Job 7 - When Hope Crosses the Horizon

“My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver, and they are consumed without hope.” Job 7:6 ESV

Growing up in Texas I am keenly aware of and always fascinated by cutting horses. A cutting horse’s job is to “cut” out a specific head of cattle from the larger herd. Maybe it’s a calf that has lost its nursing mother, maybe it's a sick heifer that needs care, or possibly, for one unlucky cow, it might have a date with the butcher. Watching a cowboy and his cutting horse team together as one is quite amazing to behold. The singular goal behind rider and steed is one-fold…to separate. To single out. And for the cattle in the herd, they could not be more oblivious as to the horse and rider's purpose. "Why is that horse and rider singling out only me?", they might ask. "What about the others all around me?", they reason. But folks, in this life, this is exactly how the evil one works. He singles out and isolates lives until the promised hope of the Father vanishes across the horizon like a vaporous cloud blown by the wind.

Job is a difficult book to read. As I study through it, I pray that no one else on this planet will ever need endure the suffering Job endured. But I know that similar suffering is happening all over this planet today, even as I type in these very words. In fact, just yesterday I talked to a fellow missionary in Europe and his wife is enduring stage 4 cancer. Her physicians are brutally honest in that her appointment to embrace Jesus could come any day. Her husband, kids, and family are all living with her knowing that this day could be their last to look upon their wife, mother, and daughter. The pain and suffering that lies within the pages of Job also lies within the pages of those walking this planet today. Please pray for this family to endure.

And to further complicate the trials and tribuations of this life, this is where satan usually begins his cutting process. And the evil one was more than successful in completing this in the life of Job. Job has been “cut”; he has been isolated. His children were taken, leaving him without the love of 7 sons and 3 daughters. His wife, seeing Job in his tremendous suffering, urged him to abandon his faith, curse God, and die. A loving marriage and a loving wife were taken from Job, leaving him further isolated. And as his three best friends arrive and offer their ill-informed advice, instead of it drawing him back into a loving herd, we see just the opposite happen as cold, accusatory advice drives Job further into solitude. Soon we see the evil one’s cutting process complete and successful. Job sits in the city dump, completely alone in his physical, emotional, and spiritual anguish. And folks, when a person attempts to live in solitude and endure the tribulations of life alone, hope can be as fleeting as attempting to recall the colors of a dream in the morning. No longer the vivid picture it was, but a vague recollection of the goodness that once lied in the grip of the mind.

Life can deal harshly as the evil one attempts to separate and isolate. It is a test. And we are readily warned of it in the Word of God. Peter talks about the fiery trials of this life testing us in our suffering, just as it did Christ (1 Peter 4:12-19), James talks about suffering through these trials with joy as we are tested (James 1:2-4), and Paul says to rejoice in the trials and sufferings of our testing (Romans 5:3-5). And yes, even Jesus mentions the suffering, persecution, and tribulation that will certainly befall those that call on and serve His name (John 16:33). But the closing of these verses always ring the same. Trials bring perseverance, perseverance builds character, and that character builds up the mighty foundational corner-stone of our lives…hope. Hope and faith in the only Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

Winston Churchill was once quoted on hope, “if you’re going through hell, keep going.” Today if you are in the crosshairs of being cut out of the herd through trials, tribulations, and suffering, don’t give up. If you have called upon Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have all you need, the hope of eternity in Heaven at His feet. But if you have never asked Christ to be the Lord of your life, knowing you have a guaranteed home in heaven for all of eternity, you are fighting a battle you can't win. For without the protection of God’s Holy Spirit, one is cut from the herd ever so easily. Call upon the name of Jesus Christ today to save you from the penalty of your sin and find the well-spring of hope that will never cease to flow…salvation through Christ’s work opon the Cross.

Blessings to you as you endure this day by clinging to hope in Christ ~ Dan

"And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:3-5 NASB

un ángel (an angel), Puebla, Mexico