Lutheran Devotional 4th July 2025, Friday Message
TOPIC: A Little Light, Reading
Job 1:8-12a – And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have You not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. …”
Daniel, a friend of mine, tells me he went through a Job-like experience when he was in high school.
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He was living this fairytale life when the lights went out. His world collapsed. Everything fell apart. His guidance counselor at his school knew that Daniel was a Christian. So, he encouraged Daniel to read the book of Job. But not because he wanted to strengthen Daniel’s faith. He wanted to destroy it. He wanted to confront Daniel with the senseless suffering of this world and the cold silence of God. He wanted Daniel to curse God in the dark and reject him. That’s why he suggested Job.
One night, Daniel took his advice. He read the whole book of Job, from start to finish, all 42 chapters in one sitting. There’s an illuminating passage from another part of the Old Testament. It says that people will see in God what they bring to God. To the crooked, God seems tortuous. To the proud, God looks like a monster. But to those who need mercy, God shows Himself merciful. To the broken, God is Savior (see 2 Samuel 22:26-28). Daniel went in Job’s darkness to God that night, broken. He came baptized into the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Daniel sat in the darkness next to Job with just a little light of Christ, and he says that it saved his faith.
The book of Job is not light reading. But Christians do read it in the light of Christ. Jesus’ light does not dispel all the book’s mysteries for us. We read it and are still confronted with the darkness. Why does God allow such suffering to come to some, but not others? Why is God so often silent when we’re in pain? Why doesn’t God do something about this, now? We don’t know what the answers are. We only know Who the answer is. We know who found us when our world fell apart and the lights went out. We know what Jesus did for us on the cross. So, we trust that if God’s love could shine on that darkest day, in the suffering and death of Jesus, then His love will one day finally break through every other shadow of doubt, when Jesus returns to raise the dead and restore our losses. And for now, He sits with us in the darkness. For now, Jesus is enough light to live by.
WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, when the darkness comes, show me the way. Amen.
Reflection Questions:
- Have you ever had something like a “Job” experience? How did you cope?
- What is the difference between knowing “what” the answer is versus “who” the answer is?
- When could you set aside two and half hours to read or listen to all of Job? (You can listen to a dramatic reading of Job here: https://scholar.csl.edu/book_of_job/1/) What passages from the New Testament might help light the way for you through the darkness of Job?
Today’s Readings:
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.
