In March of 2001 we had a fire at my home. When the call came I was on a job site working. Someone from our shop called me on the cell phone and told me that our next door neighbor had spotted smoke coming from the roof of our house. She had called the fire department and then our shop. I quickly jumped into the car and headed home. There were many thoughts going around in my heart and head as I drove and I was praying for mercy and hoping it would be something small. As I got closer I could see smoke in the distance and fear began to hit me. I quickly got a hold of it and focused on what needed to be done. As I drove up, there were fire trucks and firemen already there and working to put it out. Mostly the fire was at one end of the house, but much smoke and water damage had occurred. No one was at home at the time except our two dogs, they were hiding outside under our deck. I thank God no one was hurt.
I have to admit I was somewhat stunned at this point at what had taken place. There was much to deal with immediately and many decisions to be made. The first being where are we going to stay tonight. The next day I had to meet people at my house. As I was waiting for them to show, I started talking to God. I said, Lord how could this have happened to me? I was greatly troubled and wanted to know why this happened. I am not going to go into all the details of how we got through the rebuilding etc., other than to say God was very very gracious. The point of this is what God began to show me.
During the two weeks after the fire God led me to the book of Job. Job was a book that I had tried to stay away from as much as possible because it scared me. As God led me through this book he began to open my eyes to it. When the things that happened to Job happened, it was not because of what his religious friends thought was the reason. Job’s friends thought he had done something wrong and God was angry at him. But in Job 1:8 it states,
“And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” Does that sound as if he had done something wrong? The only thing I saw was in chapter three where it says in verse 25,
“For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”
As I considered my situation, I did not think that this is what allowed the fire to get to me. I had not been sitting around always being afraid that we might have a fire. Then I got to chapter 32 and God began to open things up to me. You can go read for yourself about Jobs friends condemning him and how he answered them.
Job 32:1 states, “So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.”
vs 2, “ Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.”
Then in verse 13 it states, “ Lest ye should say, We have found out wisdom: God thrusteth him down, not man.”
What happened to Job happened because God let the hedge down around him. Not because of what his religious friends were accusing him of. Elihu saw this. You can read for yourself.
During the next months God exposed my heart to me. I did not think that God would let something like this happen to me. Just like Job, I was righteous in my own eyes. I came to see how God was just in allowing what happened to Job, and also to me. God is God! He created us and he can do with us whatever he wants and is just in doing it. I am not making the claim that I was perfect and upright like Job, but I was certainly self righteous. God was dealing with that in my heart and it was his mercy to do it. Self righteousness is by the law of Moses. Galatians 3 clearly tells us the law shuts up faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God. I was raised in the Baptist religion where we were taught you had to be good, which generally meant we should live by the 10 commandments and not do certain other things. God was dealing with this in my heart. It was put there by a spirit of witchcraft. Jesus preached the gospel, not the law of Moses.
In closing, I was greatly encouraged when I read the last chapter in the book of Job. The Lord had been talking to Job and his eyes were opened. In chapter 42 it states,
vs 1 “ Then Job answered the Lord, and said,
vs 2 “ I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.
vs 3 “ Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
vs 4 “ Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
vs 5 “ I have heard of thee by thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.
vs 6 “ Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
Job’s religious friends got God’s wrath kindled against them because they had not spoken of God the things that were right like Job did in the verses above. So God had them take some sacrifices and go to Job and had Job pray for them.
vs 10 “ And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”
If you are righteous in your own eyes you are in captivity. It is God’s mercy to deal with your heart so he can set you free. We need to repent and believe the gospel which is where the power of God unto our salvation is.
God bless!
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