The Right Response

 

 

Many Christians place trust in themselves before they trust God. They put their opinions and experiences above God’s Word. They look to themselves instead of looking to God. As a result, they struggle to believe. Since they have not given their worries to the Lord, they have trouble receiving His care. They get weary. Pride traps and keeps them from experiencing the benefits of God’s grace.

 

Our words reveal what is in our hearts (Matthew 12:34), and our words will either vindicate or condemn us (Matthew 12:37). The Lord knows when we are full of conceit and pride. Yet He is gracious (Psalms 145:8). He does not treat us as we deserve (Psalm 103:10). 

 

Pride is full of jealousy, bitterness, and anger. It does not produce righteousness (James 1:20). Pride declares that the end justifies the means. But a good outcome is not so good when a morally bad thing is used to achieve it. God grants us time to accept His grace, repent, and humble ourselves (2 Peter 3:9). But a time will come when God will judge our pride (Hebrews 10:30).

 

Job discovered this truth. Job lived around 2200 BC. He was a man of integrity who followed God even when no law required it. Job feared God and rejected evil. He was wealthy, but in just one day, his wealth was taken away, and his children and many of his servants died. And then painful boils covered his entire body. 

 

When Job’s friends heard of his plight, they came to ease his pain. They sat and grieved with him for seven days. Finally, Job opened his mouth, emitting the bitterness and anger in his heart. He cursed the day of his birth and wished for his death (Job 3). Then Job’s friends responded, not easing his pain at all.

 

“Bad things don’t happen to good people,” they said. “Your own sin has brought all this adversity on you.”

 

“If I’ve sinned,” Job responded, “show me my sin. I don’t know why this is happening. I’m innocent.”

 

The advice of his friends only caused Job more grief. During their back-and-forth conversation, Job began to question and doubt God. He went from “I don’t understand why this is happening to me” to “God is not fair to me, and there is no benefit in serving Him.” 

 

Job 32:1 says that Job’s friends stopped answering him because Job was “righteous in his own eyes.” 

 

When God finally spoke, He did not explain Himself or answer Job’s questions. He only addressed Job’s foolishness. In chapters 38-41, God reminded Job who He was and who Job was. 

 

“Where were you when I formed the earth? Do you measure it? Who shut the sea in? Did you bring forth the stars? Do you know where light resides? Does the eagle soar at your command? Can you pull in a Leviathan with a hook? Do you give wisdom and understanding?

 

“Of course, Job, you know everything because you were born before it was all created, and you are so very knowledgeable! (Job 38:21). If your righteousness is so much greater than mine, do what I do! Clothe yourself with excellence and glory. Cast forth your anger! Behold the proud, bring him low, and put him in his place!” (Job 38:21; 40:10-12).

 

It is God who brings the prideful low and exalts the humble (1 Peter 5:6).  

 

Look at Job’s response. 

 

“I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance” (Job 42:2-3,5-6, NLT).

 

Humility and repentance are the right responses to God’s correction. Job humbled himself and repented, and God exalted him by restoring everything Satan had stolen. 

 

Look at the responses of others in the Word to the glory of God. Each time they saw His glory, humility was the consequence.  When Isaiah saw the Lord, he repented (Isaiah 6:5). When God spoke to Abram, he fell on his face (Genesis 17:3). When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses hid his face from God’s glory (Exodus 3:5-6). When the angel appeared to Joshua, he bowed to the ground in utter devotion (Joshua 5:14). 

 

If we ever genuinely see God’s glory, we, too, will humble ourselves and lose all conceit and pride. 

 

When faced with adversity, we don’t need to go from “I don’t know why this is happening to me” to “God is not fair, and there is no benefit in serving Him.” Pride keeps us from experiencing the blessings of God’s grace. God exalts those with a humble heart—just as He exalted Job when he repented. 

 

God, whose glory was once hidden from us because of our sin, sent His Beloved Son to become our sin so we could be justified and glorified in Him (Romans 8:30). For those who believe in Jesus Christ, God no longer judges us from without. Jesus has justified, glorified, and humbled us from within. Disgrace may come with pride, but grace and wisdom come with humility (Proverbs 11:12). God gives more grace to the humble (James 4:6) and wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5). 

 

What shall I say to these things (Romans 8:31)?  How can I not respond in true humility to the Lord who humbled Himself for me? 

 

 

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