Does Job Fear God for Naught? First Things vs. Second Things, The Book of Job, and Books on Suffering
“Does Job Fear God for Naught?” Sermon
One of the seminal questions in the book of Job occurs in the conversation between God and Satan in the prologue: Does Job fear God for naught? (Job 1:9).
This past Sunday, I suggested that the purpose of suffering is to awaken my thirst for “First Things” (Union & Communion with God) and detach me from “Second Things” in life. What sustains us in our pursuit of God is not the blessings of God nor the felt experiences of God but a thirst for God and God alone.
Abraham Heschel once described God with these words:
God is not nice. God is not your uncle. God is an earthquake.
What happens to your faith when you experience God as an earthquake? What happens when we rediscover the nature and character of God in the Bible (and especially in the pages of the Old Testament)? We begin to have a trembling faith. We no longer seek to domesticate God. We abdicate all our earthly rights. We give up the illusion of control. We no longer expect the Christian life to simply be about minimizing our troubles and maximizing our blessings.
How we answer the question of our deepest thirst is pivotal and crucial to how we live the Christian life. Is my deepest thirst for God alone (aka: “First Things”) or am I trying to satisfy my Spirit-implanted thirst for God alone with the second things of this life?
Maybe the entire point of the Christian life is for me to put first things first, and second things second. And not allow second things to crowd out first things.
You can read the sermon Does Job Fear God for Naught? here in its entirety.
THE BOOK OF JOB
Let me recommend two non-technical books to aid a deeper study of the book of Job. Both books are especially good in tackling the crucial themes and narrative arc of the story of Job:
This book represents a very readable and non-technical commentary that provides excellent, insightful details on the book of Job while ending each section with great questions and a section for “Christian reflection”. At 175 pages, you will have an excellent grasp on the book of Job which will provoke many deep thoughts along the way. I never recommend a commentary for easy-reading but this little book breaks the mold.
This book is organized in two-page reflections which makes it an easy devotional read in the mornings. J.I Packer writes, “The profundity of the insights into spiritual life that Mike Mason draws from Job is stunning.” I wholeheartedly agree. This is the book that I wish I could have written about the book of Job!
BOOKS ON SUFFERING
The Broken Way: A Daring Path into the Abundant Life by Ann Voskamp
Ann Voskamp is a New York Times bestselling author, and some have hailed her latest book as a modern classic on the theme of suffering and brokenness. Ann Voskamp is a master story-teller, weaving details of her own broken life throughout the book which portrays God’s abundant life that is available by following in the broken way of Jesus.
Walking with God through Pain and Suffering by Timothy Keller
Biblical truth is weaved alongside cultural analysis in a style typical of Keller. If Voskamp engages your heart, then Keller’s book engages your head. Depending on your season of life, you may need Voskamp during one season and Keller in another.