“I Walked Through Darkness”

Job further continued his discourse, and said: “Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me; when His lamp shone upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness; just as I was in the days of my prime, when the friendly counsel of God was over my tent; when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were around me; when my steps were bathed with cream, and the rock poured out rivers of oil for me!

Job 29:1-6

“But now they mock at me, men younger than I, whose fathers I disdained to put with the dogs of my flock.

Indeed, what profit is the strength of their hands to me? Their vigor has perished.

They are gaunt from want and famine, fleeing late to the wilderness, desolate and waste, who pluck mallow by the bushes, and broom tree roots for their food.

They were driven out from among men, they shouted at them as at a thief.

They had to live in the clefts of the valleys, in caves of the earth and the rocks.

Among the bushes they brayed, under the nettles they nestled.

They were sons of fools, yes, sons of vile men; they were scourged from the land.

“And now I am their taunting song; yes, I am their byword.

Job 30:1-9

In a sense, we are the members of God’s orchestra. Often we hear only the music closest to us. Because we don’t hear a balanced work, we are like Job who cried as he suffered: “Now those young men mock me in song; I have become a byword among them.”

Yet there was so much more to the symphony Job was a part of. He just couldn’t hear the whole song.

Maybe today you can hear only the sad notes of your own violin. Don’t lose heart. Every detail in your life is part of God’s composition. Or perhaps you are listening to a cheerful flute. Praise God for it and share your joy with someone else.

God’s masterpiece of redemption is the symphony we are playing, and ultimately everything will work together for His good purposes. God is the composer of our lives. His song is perfect, and we can trust Him.

Faith in God’s goodness puts a song in the heart.

Our Daily Bread – October 9, 2015