The other day, as Sue and I were chatting about our day, she shared a takeaway from her women’s Bible study… yes, I said women’s Bible study. Who’d have ever thunk?!! 😉
Anyway, back to my point.
She said they were talking about Job and God’s sovereignty; how God was the one who brought Job to Satan’s attention. God did this knowing Job would be tested by Satan, but also knowing Job would remain faithful. Unwavering.
Her response to this was: “I want to be like Job; I want God to look at me the way He looked at Job”.
I smiled and made all the right noises… but in my head, I was thinking: “I hope God never thinks of me when He’s about to have that conversation with Satan! I hope He never thinks of me the way He thought of Job”.
My thoughts in that moment were based in a belief that I would fail. That if I was to be tested, I would fail Him.
Why?
Because my past is filled with memories of times when I failed Him.
Times when I fell.
Then, while speaking to a friend a few days later, I had this thought…
What if, instead of God being disappointed and let down when I fail, He responds more like a loving Father?
Duh, I know… but hang with me…
What if it goes down like the first time your dad took the training wheels off your bicycle? He tells you over and over how he knows you can do this. He holds the seat and runs beside you… then he lets go. And you fail. You wobble for a few feet, panic, and kiss the pavement.
And get this: dad runs to you, gets on the ground, and picks you up.
He holds you.
Tells you it’ll all be ok.
He looks at your scraped knee, wipes the tears from your eyes, and tells you how great you did. How your scraped knee makes you tougher.
Then he gets up, pulls you up, and puts you right back on the bike. With all the faith you don’t have, he smiles and tells you over and over how he knows you can do this.
This time, even though you doubt his words, you trust.
And then…
Then you ride your bike.
Why is it so hard for us to think that God is any different?
May He think of me the way He thought of Job.
