future failings will not lead to our rejection and condemnation; Jesus does not give up on hard cases so easily. He will not be defeated by us but will continue the work he has begun in us until his resurrection life has consumed all that is left from Adam’s rebellion. None of this excuses or even mitigates our continuing sin, but it does fill us with confident hope of glory – the assurance that sin and death shall never have the last word.

All of this gives us an unshakable hope concerning the future, not for ourselves alone, but for the whole of our broken world. God had not abandoned his world but has come to its rescue in Jesus Christ; “Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.” The day of final victory is coming.

I have a friend who is a passionate supporter of Bristol Rovers. But it’s not much fun to support a team that keeps losing games. That’s why many people become followers and fans of teams located far from where they live – maybe even in another country. They want to back a winner. Jesus calls not only for our support and adulation from the side lines; he wants us to be part of his team. And why should we offer allegiance to any other; his is and will be the winning team.

We can rejoice in the reign of grace that God has instituted through the Lord Jesus Christ and need not fear sin and death’s broken powers.

Triumphant Saviour, fill me with joy and peace in believing. May the confident hope I have in you empower me to serve you in a world marred by sin and death. Help me to bring your forgiveness, healing and transformation to those whose lives I touch that they may share in the hope of glory that is to be found in you.

Peter Misselbrook