Job and Hosea

Job... a kind of picture of the church. I read last night a guy who believes God allows bad things because it's the only way we see how evil we really are, how much we need Him... so, Job, -- I'm looking at Hosea 2... vs 5 says: For their mother has played the harlot; She who conceived them has behaved shamefully. For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, Who give me my bread and my water, My wool and my linen, My oil and my drink.' -- and what crossed my mind was the idea that that is what we are like, even as Christians. When things don't go our way we depend on our jobs and our employers or -- even worse -- the government, to supply our needs. We aren't willing to trust that God knows what He is doing. I think we also forget that THIS life isn't REAL life, that this is just a temporary shell we are living in. We are only left here to do a job, a job that is to bring glory to God and bring more into His kingdom... am I doing that? Do I really believe that.... REALLY in my heart???? If I did, wouldn't His kingdom be the most important thing in my life, forsaking all others???

so, back to my original thought.... about Job. God allows evil in our lives, in the world around us, so we turn to Him and only Him, recognizing that we know nothing. We do not know the end from the beginning, we do not know the whys and the wherefors, we have no idea of the big picture and how it all fits together. Back to the tapestry illustration... the side we see is the side with all the knots and stray bits and pieces, not the beautiful finished work of art that will be shown to us only after we are with Him in heaven.

We are set apart, we are protected, we are called, chosen, special.... peculiar -- and we had better stand out that way... or we are not living our lives they way we should be.