Thursday, December 11th, 2025
Job is one of those books that is hard to read because we hope that we never find ourselves in a situation like he did. The part about it that I do enjoy is the deep look we get into how Job feels and how his friends treat him. Sometimes we think we have to clean ourselves up some before we can talk to God or develop a real relationship with Him. But books like Job or David’s Psalms paint such a different picture.
God created us with emotions, many of which can take us from the deepest valleys to the highest mountains. While there is certainly the possibility of giving them too much control, sometimes simply acknowledging them allows us the opportunity to discover a new level of healing. On the other hand, the enemy wants to use our emotions to make us lose hope in God or our identity as followers of Christ. He would like to knot us up in a straight jacket of dangerous feelings and self-destructive reactions. This often leads us to thinking and acting in ways that do not align with God’s promises.
Job 9:4 says this:
4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?
Hardening us against God I believe is one of the enemy’s greatest goals in weaponizing our emotions. The more he can get us hurt, bitter, angry or fearful, the more we will forget that God is loving, good, and faithful. And the more we will turn our faces away from Him. Like it says in this verse, once that has happened, who will prosper? The word prosper in the original Greek means to be sound or at peace. If life doesn’t feel this way, perhaps there is a place in our soul that is hardened or stiff-necked towards God.
Final Thoughts…
Lord, please show us the places where we have hardened our heart, mind, or soul towards You. We know You are wise and mighty and we know we will never be those things without You. We know You want what is best for us and know what is best for us. Please expose the lies in our lives that try to keep us from these truths. Cleanse us from our sins and exchange our heart of stone for a heart of flesh. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.