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Devotion Week of September 20 2015
Devotion Week of September 20 2015
Prayer Requests
Weekly Devotion
The book of Job is one of the most
challenging and provocative books of
the Bible. Job was a man who was doing
very well by human standards. Then he
suffered terrible tragedies. These
tragedies caused him to question God.
This week in the devotion we have the
opportunity to read and reflect on some
of Jobs questions. His questions are the
ones that many people in our culture
have today. Besides reading the
questions we are going to reflect on how
we would respond to these questions.
Enjoy! Comments about the devotion
can be
E-mailed to pastor@colpres.org
Monday, September 21
Read Job 3:20-26
In these verses Job ask the question that
many people have asked, why do bad
things happen to good people and why
do good things happen to bad people?
Often times the person who is asking
this question is hurting deeply. So to
even try to answer the question would
be harsh. What the person really needs
is
is
is
is
caused
caused
caused
caused
by nature
by humans
as an accident
by the choices
3
The earth is given into the hand of the
wicked; he covers the eyes of its judges
if it is not he, who then is it?
It is not hard to see that a person who is
suffering can then project that pain onto
the entire world. I am hurting deeply
and the entire world is not even worth
my care. The world is going to Hell!
Its not easy to respond to such degree
of cynicism. Our first response is
compassion. Let someone know that we
are sorry. We are sorry for their pain.
And then gently share that their own
pain does not mean that the world is not
a beautiful place. The sun will still set in
a gorgeous way; places like the Grand
Canyon will show the beauty of nature;
humans will do extraordinary acts of
kindness and love.
As you pray today, pray for people who
are cynical. Pray that the source of their
cynicism doesnt overwhelm them.
Thursday, September 24
Read Job 13:20-28
What Job expressed in verse 23 is a
common response by people who are
suffering.
How many are my iniquities and my
sins? Make me know my transgression
and my sin. Job 13:23
When Job lived people believe that
suffering was the result of a persons
sin. Suffering was sort of like an
engineering formula. If Im hurting, then
I have done sinned.
We know differently today. Our own
suffering is not the result of a sin that
weve committed.
2
Saturday, September 26
Read Job 21:7-15
Again Job questions why the wicked
achieve prosperity and those who serve
God dont. The ultimate question was in
verse 15, What is the Almighty that we
should serve him? And what profit do
we get if we pray to him?
Think about how Jesus would respond to
this question. He taught his followers
that the way to follow God was to love
God and to love our neighbor as we love
ourselves. When we love we become
less concerned about who has what and
who is succeeding. Instead we are
focused on spreading and sharing this
powerful spiritual force. When love is
our criteria, then we arent concerned
about who has money and health.
You might know of someone who is
caught in the line of thinking that others
are doing better than themselves. Pray
that this person can capture a vision of
Gods love. Perhaps even share with the
person how Gods love can change their
perspective.