In his pain, Job curses the day he was born, wishing he had
not lived at all. It is impossible for
us to imagine the depth of the pain Job is feeling after losing all his
children, all his wealth, and now the physical pain he must endure. Why would God have allowed one such as Job to
suffer such complete agony? Job had done
everything right, he had made the right sacrifices, he had even made his
sacrifices on behalf of his children not because they had sinned but in case
they had sinned. He was upright and
blameless. He had said all the right
things when he lost everything. God was
the one who singled out Job for satan's attention, started this whole
process. God will be silent for a very
long time while Job cries out, his friends try to find fault in him and all the
while Job suffers. It would seem that
the mental anguish, the questions about why, are the worst. There are no answers.
Who does he think he is?
That is the question on the lips of the people when Jesus says He is the
bread that came down from heaven. They know
who He is, they know His parents, they know Him from the first thirty or so
years working with His father in the carpentry trade. What is he talking about now in claiming to
have come down from heaven? He has fed
them the day before and now He talks about their fathers eating manna and that
He will give his flesh as the bread of life for the world. The world.
Not just the Jewish world, the world.
His flesh is the life of the world.
There wasn't a single person present that day who had any idea what
Jesus was talking about. They wanted
bread. They had come for bread and
instead they got nonsensical metaphors and ridiculous claims. Jesus gives no answers that satisfy them this
day.
Ananias isn't certain he wants this particular job from the
Lord. What a wonderful thing to have a
vision and hear the Lord call your name.
Ananias knows how to answer, just like Samuel was instructed by his
mentor, Eli, "Here am I Lord."
Next, Ananias is as shocked as Paul to hear the words the Lord
speaks. His surprise is great and he
knows what he has heard about this man to whom the Lord sends him. What a shock then to hear that Paul is "a
chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and
the children of Israel." This work
will cause the man to suffer many things in order to complete the mission. Paul accepts his lot in life and is healed of
the blindness he has experienced since the vision. Paul knew something of grace and that his suffering
wasn't penance for his prior sin, his suffering was because of the rejection of
God and His anointed. Paul would be
privileged to suffer that rejection in his person. He would say that he was counted worthy to
suffer. What is your attitude towards
suffering. It can all be for the glory
of God if we so choose.
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