“Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God watched over me,” (Job 29:2).
Glasses are a blessing… as long as you have the correct prescription. Without my glasses, the words on the page are blurred and faces in the crowd are indiscernible. I need my glasses to fully appreciate the beauty around me and to make sense of the smaller things right before my eyes.
And while reading Job, I was reminded of my need for corrective lenses to accurately assess reality in a fallen world. Job, having no idea what precipitated his current state, had started out viewing the catastrophic events of his life through the lens of Truth:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God, (Job 1:21-22).
…”Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips, (Job 2:10).
“Though He slay me,
I will hope in Him,” (Job 13:15).
But twenty-nine chapters into his story, his reading of his situation has shifted as he picked up the wrong glasses and engaged in remembering when…
And Job again took up his discourse and said,
2 “Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God watched over me;
3 When His lamp shone over my head,
And by His light I walked through darkness;
4 As I was in the prime of my days,
When the friendship of God was over my tent;
5 When the Almighty was yet with me,
And my children were around me,” (Job 29:1-5).
In the next chapter, Job goes on with his discourse beginning with, “But now…” (30:1); adds to it, “And now…” (30:9); and adds yet more, “And now…” (30:16). Job was on a roll; but unfortunately it was all downhill.
“I cry out to You for help, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me.
21 “You have become cruel to me;
With the might of Your hand You persecute me…
31 “Therefore my harp is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the sound of those who weep,” (Job 30:20-21, 31).
What happened? I don’t know, but perhaps his perspective was altered by the constant upbraiding continuously thrust upon him by his so-called comforters.
“I have heard many such things;
Sorry comforters are you all,” (Job 16:2).
At any rate, Job took off the glasses of faith and picked up the lenses of feelings, and fixed his focus on remembering when.
Oh, that he had a comforter to remind him that feelings lie! But God does not change; and what Job professed in the beginning of chapter 29 was not truth:
2 “Oh that I were as in months gone by,
As in the days when God watched over me;
3 When His lamp shone over my head,
And by His light I walked through darkness;
4 As I was in the prime of my days,
When the friendship of God was over my tent,” (Job 29:2-4).
The Truth is: God was still watching over him; God was still Light; God’s friendship had not been removed.
Job had remembered that… in the beginning. But long trials can be persistent in whittling away resolve to keep our corrective lenses in place.
The wrong glasses blind us as they scream, “There is no hope!” Circumstances threaten to snuff out the light. Seeing and reading requires light; and if we want to read this life through faith, we need His Light!
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light, (Psalm 36:9).
Job’s vision was eventually corrected… when he saw God; when he came to His Light.
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
6 Therefore I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes,” (Job 42:5-6).
As we come to God’s Light, it is like putting on His prescriptive lenses of faith. Our vision is corrected and we are empowered by His Holy Spirit to view this life through His mercy and grace, and thus enabled to see beyond the here and now into His promised future.
If anyone had a reason to see life through the lenses of his circumstances, it would have been Jacob’s favored son, Joseph. But in following his story, whether in the pit, in Potipher’s house, in prison, or in the palace, we see Joseph always choosing to put on the right glasses and look beyond the here and now. Joseph had more than 20/20 vision, more than perfect vision. Joseph had an eternal perspective vision. Joseph had 50:20 vision.
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive,” (Genesis 50:20).
Through the lens of faith, we too can fix our hope on the truth: God works in our circumstances for our good. Though life may not feel good, and though some may intentionally mean evil against us, God is always at work for our ultimate good: that we would grow more and more to look like His Son. That’s not just good… that is the Best!
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren, (Romans 8:28-29).
We must never forget that feelings lie. To correct the faulty vision of our feelings, we need the prescriptive lenses of His Word. It is His Truth that equips us to see His goodness in our hard times. It is His Word that will deliver us from putting on those wrong glasses.
As we continue in His Word and follow Jesus, He will enable us to view this life from His perfect perspective that is always for our good. And that is freedom!
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free,” (John 8:31-32).
Amen!